When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us."
So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.
Luke 2: 15-16
I walked past the Church of the Nativity, the holy site where Jesus was born, essentially every day when I served as Global Mission Fellow in Bethlehem. I would frequently walk up the hill the shepherds would have taken to Bethlehem and down Star Street, the street believed to be the path of the Magi into Bethlehem. These holy sites became part of daily life in Bethlehem, just as the other parts of living in a land plagued by violence and conflict became part of daily life.
Violence, oppression, and empire are the backdrop of Jesus’ life and ministry, including the Christmas story. We cannot truly understand the Christmas story without facing this reality. Mary and Joseph were forced to travel to Bethlehem under decree from the emperor to participate in a census and taxes. Christ was not born in the halls of a palace nor in any symbol of power. Rather, he was born to completely insignificant parents from the middle of nowhere in a dirty manger. The good news of his birth was first shared with shepherds, hard at work. These shepherds were the very first to visit the new born Christ, coming straight from the fields, rather than state officials or religious leaders. Bethlehem also became a dangerous place when Herod received news of Jesus’ birth and Mary, Joseph, and Jesus fled to Egypt.
Still today, we cannot separate our celebration of the coming of Christ without facing the reality of violence and oppression in our world. For it is in the midst of this reality that God breaks into our world. The in-breaking of God into our world did not and does not happen in palaces or state houses but among the poor, oppressed, and marginalized.
Living in Bethlehem, I was always drawn to Shepherd’s Field, the holy site where the angels appeared to the shepherds to declare the good news of Christ’s birth. It was often a bit quieter than other pilgrimage sites and there was more space to sit and reflect. Similarly, I am drawn to this portion of the Christmas story - the declaration of an ancient promise fulfilled, the fear and trembling of the shepherds, and ultimately, their readiness to accept this wild news. Even in the midst of their fear, they did not hesitate but immediately turned their attention and their very selves towards Bethlehem to witness the tangible reality of the incarnation.
I pray that we all may be like the shepherds, turning our attention to the in-breaking of God into our world. This does not mean turning away from the reality of violence and oppression in our world but rather tuning our attention and ourselves to God breaking into our world even in the midst of fear, uncertainty, chaos, and violence of our world.