It may be that some of you reading this are thinking, “This author is like a broken record-in nearly every reflection he mentions God’s choice of the humble in the Christmas story.” But I don’t believe this is my theme; it seems to be God’s theme. The theme plays out over and over again in the story-from the choice of Mary of Nazareth, to the choice of a simple tekton in Bethlehem, to the song that Mary sang about the way God fills the hungry with good things, to the birth in a stable, to the choice of night-shift shepherds as the first people invited to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
In an instant, doctor was demoted to garbage man. As Gary made trip after trip to the dump, he began to feel sorry for himself, resenting the fact that he had come all the way to Calcutta, delivered millions of dollars in medicine, was a physician with a stethoscope in his back pocket to prove it, and yet was hauling garbage. After having done this for several hours, he noticed a small sign with Mother Teresa’s famous words: “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” It was then that he understood why he had been assigned garbage duty. It was God’s way of teaching him humility, servanthood, and love.
If God chose night-shift shepherds to be the first to celebrate the birth of Christ, what might that tell you about the attitude of heart that God is looking for from you and me?
Lord, thank you that you humble the proud and give grace to the humble. Help me to humble myself before you and to do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility to consider others better than myself. Amen.