It is an unremarkable story
in that it tells of an event
common in experience and place.

A young woman moves into the dwelling
of relatives
when she is great with child.

The living area (not an inn)
is full of people. There was no room.
so, for that reason
and probably to gain a little privacy
the little family sets up for the birthing
in the typical animal stall
under the living area.
Dad scurries around, talking to villagers.
Womenfolk do whatever they do to prepare;
and, a child is born: a son,
one of many born that night
in exactly the same way.

He is wrapped in the traditional baby cloth;
the family follows all the expected
jewish ceremony

The child is even presented in the temple
before the family's return home, to Nazareth.

In Luke,
there is no hunt by a murderous King
no slaughter of the innocents
no flight into Egypt.

That is a different story
told by a different theologian, Matthew,
to a different people
for a different purpose.

Everything is in Luke, well, normal.

So, what is Luke trying to say?
What miracle has God wrought?

The shepherds are the clue.

There they are,
leaning on their crooks,
whiling away yet another meaningless night
at the bottom of the social-economic ladder;
feeling outcast and useless,
in their powerlessness,
in their sameness,
and in their poverty.

So, there is the miracle;
for, in Luke,
it is not to kings or scholars
that the Messiah comes.

No wise pagans come in this book.

It is not the wealthy
or the secure
to whom angels speak.

It is to simple shepherds.

"There they are,
out in those marginal grazing lands,
keeping watch over flocks they didn't even own,
through the long night;

when, suddenly,
there stood before them
a messenger of the lord,
and they are fearful.

But, the angel says to them,
I have good news for you
which shall be to all people,

for the Messiah is born,
right over there, near Bethlehem.
Go and see.

Well,
The Messiah was the object
of Jewish expectation.

The Messiah was to be like David,
a mighty general
who would establish a system
of wealth and power
so that the rich could get richer
and their enemies be put to shame.

Worthy goals, as far as they go,
the shepherds might have thought.

but, not much for which to hope
for us.

Who cares about us?
Who cares about a rude town
on the edge of the desert,
so poor
that it was named after a loaf of bread?

Who out there cares about anything?

And, there lies the miracle of God in Christ Jesus.
The messiah is here,
was the message of the angels,
and he comes not as a great general,
not on a war chariot,
but as a little child, like you were,
like yours are.

He comes to you, for you;
is born this day
right here!

And this is a sign to you, says Luke;
you will find him born
in ordinary circumstances, like yours'
to an ordinary family, like yours,
in an ordinary dwelling, not even their own.

And, the shepherds go,
and they see the ordinariness
of this event,
and the ordinariness
was extraordinary!

So, they go back to their livelihoods
there on the edge of the desert
with joy in their hearts
and God's praise on their lips.

and, they become prototypical evangelists.

It is not specifically to the powerful or wealthy
or to those who are healthy
or to those who are satisfied with their life
that God comes,

It is the simple, the powerless
the marginalized,
the ill, the old, the young,
the worker, the stressed mother,
the confused, the wondering,
the ordinary,
it is you, and me
to whom God comes.

The shepherds found life
where no one expected it to be
and became missioners of hope
to any and all
who wish to hear.

This is a sign to you,
said the angel,

You will find him among the ordinary people and places of life, all around you.

He will be giving people power
to do what God loves best:
to gather, to tell his stories,
to heal, to change hearts,
to value and love all God's children
to make peace
and to make God proud.

No warrior messiah
has the power do these things;

and, that's a scary thought
to us, who depend so much
on our power and wealth.

If we do only that,
God's kingdom will pass us by
because of our own lack of interest.

Its too ordinary, we might think,
too impractical.
Its too full of hope for things
that we can barely imagine.

The baby Jesus is sweet and beautiful,
but isn't really the point of this story of Luke.

The circumstances of the coming
of God into the world
is the point.
To whom God comes
is the point.
For what God comes
is the point.
How one lives as a follower of Christ,
who usually feels entirely ordinary, is the point.

And, the shepherds,
having seen, and recognized, the sign,
return to their flocks, praising God,
and saying,
"On earth, Peace,
good will to all God's People."