Christmas Eve - Luke 2:1-20

You will find a child, God's angel said to the terrified shepherds, which is the miracle of

Christmas in a few simple words.

The conversation itself is a miracle, a collision of worlds: heaven's press secretary chatting up a few homeless guys who live with their animals and shady reputations outside of town.

You will find a child who is everything the world has ever hoped for and more.

God almighty dispatched me directly to you to welcome salvation for the world.

In the shock and terror of this wild moment, no one bothers to ask directions.

How exactly will the shepherds find this baby?

They don't have GPS or cell phones.

The angel provides no map or directions.

There is no special star; that's Matthew's story, not Luke's.

There is no reason to think the shepherds would be welcome in town, which is now over crowded from the census, making a much bigger haystack in which to find this newborn

needle.

The manger has no street address.

They have about as much chance of finding this kid as any of us have of finding God.

In my family, there's a sad running joke about no forwarding address.

As a young man, my Dad returned home from the army to discover that his parents had

moved without telling him.

They left him no forwarding address, no way to locate them.

He was on his own, alone in the world, like so many others for whom we double our

prayers during the holidays.

He was a man without a home and without a family—like a shepherd.

You will find a child, the angel says to men like this, and they race off so fast there that no

one stops to consider or remember how.

The mystery and miracle of Christmas is that somehow, against enormous odds, the angel's

promise comes true.