A God for Everyone

In Luke 2, the shepherds are told that in their small town, a child was born who is the long-awaited Messiah. They are told to go check it out. The specifics were that the child would be in a stable and his bed would be a feeding trough. While the shepherds responded with excitement, we might ask why that message was given to the shepherds at all. The wealthy, influential, heads of clans, and religious leaders were the people considered blessed by God. 

That angels came to them was a shock, not just because it was out of the ordinary, but because the angels came to them who were ordinary, common, hardworking people. They may have thought that the angels got the address wrong or didn’t realize their low position. God doesn’t do anything without a reason. God’s actions intentionally reveal God’s heart and values. Jesus was born to the low-born who had little money. They had a child in the most humbling of places. God was telling the world that He was coming for all people and not just the people that everyone looks up to and the wealthy. God was working from the bottom up. 

I’m sure this has given great hope to the billions who have been invited into a relationship with Jesus. After all, Jesus was a regular guy like them. They understood his common metaphors and parables that related to their everyday lives. Jesus didn’t put on airs nor was he erudite. Jesus could identify with them because he faced financial hardship, lived on the margins, was seen as irreligious by the establishment, and considered unclean by the hypocritical elite. 

The message of the birth of Jesus is that God is one of us and can do something about our broken lives. The birth of the Messiah in a stable upset expectations, but threw open the doors of the Kingdom of God to the least, the last, and the lost. Christmas is the shocking proclamation that God has come for everyone.

Seeking God’s Kingdom,

Jonathan