But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord…“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”   Luke 2:10-11, 14

When I was a young boy I was fascinated by the idea of an echo. When we would take family vacations in the mountains I would typically stand on an overlook and yell out my name as loud as I could hoping to hear the mountains call back to me. It wasn’t until later in life during time spent in a recording studio that I experienced the repeating of sound known as an echo (though artificially produced). The effect of echo reflected and duplicated the original sound giving it a more expansive feeling. Used judiciously it was a means of enhancing the sound and carrying it further. 

It is December 26, the day after Christmas, and the proclamation and celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth has taken place. There are various feelings and responses that show up the next day. For some there is a sense of let down because the day didn’t fulfill their expectations. For some the event itself was barely a blip on the radar screen of life and they have moved on to the next day, the next pressing agenda item, the next task or the next event. For some there is a new sense of peace and a renewed sense of hope. I’m sure there are many other feelings and responses as well. Though on the calendar the event has passed, the ramifications of the day continue to unfold. There is an echo that continues to reverberate through the coming days. 

The Christmas story was set in a small town and introduced to obscure shepherds. It was a proclamation of good news for all the world, for all humanity. It was a message revealed by angels in the heavens and it promised that in the birth of Jesus, God’s grace, peace and salvation was available for all to experience. 

The message the angels proclaimed in the heavens the shepherds echoed as they found the Christ child in a manger and told all of what they had experienced and heard. And the echoes of that message continue to be expressed throughout all time. As the day has passed we too can reflect the echo of that good news as we share God’s grace, love and peace with the world around us, as we proclaim that salvation, transformation and new life have come in Jesus. The song of the angels is meant to bounce and reflect off the surface of the ordinary lives of people like you and me. The telling of the story, the proclamation of good news continues as we face the incarnate Word and reflect His words of love and grace into this broken, hurting and desperate world. Our very lives can be and should be an echo of His sacrificial life and love. 

As you find yourself moving through the days of this week, into the new year ahead, in what ways might you better reflect and echo the message of good news through all your life? It is the opportunity we have as the day has passed to further express the life-changing story into the future before us. We continue to celebrate and echo the message because the good news for us is present in Jesus every day and for all eternity. May you find in these days following His birth the message of good news reverberating off the walls of your soul and beyond into the world that God so faithfully loves. May you be a living echo of Jesus and His love. Here is a song of this season on which to reflect.