When things become overfamiliar, two unfortunate things happen. First, we take amazing blessings for granted – things like love and beauty and life itself that should astonish us daily but that we seldom think about. Second, when we get used to something we no longer notice when that thing’s really weird. A quick example: American polite table manners demand that the left hand is to stay on one’s lap when not in use for cutting or passing dishes or something. Why is that? What’s the point of eating with one hand when a utensil in a second hand would be really helpful? You don’t have to do this anywhere else, but it’s the rule in the United States. It’s weird and senseless, but we don’t even notice, maybe because we’re distracted by chasing our peas around our plates, but more likely because it’s just the way things are. Well, of all the stories in the Bible, the Christmas story is probably the most familiar, and sure enough, we don’t usually ask questions about it. In fact, it’s really strange. For instance, when the Son of God is born on earth to bring salvation to all humanity, God sends a host of angels to announce that world-changing event to . . . a group of shepherds. Huh? Think about that. Of all the people to whom to announce the birth of a savior, why them? What does this teach us?
Sermon Notes