Who watches OTA TV anymore? And who would have ever guessed that something like “OTA” – over the air – would become a “thing?”
Well, me, for one. I cut the cord to cable TV long ago. But some time long ago – so long ago someone still owed Moses five bucks – you not only watched TV over the air, you’d actually plan your life around some TV shows.
So, what does this have to do with Christmas? Charlie Brown. That actually came out the year I was born! And I was just thinking about it recently because a couple weeks ago because somewhere I bumped into the fact that it had been on the night before and had I known, I’d probably have watched it just for the nostalgia, if nothing else.
Well, and because I honestly can’t read you today’s passage of Christmas Bible without, still to this day, hearing Linus’ voice. It comes from Luke 2:8-12:
8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:8-12, CSB
I’ll be honest: I actually have to catch myself using the old King James language – swaddling cloth. We still be like, “Huh? Swaddling cloth?” Unless maybe you’re a mom, in which case you’re smart about these kinds of things.
But for a moment I want to turn the spotlight on the shepherds and how crazy it is that God chose to make this announcement to them. Can you say, “persona non grata?”
They were nobodies. Lower class. And not even just that, their day jobs put them in the category of the unclean. They would have been forbidden to worship at the temple. If you needed a witness at trial or needed to call in a phone-a-friend favor, your buddy Bill the Shepherd isn’t who you’d be calling.
Oh, here’s a good thing to remember. If you were going to make up a religion, you wouldn’t be telling shepherd stories. It’s like the opposite of king.
But then, if you were God and you just wanted to mess with the people who thought their earthly status was something to flaunt, how about calling some shepherd boy named David to be king. It’s not the right pedigree. “Hey shepherd boy, whatcha doing? Get all the sheep poop out of our sandals?”
And yes, you guessed it. You wouldn’t send your Son and call him The Great Shepherd if you wanted people to see Him as royalty either…
…unless maybe you didn’t have anything prove because you were like, “Uh, I’m king of the universe.”
During the Christmas season we often think of the less fortunate, and that’s a good thing. But remember in the book of Hebrews how the writer says,
Do not neglect to show hospitality, because some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2, NIV
It kinda puts a spin on being a connector, on loving on people the way God loves on people. Like, oh, maybe shepherds. Or Linus in the Charlie Brown special. And that kinda puts a nice spin on Christmas.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in communications, an award-winning author and speaker, and a passionately bad guitarist. ForTheHope equips on-the-go professionals with biblical principles to engage marketplace relationships with competent humility. On Twitter can follow him @RogerCourville and/or his podcast @JoinForTheHope, or get all updates by email subscription at www.forthehope.org.