Embraced by Love: Pronouncements and Perceptions 

Humble. Awake. Watchful. Vigilant. Faithful. 

Five words that describe the shepherds who were living in a field not far from where Jesus was born (Luke 2:8). 

To be honest, I never really gave the shepherds a whole lot of thought as I would read and reread the Christmas story. Mostly because they’ve always been there – in Luke 2, in A Charlie Brown Christmas, in our church Christmas plays and nativity sets. I never questioned their presence or their place in the most extraordinary story of all time.

But in recent years, I’ve been waking up to the remarkable-ness of these most unremarkable of men. In their days, shepherds were looked down upon. They lived strange lives and smelled really bad. In fact, some Jews considered shepherds ‘unclean’ because of their constant nearness to the dirtiness of sheep, not to mention all their bodily fluids and diseases.¹ 

Yet this is who the God of all Creation chose to reveal the news of His Son’s arrival. And the way He announced Jesus’ birth out-shines even Moses’ burning bush! All of which begs the question – Why? 

The answer lies in the five words that so effectively describe these particular shepherds: 

• Humble because of their lowly state and their high esteem for God. 
• Awake, literally and spiritually. 
• Watchful in the way they kept an eye on their flocks and the skies. 
• Vigilant, always at the ready for any threats to their flocks and for a move of God. 
• Faithful with the news they were given and their worship of God.² 

So it is with new eyes that we enter into the next movements of Handel’s Messiah, listening to the birth narrative of Jesus with the backdrop of heartening, symbolic music. We’ll marvel anew at the holy, glorious, angelic pronouncement and our own ability to perceive God at work in it all.

Movements Fourteen, Fifteen, and Sixteen: Shepherds and Angels

Taken straight from the biblical narrative of the nativity in Luke Two, the feel of these four Messiah movements is different from any of the previous thirteen. The music sounds a bit more ‘folksy’ so as to fit the main characters – traditional shepherds.³ The lyrics are sung by a soprano soloist, introduced for the first time in these movements.

But, perhaps the most striking feature of these four recitativo (reh-chee-tah-TEE-voh) seccos (meaning, ‘dry recitative’) is their brevity. All four pieces clock-in at well-under a minute-and-a-half, combined. Each of the five verses of Luke 2 is sung once through with a speech-like rhythm and simple accompaniment (v.8-11,13).³ Our soprano sings the story of the shepherds receiving the good news of Jesus’ birth from an angel of God.

What is quick and chippy for us as listeners must have been shocking and mysterious to the actual shepherds. The dark night skies instantly blind them with brightness as an angel delivers the messianic pronouncement. The “sore afraid” shepherds shook as the “glory of the Lord shone around them” (v.9), but the angel quickly assures them not to fear because this is a special delivery from the God Most High (v.10). This is good news!

In fact, it’s what these humble, watchful shepherds have been waiting for. Messiah’s arrival.

Message delivered, the light grows brighter as a host of angels bursts forth, singing praises to God (v.11). No room for questions, no time for dialogue, the shepherds are left speechless with news that would change everything. Slackjawed and surely on their knees, these wide-awake men witnessed this heavenly worship in total awe. 

And suddenly, I find myself so grateful for these social outcasts who were awake and aware enough to be watching the night skies, to be willing to receive this message with reverence. They could have been asleep and missed it all together. They could have fainted from fear. They could have run away and failed to hear what the angel had to say. 

But they didn’t. Just as Mary didn’t flinch when the angel told her that she’d be the mom of the Messiah, these shepherds stood firm on their faith. Just as Joseph took the angel at his word when he confirmed the holy state of Joseph’s bride, these shepherds received the words of God with wonder and obedience. 

Something tells me God knew this faithful bunch would receive this pronouncement in such a way. It makes me think He knew their true character; He knew their faithfulness.

Movement Seventeen: Glory to God in the Highest

The shorter scenes now past, Handel’s music launches into a “triumphant chorus” that brings trumpets into the score for the first time – because what says ‘let’s celebrate’ more than trumpets!³ And these angels, they are celebrating!

Max Lucado wrote a book called Cosmic Christmas that details an imagined response of God’s angels to this holy gift of a Savior to the world.⁴ When I read it years ago, I was given a new perspective on the Christmas story – that of the spiritual realm. And I marveled to think of angels having waited so long for this moment that would change the world* – the night their God would enter humanity as a baby. 

It’s with this insight that I now imagine this host of angels singing at the top of their glorified lungs praises for the God they loved and worshiped and celebrated. He’d done it! He’d sent the Messiah! It was a moment where heaven and earth came together like never before – or since.

It’s with this perspective that I now look at and listen to “Glory to God in the Highest” and believe that Handel must have had similar responses to this angelic scene. Full choir. All the harmonies. Multiple layers where the high voices sing “Glory to God in the highest” and the low voices sing “And peace on earth,” representing “the distinction between heaven and earth.”³ That is until the voices come together later in the movement – all the voices singing both phrases together, “symbolizing the unified connection between heaven and earth.”³ All the worship! All the glory!

Then just as suddenly as the heavenly worship service began, it ends. The voices fade. The glorious lights dim – as does Handel’s music, helping us visualize these angels receding back into the spiritual realm (Luke 2:15a), out of sight once again yet leaving a lingering imprint on our souls.

The Shepherd’s Response

Though Jennens did not pick up the shepherds’ story from here in his libretto, Luke does. The shepherds who had been “keeping watch” huddled briefly to agree on their response – to “go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about” (vv. 8, 15b). They didn’t doubt. They didn’t wonder about the sheep. They didn’t hesitate. 

