Wednesday's SOAP - Luke 2:8-12

 ⁸ That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. ⁹ Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, ¹⁰ but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. ¹¹ The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! ¹² And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

S(cripture) - “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.

O(bservation) - Three two word phrases just seemed to pop off the page for me . . . "good news - great joy - all people."

First good news - We live in a world that seems to focus on the bad news - war, catastrophes, murder, fires, famine, (the economy) . . . well you get the picture. This angel announces good news - the Messiah is born - the Savior, Liberator, Rescuer is here! (Like word studies? wikipedia does a great job with the connection between good news, the Gospel, glad tidings and message. Did you know that in Greek, the word for "news" uses the same root word for "angel"? The angel (messenger) announced a good (message).)

Second great joy - The image is pure ecstasy - delight. This is dancing in the streets joy. Celebration happiness. Happiness that bubbles over. Good news - bringing JOY!

Third all people - This is a message for everybody who will receive it. It won't be foisted upon anyone. But it is significant that the message first went out to the local migrant workers first. Shepherds weren't by any stretch middle income wage earners. But God chooses to announce His Son's birth to this crowd. Probably because this crowd would recognize the Good News better than the crowd at Herod's Palace. That all, includes you and me and the question is which crowd are we in?

A(pplication) - What's your joy meter pointing toward? What will it take to fill you up? What brings joy? NEWS. Good News. Jesus' birth. Want joy this Christmas? Turn to the SOURCE. Good News? Your life will never be the same. There will be a call out of comfortable living, a call to give your time away, a call to share your stuff, a call to serve, to consider others better than yourself. And out of that call, that message is JOY! "Well done, good and faithful servant - enter into the JOY of your master."

P(rayer) - Abba, restore to me the joy of my salvation - the marvel at hearing and recognizing and receiving the Good News of Jesus the Christ. In this season, it is easy to get distracted, thrown off task. May I once again revel in You. Help me to find the Babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a feed trough. And may that propel me to dance in the streets - like the shepherds. Amen.

(couldn't find a single black choir on you tube singing this spiritual . . . ironic that a song about Good News for the poor and marginalized  has been claimed by folk in tuxedos and ball gowns.)