And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!
Among those whom God favors? Let’s be honest for a moment. Are you at least a little bit offended? God doesn’t have favorites, right? God is supposed to be like that parent going back to the shopping mall on Christmas Eve, because they are afraid a few dollars may have been spent more on one child than another! The phrase is so offensive, did you know that some ancient manuscripts omit it all together!
However, even if we omit it, we have the Song of Mary. In the Magnificat, Mary sings: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for God has looked with favor [there it is again] on the lowliness of God’s servant. God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty” (Luke 1:46-48, 52-53).
And then, we have the shepherds, the first ones on earth to hear the pronouncement of Christmas. Of course, we love to romanticize these shepherds, as we remember our innocent children depicting these Christmas characters wearing bathrobes in adorable Christmas plays. We also think about images of the shepherd king David and the beautiful green pastures, still waters and the protection of the rod and the staff of the twenty-third Psalm. And we may remember Jesus calling himself “the good shepherd.”
However, the reality is that shepherding was a most despised occupation. New Testament Professor Alan Culpepper writes:
In the first century, shepherds were scorned as shiftless, dishonest people who grazed their flocks on others’ lands.
Fred Craddock writes that the shepherds belong to the Christmas story:
Not only because they serve to tie Jesus to the shepherd king, David (2 Sam 14:23, 21) but because they belong on Luke’s guest list for the kingdom of God: the poor, the maimed, the blind, the lame (Luke 14:13, 21).
This is why the angels pronounce the good news of Christmas is great joy for ALL the people. Culpepper writes:
The familiarity of these words should not prevent us from hearing that, first and foremost, the birth of Jesus was a sign of God’s abundant grace.
The birth is a sign that God loves ALL people, even the most despised, the most lowly, those labeled by the religious culture as the most immoral.
And in what form does this sign appear? The savior was coming into the world through a poor peasant woman to be placed in a feeding trough made for animals. And it is this humble scene that sets the stage for his entire life on earth. The savior of the world was born and lived and died on the fringes, on the margins of society—underscoring the truth that the good news has come into the world for ALL—especially to those who are marginalized by politics and religion.
Page Kelly, my Old Testament professor at Southern Seminary, used to love to say that the biblical symbol for God’s justice on this earth was not a woman holding a set of scales wearing a blindfold, but was one of the prophets holding a set of scales with his eyes bugged out and a long bony finger mashing down on the side of the poor—favoring those who have always been despised and marginalized by society. Favoring those in our world who need more justice, more peace and more love.
Think about that for a moment. Today, is there any person or group of people, perhaps someone you know personally, who needs more love today?
It is a most important question, for I believe answering this question, and then doing something about it, is how God wants us to celebrate Christmas. More than lighting candles and singing carols, I believe God needs us, yearns for us, to show some favor, to love some people more than we love others—namely, those among us today who need more love.
The entire Biblical witness affirms that this favor is the will of God.
Moses commanded the Israelites:
If there are any poor…in the land…do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them. Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need. …Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need (Deut 15:7-11).
Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns. …True justice must be given to foreigners living among you… (Deut 24:14-16).
The writers of the Proverbs could not be more emphatic:
…blessed are those who help the poor… Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but helping the poor honors him”(Proverbs 14:21, 31).
If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord— and he will repay you! (Proverbs 19:17).
Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need (Proverbs 21:13).
A person who gets ahead by oppressing the poor or by showering gifts on the rich will end in poverty (Proverbs 22:16).
Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed (Proverbs 28:27).
So,
Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy (Proverbs 31:8-9 NRSV).
The Psalmist writes:
Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; (Psalms 82:2).
Isaiah pleads:
Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool’ (Isaiah 1:17-18).
“In other words,” says the Lord, if you truly want to celebrate the advent of the Messiah, if you want to light a candle on Christmas Eve and experience some of my Christmas favor, sing your carols, but then make a point to love the least among you more. Offer more love to those who need love more!
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed live free and remove the chains of injustice. Share your food with the hungry and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. The Spirit of God will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply, ‘Remove the heavy yoke of oppression…Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then (listen carefully to this!) your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon’(Isaiah 58:6-10).
You know what that sounds like? That sounds like Christmas to me! Sounds like John chapter one:
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it (John 1:5).
The good news is that when we bear the image of God, when we heed the words of the prophets and follow the way of Jesus, the light of the world, by favoring the least of these among us, when we offer more love to the lowly, the marginalized, the despised, the poor and the weak, when we reach out and offer them our bread, our drink, our clothing, our presence, our touch, our very selves, then we will not be offended by the chorus of the angels:
Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, whom God favors.
Just Love 