It was an ordinary night outside of Bethlehem, where a handful of shepherds kept their routine watch under a quiet sky. They were men forgotten by most and noticed by few, who silently carried out one of the lowliest and most forgotten occupations. Yet in that unlikely setting, everything changed in a moment. The stillness of the night was pierced by a sudden blaze of heavenly light as an angel of the Lord appeared, illuminating the hills unlike anything earth had ever seen. To these unnoticed men, in this forgotten field, the glory of God chose to unveil the most significant announcement in history: the birth of the Messiah.

Have you ever considered this: Why shepherds? Of all the people God could have chosen for this announcement, He chose the very bottom of society's ladder. Shepherds were not celebrated, influential, or respected; they lived on the margins doing the work most wanted to avoid, and yet God would visit them with earth-shaking news. God completely skipped over the palaces where kings resided, passed by the temples where the religious elite dwelled, and paid no attention to the governors and leaders who stayed in government halls. This choice was not accidental; it was intentional. It was one of the first ways heaven whispered a truth woven throughout scripture: God delights in meeting the lowly, lifting up the overlooked, and pouring grace on those the world often forgets.

To every sinner that has ever been a partaker of grace, we understand that it goes where no one else is willing to go and knocks on doors that only heaven will visit. Grace is that unique element that says God is not waiting for us to climb our way up to Him; He is willing to come down to us. It means that God is willing to take anyone, regardless of background, past, or struggle, and offer them a place at His table. Grace is that no one is too broken, too distant, or too damaged for God to give them a chance. God’s acceptance is not fragile or selective; it is strong enough to embrace a prodigal, patient enough to look for the lost, and powerful enough to change the most unlikely. Grace means that our Creator God will receive anyone who comes to Him. Not because any of us can earn His favor, but because He delights in showing His mercy. The message of grace is that God’s heart has always been wide open, and the manger reveals it most clearly.

Think about it: Before Jesus, as a man, ever healed a blind man, cleansed a leper, or visited a demon-possessed man living in the tombs, he sent an angel to summon dirty, lowly shepherds to come to His Son. These shepherds in the Christmas story remind us that God’s invitation is not reserved for the polished, the powerful, or the put-together. He steps into the lives of the ordinary and the overlooked, and says, “You are wanted, you are welcome, and you are within reach.” In that moment, the very God of heaven exercised His muscle of grace by reaching out to those who were unqualified, unwanted, and unnoticed and drawing them into His story.

Christmas is that moment when the Creator became the created. A moment in time where God became flesh and dwelled among us, and he wanted the lowest to know that event; they were invited. His very entrance into the world shouts a reverberating message of grace. That same invitation is extended today. To the sinner, the seeker, and the skeptic, Jesus came for you. He came for those who have failed repeatedly and those who barely feel worthy to lift their head towards Him. This invitation was not only for shepherds; it also sends a word to the world that God loves to choose the unlikely, so that every one of us can know we are thought of, we are invited, and we are deeply loved. Christmas is the story of God coming near to us, and now it becomes our invitation to take the simple, life-changing step of coming near to Him.