Here With Us In Our Wonder

Do you know what the trouble with experiencing something for the first time is? You can never do it again. I’m not suggesting you can never have the same experience again, but you can never have the same experience for the first time ever again. Think about it for a minute. When you try something new, whether it is a new recipe, a new restaurant, a new movie, a new vacation spot, isn’t it your natural inclination to tell everybody about this experience that had a profound impact on you?

There’s a restaurant in Houston called Irma’s. My Father-in-law likes to go there before going to sporting events downtown. We may have been going to an Astros game this particular day and I was going to Irma’s for the very first time. I’ll tell you, the food is great but the lemonade they had was one of the best things I have ever tasted. That stuff would knock your socks off! It was addictive! It wasn’t just lemonade. It was like a lemonade with a blend of fruit pieces in it, like a fruit cocktail that just hit all the right senses. Their charro beans were epic, and I hate beans. But you know what the problem is? I have had the lemonade and the charro beans more than once, and they are still good, but they are not as good as the first time I had them. Why? Because you can only do something for the first time once.

Even something that is so amazing doesn’t seem to have the same effect. The more exposure we have to something, as good as it is, can begin to lose its luster after a while and it seems to lose its significance. It becomes another thing in our lives that’s just…there. Unfortunately, that’s what many do with their relationship with Christ.

Do you ever feel like that? Do you ever feel like your relationship with Christ is just…there? You love Christ, and you have a habit of praying, reading your Bible, and coming to worship services, but the everyday ebbs and flows of life make it all feel a little mundane. Have you ever felt that way?

As we go back in time to an all familiar story, we remember that 400 years of prophetic silence is broken when an angel announces to a priest named Zacharias that he and his wife will conceive a child. This child would be the forerunner of the Messiah. He would prepare the people for the coming of Christ. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary to announce she would be the one to bring this Messiah, the hero of Genesis 3, into the world.

During that time, Caesar Augustus called for a census to be taken. This census required those who lived in Israel to register in the town of their ancestral lineage. Reasons for this are unknown, but this meant that Joseph, Mary’s fiance of sorts, would have to travel to Bethlehem with his very pregnant wife. The trip would be 90 miles and some estimate that it lasted around four days. When they arrive, the time for her to give birth comes, and since there is no room for them at the inn (which was probably the guest room of a house), she gave birth in the barn, where the animals lived and the baby Jesus was laid in a manger (an animal feeding trough).

Our story today is about what happens next:

Luke 2:8–14 NASB95

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

What I have found is that over the years the familiarity of this story can run the risk of losing the wonder of the story. Have you ever read a good book or seen a good movie or TV show that just blew you away? There was a plot twist that just took you by surprise. But now every time you watch that show, or movie, or read that book, you know the twist is coming. We don’t get that same sense of shock and awe as the first time. If we are not careful, we can approach familiar passages the same way.

The shepherds were just ordinary people with dirty jobs. Shepherds were seen as lower class citizens. The job could be quite boring. While the Savior of the world was being born, these guys were getting ready to go to work just like they did every day before. Just like they thought they would do every day after. But this day was unlike any other day. This night, an angel appeared to them to announce that a Savior, Christ the Lord was born to them!

Think about it. Have you ever seen an angel? How many people in human history have ever seen an angel? And I don’t mean those questionable photos that circulate the internet. An event like this is extraordinarily rare. I have never seen an angel. The shepherds found themselves instantly in the presence of God’s messengers. This was an amazing sight. Yet you and I have never seen such a thing. What would you do if you had a moment like this? I would imagine our reaction would be much like the shepherds: fear. But our response should drive us to worship.

This scene seems to take place in real time about as fast as we read it. In a moment there is one angel, then there is a host of angels, and then everything is quiet and dark again. When you have a moment that has a profound effect on you, don’t you want to have another one? Are you living your Christian life from one big move of God to the next?

Let’s see what the shepherds did...

Luke 2:15–20 NASB95

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Immediately the shepherds go to investigate. They are not far from Bethlehem, and when they get to place where Jesus lay, they saw firsthand the Christ child and his family. They explained what they had seen, and everyone there was amazed. Verse 18 says everyone wondered. This isn’t wonder as in curiosity, like “I wonder what I’m going to eat for dinner,” or “I wonder what I’m getting for Christmas.” Wonder means to marvel at something. It’s to be blown away. It’s to see something and say, “How can this even be possible?” You could say wonder is to be rendered speechless as you stand in shock and awe.

Our music reflects this, and if we are not careful, they are just songs. But when we reflect on who Christ is, his miraculous coming, his outrageous sacrifice, the purchase from pardon, and the rescue from death itself, we should still have moments when are jaw hits the floor!

I stand amazed in the presence Of Jesus the Nazarene And wonder how He could love me A sinner condemned unclean How marvelous how wonderful And my song shall ever be How marvelous how wonderful Is my Savior's love for me!

And,

And I stand I stand in awe of You I stand I stand in awe of You Holy God to whom all praise is due I stand in awe of You

Do you still have that sense of awe and wonder as you reflect on the baby in a manger, or have you allowed the familiarity of it all to allow the awesomeness of it become relegated to just another aspect of your annual life cycle? Are you still dumbfounded by what God has done?

Are you still living waiting for the next big move of God? Angels appearing to shepherds is a big move of God. But it was also rare. God did not move in this way often. But we must remember that it doesn’t mean God was not moving. Just because God id not send a prophet for 400 years between the Old and New Testament doesn’t mean he wasn’t moving in the lives of his people. What if God is moving in your life in such a way that it would leave you in shock and awe but you are too distracted to notice?

God is with us in our wonder. As we remember the meaning of Christmas, let’s not merely acknowledge the cute baby in a manger surrounded by livestock. Let’s remember what this moment in history means for humanity.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope—the wary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn! Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

On that day, the infinite, almighty, all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present God of the universe stepped into physical space and time and made himself proximate with his creation in a new way. When the shepherds showed up, they saw the face of God because God now had a face.

Everyone was in awe of what God was doing. How do we see God in our wonder? Let me give you some things to consider.

1. Remember the joy of your salvation.

After his sin with Bathsheba had become known, David famously wrote Psalm 51 as an act of repentance. In it, verse 12 is a plea to God to restore the joy of David’s salvation. David had sinned and the key to restoring the joy of his salvation was repentance. See, when I am at my best in my relationship with God, I have no problem experiencing the joy of my salvation. But when I sin against him, I lose that joy. Some of you are stuck in the cycle you are in because of something in your life that God wants to get rid of but you are refusing to let go of. Do you want the joy of your salvation? Finally let God have his way. Remember when you got saved? Do you remember the joy you felt when that happened? Remember the joy of your salvation. Let God have his way in you so you can experience closeness to him the way you are supposed to.

2. See God in the little things.

If you are waiting to experience God in some grand way, he may do that, but I can tell you from experience that if you wait for that, you will be disappointed. God can and does move in big ways, but I often find that if I would pay attention to the little things, I would see that he has been moving all the while. Stop and pay attention to how God has been faithful in the little things and you will come to find those little things aren’t so little.

If you are here today and you have not made a personal decision to follow Christ, you have to understand that he is not here with you. Christ comes into your life when you recognize you have broken God’s commands, deserve his judgment, but recognize that Jesus is his son who came to earth to offer his life as a sacrifice for yours. He offered his sinless life as payment for your debt and mine. He died on a cross, was buried in a tomb, and raised to life three days later to conquer sin and death and pave the way for you to be restored to a right relationship with God. But it begins by asking for forgiveness for your sins, turning away from them and committing your life to his ways.