Looking Back Over Jesus’ Life

When I think back over how the stories of Jesus have prompted me to believe, I have to talk about the birth of Jesus and the shepherds. I know I dressed as a shepherd in a children’s Christmas play. (All of us probably did.) Where this scripture touched my soul (and still does each Christmas) is in the scene in the TV special “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. If you remember this annual event from the mid 1960’s, as Charlie Brown is bemoaning the fact that the Christmas season has become nothing more than a commercial endeavor, and as he asks if anyone knows that Christmas is all about, Linus responds by stepping the center of the stage and reciting a passage from Luke’s gospel:

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
Luke 2:8-20

As I first heard Linus re-read that story, and as I heard him utter the words “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown”, I knew (and I still know) that God sent a Savior for all the people (me included.)

Prayer

God, thank You for starting the story of my salvation by sending Your Son, Jesus into the world. Help me always have a home for the child of Bethlehem in my heart. Amen