Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God. […]
A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” […]
See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms
and carry them in his bosom
and gently lead the mother sheep.Reading from Isaiah 40
While shepherds watched their flocks at night …
A night that is dark, cold, lonely.
Shepherds after a long day’s work.
People who bear much responsibility:
for the wellbeing of the animals,
for each other,
towards the owner of the sheep,
towards their own families.
Perhaps they are tired,
exhausted,
worried,
cold.
People with their very own challenges:
maybe recently,
maybe trauma from long ago.
People on the margins of society
living in the margins of a great empire,
familiar with grief,
hardship,
social isolation,
oppression.
But still functioning in their roles
as workers,
family members,
parents,
carers.
Carrying forth the age-old heritage of their people.
Carried by the age-old heritage of their people.
A heritage of a shepherd boy,
David,
becoming their people’s most revered king.
A heritage of a prophet,
Isaiah,
illustrating divine love
with gentle shepherding.
A heritage of waiting for the one,
the Messiah,
to redeem their people.
A heritage of a prophet,
Micah,
foretelling that Saviour’s birth
in their very own region of Bethlehem.
But what about those nights
of coldness & darkness,
of physical discomfort & numbing pain,
of worries & sleeplessness,
of heartbreak & grief?
Religious heritage
may sustain
or disappoint.
A shepherd-king ancestry
may sustain
or disappoint.
Words of ‘comfort, o comfort my people!’
may sustain
or disappoint.
The hope of a Saviour
may sustain
or disappoint.
Where is the voice calling out in the wilderness
and where are those lifted-up valleys?
Where is the glory of God revealed
and where is the Lord coming with might?
Where is that just ruler
and where is the gentle shepherd?
Well, here,
right here.
Breaking into nights
of coldness & darkness,
of physical discomfort & numbing pain,
of worries & sleeplessness,
of heartbreak & grief.
Breaking in
as God’s glory revealed:
sometimes as choirs of angels
and ‘Hosanna in the Highest’,
sometimes through prophetic voices in the wilderness
and calls for equity,
sometimes in rough places being made cozy
and safety provided,
sometimes through miraculous births
and re-births,
sometimes by just rulers
and peace & goodwill,
and always through and to shepherds.
In this night
of coldness & darkness,
of physical discomfort & numbing pain,
of worries & sleeplessness,
of heartbreak & grief
those shepherds
hear, see, taste, sense
God’s glory.
They behold this newborn miracle:
the divine, yet vulnerable
descendant of a shepherd-king.
The one that will gather the lambs in his arms,
carrying them in his bosom.
Yet also the one who will be called
‘the slaughtered lamb of God’.
The one who will set all things right
and rule with justice.
Yet also the one who—with them—
suffers oppression and marginalisation.
A new day is dawning.
Indeed!
The shepherds return to
their hillside,
that ancient hillside.
They return to their day-in-day-out of shepherd’s labour,
of carrying lambs,
and of leading mother sheep.
It’s the same-old-same-old,
yet, somehow,
nothing is the same anymore.
Their hearts are filled with that
‘peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind’.
Their ears still resound with
‘Glory to God in the Highest’.
Their minds rest in
‘Comfort, O comfort my people’.
Their voices cry out,
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord!’
The prophesy they’ve known all their lives
has become filled with meaning:
‘See, the Lord God comes with might.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms
and carry them in his bosom
and gently lead the mother sheep.’