God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
Scripture Text: Isaiah 11:1-10; Luke 2:8-20
Quotes for Reflection
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.
Anthony DeMello, The Way to Love
Observe the marvelous change that comes over you the moment you stop seeing people as good and bad, as saints and sinners and begin to see them as unaware and ignorant. You must drop your false belief that people can sin in awareness. No one can sin in that light of awareness. Sin occurs, not, as we mistakenly think, in malice, but in ignorance. “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”
Deeper, Dane Ortlund
Your growth in Christ will go no further than your settledness, way down deep in your heart, that God loves you. That he has pulled you in to his own deepest heart. His affection for his own never wanes, never sours, never cools. Half-hearted is not who he is. That thing about you that makes you wince most only strengthens his delight in embracing you. At your point of deepest shame and regret, that’s where Christ loves you the most.
Application Questions
Of all the types of people in Jewish society, why do you think God chose to announce the birth of Jesus to shepherds?
Do you believe that God loves you? How does this story help you see his love more clearly?
The people around Jesus at his birth responded in different ways. Which response resonates for you right now and why?