“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”-Luke 2:8-12
As I was pondering this passage, I couldn’t help but think about the limited number of ways that news could be communicated in Jesus’ day. It wasn’t like today where we can turn on a television, radio, computer, or cell phone and quickly get up to speed on what is happening; not just in our community, but around the world.
News in those days traveled slower. Important information had to be communicated in person or by letter. Writing was certainly an avenue for relaying important news and events, but it wasn’t being massed produced. It was painstakingly written down and then passed among the people.
However, when it came to communicating the birth of our Savior, God used a more unconventional approach: an angelic visitation! That night as the shepherds were settling in for a long evening tending sheep, an angel appeared like a broadcaster breaking into their regularly scheduled lives: “We Interrupt this broadcast with this late breaking news.”
This caused me to think about how the birth of Christ and the message of Christmas were like a divine interruption. The word interrupt means to stop the continuous progress, or break the continuity of something. It usually carries with it a negative connotation.
Let’s be honest, none of us like to be interrupted. Whether we are talking with a friend and one of our kids starts pulling on our pant leg to get our attention or we just get into a groove at work and the boss calls for a mandatory meeting. We don’t like having our progress broken or the continuity of our conversations disrupted.
Yet, the Good News that was proclaimed that night has been interrupting lives since the moment it was broadcast. From the announcement of His birth, it was obvious, that God was going to interrupt some things. One of the things that the Good News of Christ interrupts is our schedules. His birth records numerous people’s lives that were interrupted by His coming. Mary & Joseph certainly had other plans for their lives, when it was announced to them that the child she bore would be the Son of God.
The shepherds were going through the same routine that they went through every night as they tended sheep. I am sure that some evenings were disrupted by the occasional predator that they had to run off, but nothing could have prepared them for the angelic invasion that broke through into their world that night. Talk about getting off schedule! Every item of the to-do list that night took a backseat to the birth of our Savior. That is the power of the Gospel! It causes us to take a good, long look at the priorities of our lives.
Think about the Wisemen that visited Jesus. These men’s schedules were in complete upheaval, for weeks; perhaps months after seeing the star that declared the Messiah had been born.These men rearranged their entire worlds just to pursue Jesus.
Receiving the Good News caused a transformation in their schedules. I know from my own personal experience that my life radically changed after hearing the Good News. There were places and things I did with friends that stopped. Church was a new line item in my weekly activities along with daily devotion, worship and prayer. None of which took up any space in my schedule before I heard the Good News about Jesus. Here is a hard truth to accept: If the Good News isn’t interrupting anything it’s not transforming anything!
Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church
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