The angel that spoke to the shepherds near Bethlehem the night that Jesus Christ was born did not speak for himself. He conveyed a message from the Most High God. God who had created all things. God to whom every man must one day answer. And God's glory surrounded the angel and the shepherds were afraid. In the presence of God's glory, man acutely feels his smallness, his poverty and sin, his mortality. It is no wonder that the shepherds were afraid.

The angel did not deliver a sentence condemning the shepherds for their sins however. Instead, he brought a message of joy. A joy greater than the joy which normally accompanies the birth of a child, for this child was to deliver men from their sins, God's condemnation, and the sentence of eternal death.

Jesus' birth, portrayed by the familiar, tranquil nativity scene, did not guarantee this deliverance however. The price of our salvation was much higher, it required His death. Thus the joy of Christmas only became complete when Jesus on the cross shouted, "It is finished."

The angel's message of joy was not for the shepherds only. It was for all people, even the people of this time. Jesus and the joy and the salvation which He obtained for us can still be found in a lowly stable, namely, His congregation. We hope that all those who have not yet found and entered this stable might this Christmas find it and the true joy of Christmas.