Daily Devotion for Lent - Day 3

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:1-24

I'm continually struck by Luke's emphasis on the shepherds within the nativity.  As we consider the Son of God, the angels could have appeared to anyone to announce this birth.

Why shepherds?

As we think about cultural influencers today, shepherds would not have been on the list as holding this job in first century Palestine. 

Some shepherds really enjoy
their work!

To me, this is the reminder that God has come for everybody.  It is also a good reminder that everybody has something to offer, if given a chance.

When they came to see the Christ child for themselves, they told Mary and she "treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart."  We have no evidence of angelic confirmation coming to Mary after the birth.  When we have a significant religious experience, the intensity usually doesn't stay with us.  Sometimes, we can be left wondering, "Did this really happen?"  Mary gets assurance from the shepherds that she isn't crazy!

We get further confirmation of Mary and Joseph being common people in their offering in Jerusalem.  Leviticus 12:6-8 outlines the offering to be given as a sheep but gives allowances for birds if they can't afford it.  Evidently, God did not choose a family of means!

To me, this is a further example of God's grace, freely available to all people.  When I try to make grace conditional, I may find myself losing the Christmas Spirit so to speak.

The pandemic we are moving through was first thought to be a great equalizer in that it touched rich and poor alike.  We quickly found that treatment and time off work was not the same for everyone.  What would be God's preferred outcome if we take today's text into consideration?

In the United States, we value equality based on how we govern ourselves.  But we still have status that keeps us from truly seeing one another.  Maybe if we remembered the shepherds from the nativity more often, we could begin to see how God sees!

Prayer for the day:

Loving God, I give thanks for your grace that comes to me daily.  I would like to earn it but when I fail to live up to the high calling of love, I am glad for your mercy.  Help me to offer mercy as much as I receive it.  And help me to realize how often I receive it.  In the name of Jesus who came for all.  Amen.

Photo by Jeanne Menjoulet via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.