Instead, they “hurried off” and found everything just as the angel had said – Mary, Joseph, and a baby in a manger in Bethlehem (v.16). We’re given no details about their response to seeing Jesus, but we can allow ourselves to see these dirty, smelly men marvel at the wee Messiah.

But they didn’t treasure all this in their hearts as Mary did (v.19). Instead, they ran through town to “spread the word” about this baby (v.17). About the Messiah’s arrival. 

The lowly shepherds became the voices God used to spread the news of His Son’s arrival. God wanted the world to know His love is for all people of all time. This baby broke into the world for everyone who would humble themselves and believe in Him as King of Kings. This infant Immanuel brought God to all the world because of love. And these shepherds proclaimed this very good news to all who would listen. 

And people were amazed (v.18)! 

When the shepherds told everyone they could, they didn’t rest on their laurels. Instead, these vigilant ones “returned” to their sheep, “glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen” (v.20). Faithful to their flocks, these shepherds headed back to the place where heaven broke into earth for one glorious moment, assured that God’s breaking-in would go on forever. 

Our Response

God shared the gift of His Son with simple sheep herders. The Good Shepherd’s arrival was first announced to some of the best shepherds who ever lived because they not only lived their role as vigilant care-givers earnestly but took their faith in God even more seriously. They listened and obeyed. They saw and shared. They returned. 

And they worshiped. 

In other words, these humble men on the hillside of Bethlehem have left for us a legacy, a way to live every day – with hearts open to God’s love. 
With a faith that always watches, even as we wait, for a move of God. 
With a joy that runs toward God. 
With a zeal that can’t help but proclaim the goodness of the One who sent His Son into the world in order to save it!

The “good tidings of great joy” that the angels delivered that holy night is meant for “all people” (v.10). And the very fact that God chose shepherds to announce His Son’s arrival is a demonstration that there are no limits to His love. No limits to the Messiah’s willingness to minister to every single person on this planet. No limits on ethnicity or economical standing. No limits on location or wealth. The Savior was born to save all people. The Creator made a way to save all creation – most creatively. 

And all of this good news is brought to us by humble, faithful, watchful shepherds as a reminder that, like them, we too are embraced by love.

Lord Jesus, your willingness to leave heaven and all its glory in order to live among humanity and all its messiness speaks to our hearts of the vast love You have for us. We love that your story begins in such unexpected ways and involves such unheralded people. We marvel at the way heaven collided with earth as the angels appeared to the shepherds, beckoning us into the story, the wonder, and the worship. We recognize that these humble shepherds model for us hearts ready for your breaking-in, and we seek to live vigilant and watchful just as they did. So we ask that You would do a new work of awakening in us this week so that we might better see You at work and notice your presence as we move through our days. We humble ourselves before You and raise our voices with the angels, singing “Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” In your glorious name we pray, amen. 
(inspired by Luke 2:8-14; John 3:16)

Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.

• 1 – This article describes a little more of this idea of shepherds being thought ‘unclean’.
• 2 – This article touches on a few of these descriptions, which are actually rather common in most descriptions and thoughts behind the shepherds’ selection as the recipients of this angelic visitation and announcement.
• 3 – The Classical Breakdown Podcast about Handel’s Messiah 
• 4 – Max Lucado’s Cosmic Christmas.^ While Lucado’s story is imagined, his insights are certainly drawn from biblical revelations.
• *I actually allude, here, to one the songs on our Embraced by Love playlist — Danny Gokey’s “The Moment the Whole World Changed.” It’s brand new and is already on repeat around here. It was also a late addition to our playlist as its themes and lyrics flow right in with where we are in this series. ENJOY!
  
  Sometimes I imagine, the way that it happened
  When shepherds knelt to worship him
  A love that was perfect, and no one deserved it
  I’m still moved to tears when I think — Oh oh
  That in one night, the whole world changed
  As the heavenly host proclaimed
  “Glory to God, and peace on Earth”
  In a manger, our Savior lay
  It was the moment the whole world changed
• Each Wednesday I upload a “Teacup” teaching video that carries on the topic here. You can find all the videos on my Facebook Author Page, Instagram, and YouTube.
• Many of you have found me on Substack. Thank you so much! And, if you’d like to listen to (rather than read) these weekly posts, you can do so on Substack, as well. It’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post. While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective.
• My monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, goes to email inboxes the first week of each month to those who have subscribed on my website. I also post them on Substack. My most recent edition can be found there, and you can subscribe for future newsletters on Substack, here.

Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike. We’ll follow Charles Jennens’ lead and take hold of a biblical passage that points us to Christ as Messiah each week as part of our Advent preparations.

• This week our passage is Luke 2:8-14. The story Linus speaks every year come straight from Luke 2. The story of shepherds and angels and Baby Jesus born among the animals because there was no room for Him in the inn. Hearing the overly familiar can cause us to miss the majesty of such a narrative, of such a night as this One. I pray that Handel and a few of these words can give us a new perspective this Christmas!
  
  “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’
  
  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
  ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’”
  –Luke 2:8-14 NIV
• We’re all called to share the truths about the work of Jesus. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. Believe it or not, we worship God each time we share our stories of faith! We use our whole selves to tell about our holy God!!

Featured Photo by Bharath Kumar on Unsplash. “All the Bits and Pieces” Photo by Matthias Cooper on Unsplash.
^Denotes an affiliate link, with which this ministry earns a bit to help it keep going. 😉