The Gifts of Christmas: Presence

Luke 2:8-17

This Thanksgiving I did not get to spend time with my siblings and their spouses. I truly missed being in their presence. The older I get, the more I appreciate time spent with family during the holidays over any of the other festivities. We get to be part of others' lives and be a witness to their experiences. I remember when my first nephew was being born. I was at work at the prison when I got a phone call. Surprisingly, my OIC (Officer In Charge) allowed me to leave work and go to the hospital. I drove too fast, but I was very glad to be there.

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Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.

Luke 2:8-17

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Over 2,000 years ago, there were some shepherds taking care of their sheep. They did not receive a phone call, but they did receive an announcement of a child being born. This announcement came from an angel in heaven. He told them where to go and what to expect. Then, God had a heavenly choir sing for joy that His Son was born.

The shepherds went to the manger (barn) and found Jesus, His mother, and Joseph just like the angel said. While I am sure that Joseph and Mary felt honored that these strangers were excited about Jesus's birth, they were not the main attraction. We have a tendency to put too much of a focus on the shepherds. They were nothing more than bystanders. They were the equivalency of someone walking down the hall of a maternity ward just at the right time to see a proud father shout for joy. It was not chance. God was intentional in who He told, but they are not the story.

The shepherds received a gift that night. The gift they received was being in the presence of the Son of God. They were among the first in all the world to be near Him. We do not know what kind of men these were, but God gifted them with a great honor. Not only were they among the first to be in the presence of the Son of God, but they also got to share the news first. They let everyone know that God's Son, the Messiah, had been born.

There is no greater gift that any of us can receive than this. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He sends the Holy Spirit to live within us. We too receive the gift of His presence. We have the hope of Heaven also. The joy that we long for in Heaven is to be in the presence of Jesus. In Heaven we are also in the presence of the Father. The greatest gift of Christmas was the door that was made available for us to be in the presence of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The shepherds just got a foretaste of that first.

Father, thank You for giving us the gift of presence. You could have left us in our sins and separated from You. However, You loved the world so much that You gave Your only begotten Son. That is the greatest gift that has ever been given. I pray we would not take it for granted and that others would receive the gift of salvation from Your Son.