Good news = Great joy

Have you ever watched someone receive good news?

Maybe it was your child {or grandchild} opening an acceptance letter from their college of preference. Watching your friend receive a long prayed for job offer. Listening in as a loved one receives an ‘all clear’ message from their doctor’s office.

Isn’t it exhilarating?

Joy. Joy. Joy!

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 

Luke 2:8-11 NIV

Reflecting on the above scripture in Luke chapter 2, and pondering joy this week, my thoughts automatically drift to Linus. You remember Linus, don’t you? He’s one of the beloved Peanuts cartoon characters created by the late Charles M. Schulz. Today, Linus is probably most famous for reciting the Luke 2 scripture in the short movie, A Charlie Brown Christmas, 1965. Thus, I most often read this passage in the voice of Linus.

Just reflecting on Charlie Brown and his heart-wrenching search for the meaning of Christmas brings back joy-filled nostalgic memories of my childhood.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, Luke 2:8-9 NIV

I’m intrigued. Why did God choose the shepherds living out in fields to receive the angelic birth announcement? The shepherds were considered the lowliest people in their society. They slept outside with the sheep and protected the flock from wild animals. Their whole lives were centered around the care of sheep, and they smelled like sheep. How could it be that God chose this demographic as His audience – some of the first people on Earth to receive the declaration of Good News – the promised Messiah was born in Bethlehem, the city of David.

My imagination runs with several ideas. Perhaps the angelic hosts were sent out to a people most in need of good news. Maybe God knew that these young shepherds (who were most likely the youngest boys and girls of local families) would be the most receptive of the angelic messengers, and their message. It could have been that the shepherds were simply available, undistracted, and unhindered in their ability to see and hear the miraculous.

I’m not sure why God chooses the weak of this world to be strong in faith and to carry out His mission. I don’t have an answer for why God adopts regular people like me as His child. But I am grateful that God does not show favoritism.

Yet, I do know that God is looking for those who are available. He enjoys enlightening those who are leaning in for more understanding. God delights in all who come toward Him in childlike wonder and trust.

I’m intrigued, but more so, encouraged by the shepherds’ appearance in the Christmas story. I see in these few verses, a reflection of my own story, and how I came to learn the Good News of God’s love for me that brought and still brings me Great Joy.

I was a lowly college student in the middle of my freshman year. One night as I slept in my bunk, I dreamed of a conversation with a familiar looking woman who sat on the edge of my bunk. She looked like my great-grandmother, but her message was scriptural. Her message was simple. She wanted me to know that God loved me, and that His plans for me were good. And to the point, with great love, she told me that I needed to turn my life around. My destructive behaviors needed to stop.

As I awakened to a new day, I was filled with hope. I pondered long the dream that I understood to be a direct message from God. I felt loved, warned, and a renewed sense of purpose with a promise. I also wondered many times, and still do sometimes, why me? Why did God choose me to receive His message of Good News?

I know that I am grateful. And so, I see the shepherds doing some of the same things I did after receiving such life-giving and joyful news from Heaven.

The shepherds received the message. Even though they were afraid at first and uncertain of what was happening to them, just like me as I awakened from such a life-changing dream, they listened. I listened. They, and I, took the message to heart.

The shepherds went to Bethlehem to see for themselves. They put action to what they heard and verified the truth of the message. I went to church the next Sunday. I visited several churches close to campus seeking to verify the message I received.

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Luke 2:15 NIV

The shepherds marveled at Jesus, the babe they found with His mother Mary, in a stable just as the angels had said. And then they went back home, and they kept tending their sheep faithfully, but now with the joy of the Good News giving them hope for the future. I imagine the shepherds sharing their story with other shepherds and with their families.

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

Luke 2:16-18 NIV

And me too. I went back to my dorm room after experiencing church. I pondered the new things I was learning, and I continued going to classes. As I had opportunity, I shared with trusted friends about my dream, and the joy-filled message that was giving me a renewed hope in my future. The Good News I received was changing my desires, and I began to walk away from self-destructive behaviors. I was becoming healthy, and my heart was being healed as I reached toward God in faith. And people noticed. I was becoming a new creation.

This is what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Receive the Good News that brings Great Joy to all the people of the Earth. Are you available to hear the good news God has for you?

Lisa Brittain: Good News = Great JOY

Eyes on Jesus and Shine,

Lisa