Based on the communion lesson I delivered for the Watford church of Christ on 21 December 2025
Surprised Shepherds: When God Shows Up on the Night Shift
How many of us have worked nights at some point? There’s something about the night shift that feels different. While the rest of the world sleeps, you’re awake. Shops are closed. Offices are dark. Life feels quieter, slower, and a little disconnected. It can feel like you’re living in an alternative universe, out of step with the people who seem busy, important, and noticed.
That’s the setting Luke gives us in Luke 2.8–20. The birth announcement of Jesus doesn’t begin in a palace or a temple. It begins in a field, in the middle of the night, with shepherds.
Shepherds were working-class labourers. They didn’t have status or influence. They worked long hours, often alone, doing a job most people ignored. Yet these are the first people God chooses to tell about the birth of the Messiah.
That choice matters. God skips the palace and goes straight to the fields. The message is clear: God values the overlooked. The good news of Jesus doesn’t arrive first to the powerful, successful, or impressive. It comes to people who feel forgotten.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re living on the margins of success or importance, this story speaks directly to you. God sees you. He hasn’t missed you. And he wants you to hear the good news.
When the angels appear, the shepherds react like most humans would. They’re afraid. Confused. Overwhelmed. The sky fills with light and sound, and fear makes sense. Mary and Joseph felt it too earlier in the story. God’s presence often does that at first.
But fear isn’t the final emotion. The angels announce “good news of great joy for all people,” and something shifts. When the angels leave, the shepherds don’t stay put. They hurry to Bethlehem. Curiosity drives them forward. So does anticipation, joy, and wonder.
They seek. They see. And then they share.
After finding the baby lying in a manger, the shepherds can’t keep quiet. They tell everyone what they’ve seen and heard. The news spills out of them because they know it isn’t just for them. This is good news for everyone.
The nativity story is full of surprises: a virgin birth, unknown parents, angelic visitors, a feeding trough for a crib, foreign wise men. But the shepherds might be the most surprising part of all. They represent what the whole gospel is about. God brings peace to ordinary people. Healing to the overlooked. Hope to those working the night shift of life.
That’s still the good news today.
Your brother, Malcolm
