So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.  On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. (Luke 2:16-21)   The heavenly messenger angels come to the shepherds, but then the shepherds become the messengers.  Would Mary and Joseph have known there were angels blazing forth in glorious praise of their son out in the dark hill country of Judea?  No.  But the shepherds told them.  Would the people of Bethlehem and the surrounding country have known about the angel visit or the baby born as heir of David, the Lord Messiah and Sviour of them all?  No.  But the shepherds told them. God sent angels to the lowliest of the low.  The unclean ones who, up until that point, were unable to be part of the people of God.  Unable to visit the temple.  Unable to receive forgiveness.  Unable to celebrate and sing with the festive throng.   But all of a sudden, the shepherds were at the very heart of things.  They had a place, a purpose in the story and salvation of God: they were, in fact, the only ones who got to be part of the festive song!  And as the angels told them, so they saw and believed: this saviour, this sacrificial lamb without blemish, wrapped in cloths in their manger was for them.  Born to them.  The Messiah was given to them!  Forgiveness, salvation, and the kingdom of God had come to them!  What a blessing! Unlike the world that excluded them, they excluded no one as they burst out to spread the good news of great joy for all the people.  And all those people were amazed.  Amazed at the news and probably a little amazed at the messengers too.   In Luke's gospel there's no Magi from the East carrying gifts fit for a King.  The only treasure is the gift the shepherds brought: a message of angels, a response of joy.  These were the things Mary treasured up in her heart and pondered.   As the shepherds return, they glorify and praise God for what they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.  Thinking back to 1 Samuel where seeing and hearing play such a prominent role, I find it striking that the word of the Lord came through angels to those with the eyes to see and the ears to hear. No one in the little town of Bethlehem had room in their busy and reputable lives to offer costly hospitality to social outcasts, but the shepherds did.  Perhaps no one in the little town of Bethlehem were looking or listening for God either, but the shepherds were.  Their eyes were open and they saw angels and the saviour of the world right there in their own little manger!  Their ears were open and they heard the good news proclaimed to them! It's just these sorts of folks with open eyes and open ears who God speaks to and sends out into the rest of the world with the treasures of his good news.  So: may your eyes and ears also be open and attentive to the glorious treasures of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour!  

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