“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Luke 2:15-20 NIV
From Craig Loscalzo, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky:
“And the heavenly chorus sang glory to God. After this powerful display of praise, the shepherds just had to see for themselves, so they ran off to Bethlehem to experience what the angels had told them. When they got to Bethlehem, “they hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the feeding trough. After seeing [them], they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them” (Luke 2:16-18, HCSB).
When God offers grace, the appropriate response is exuberant joy. Eventually, the whole world would celebrate the coming of this child, but for now, only the shepherds knew what had happened in Bethlehem. The result was the response that should arise from all God’s people: The shepherds returned to their flocks “glorifying and praising God” (v. 20).
Reading Luke’s account, we’re filled with wonder. We expect something miraculous. We expect the amazement to continue. We want the mystery of the moment to continue because – if we’re really honest with ourselves – we long for something amazing in our lives. Our routines are so predictable and harried, our schedules so frantic and programmed. Our children are so busy with schoolwork, school activities, sports, and church. Our days are so packed with stuff, I wonder if we allow ourselves time to live. Yet, as we hear angels singing and shepherds hurrying and Mary pondering, we feel we may just find a little time for wonder.
Yet, again we are struck by the “routine-ness” of it all, the “normalness” of it all. We have come from angels singing glory to God, to the daily ticking of the clock. The challenge for us is always to find ways of celebrating the presence of God in the ordinary moments of everyday life – the smile of a friend, the sharing of a meal, the beauty of good music.
Perhaps the words of the familiar Appalachian carol grasp the idea best:
I wonder as I wander out under the sky – How Jesus, the savior, had come for to die For poor on’ry people, like you and like I.
When Mary birthed Jesus, ’twas in a cow’s stall, With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all. But high from God’s heaven a star’s light did fall, And the promise of ages it then did recall.
If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing, A star in the sky, or a bird on the wing, Or all of God’s angels in heav’n for to sing, He surely could have it, ’cause He was the King!”
We all take great joy in celebrating miracles of healing, or provision or the arrival of a new little life into our families. What are some examples of the presence of God in the ordinary moments of your everyday life?
