About six months after John was born to Elizabeth and Zacharias, Mary's baby was born.  He was not born at her home in Nazareth, surrounded by the warmth of family and friends, but far to the south in strange surroundings.

     Joseph had been forced to come to Bethlehem to register in compliance with a decree from Caesar Augustus.  Mary had already endured the shame and ridicule of being pregnant before she was married.  Joseph would not leave her to have her baby where she might suffer even more.  So he brought her with him.

     But there was no room for them in the inn.  So the miracle baby announced by the angel and conceived by the Holy Spirit was born in a stable.  The One who would sit on the throne of eternity and wear the crown of authority rested his head in a feed trough.

     God had entered history in human form, and nobody knew but Mary and Joseph.  But that was about to change.

     Since the little town of Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, was near Jerusalem and the temple, many sheep were raised to be used in the sacrifices.  During the day, each shepherd led his sheep to find grass to eat, but at night, the shepherds bedded their flocks down near one another, while they, themselves, sat around the fire and talked.

     "And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them..."  God was about to announce the birth of His only begotten Son.  And He announced it under the open sky to some simple shepherds watching their flocks by night.

     After the angel told them what had just happened and how they could identify the baby, there suddenly appeared "a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

     This shortest of the four Songs of the Season is pure worship and praise.  Each of the other songs has in it a personal element relating to the person whose song it was.  This song speaks of God alone.

     Glory to God.  The praise from all, which God deserves.

     Peace on earth.  The gift from God, which none deserves.

     When the song was over, the shepherds said, "Let's go see."  And they made their way to the stable where they found Mary and Joseph.  And there, just as the angel had said, was a newborn child.  "The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay."

     They would never forget that night.  A night when angels had sung of God's glory and grace.  A night when they, themselves, had seen the Prince of Peace.  As they returned to their normal work, they did so "glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen."

     Before another week is past, we will celebrate that Holy Night once again.  Let us do it in such a way that when we resume our normal lives, we will do so glorifying and praising God for the things that we have heard and seen.