Shepherds Marvel

A high school classmate of my sister shared a story on Facebook recently.

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Her and her husband and children moved to a new city several years ago and struggled to find jobs. It was three months before either of the parents found a job, and Christmas was just a few days away. The kids wanted decorations, a tree, and presents. They had what they needed, but none of the niceties of Christmas. Then, another family of four knocked on their door. They had never met them before, but they came with Christmas decorations, a tree, presents, even a bed with a mattress and linens. They came with food and a spirit of joy.

Adelyn often brings me pictures that she's colored or drawn. I really enjoy her artwork. I often tell her things like "that's amazing" or "that's wonderful" or "that's beautiful." I just want to be clear, I do like her art, but I’m not really marveling at the art—I’m excited to see her growing up and learning new skills. The art by itself is nice, but not amazing or wonderful. Which makes me think about the kinds of words I use. What does Amazing mean?

The helpful family had found my friend’s information at a local employment agency and decided to adopt them for Christmas.

I often use the word “amazing” without really considering it’s true meaning. The word amazing has a unique purpose. It’s purpose is to be an over-the-top-superlative—a word that is beyond comparison.

Let's say we were comparing artwork; we might say that

[next slide] one piece is good,

You may know that feeling of being a little bit helpless and having someone swoop in to help you out. For that moment you feel amazed, and filled with a little wonder. Through that helpful person you see God at work.

[next slide] another is better, and

[next slide] another piece is the best of the bunch. But then someone brings in a fourth piece

[next slide] and nothing else we've seen can compare—that's when we say "that's amazing."

What does "amazing" mean? [next slide] To cause great surprise or wonder; astonishing.

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Words like awe and wonder and amazed and marvel are superlative words that share a distinction from other words. They express ideas that are at the extreme end of the scale of descriptors.

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Awe: a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder

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Marvel: be filled with wonder or astonishment

Notice how awe and marvel both have the word "wonder" in their definition.

What is wonder?

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Wonder: a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or unexplainable.

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In their pure form these words are reserved for the most exclusive experiences.

We create a short list of man-made creations and call them the "Seven Wonders of the World." 

But our world has very little left that we truly wonder at anymore. Science has removed the mystery from so much of nature, and google has put the answers to our remaining questions at our fingertips. We rarely stop to examine something with wonder and awe at it's mysteries.

I can't help wondering if our hearts have been hardened just a little bit by all our knowledge. Maybe the organ that responds with amazement and wonder has been robbed of it's power because of our sciencing, and quantifying and qualifying and comparing.

Yet I can't help wondering if our hearts have been hardened just a little bit by all our knowledge. Maybe our organ that responds with amazement and wonder has been robbed of it's power because of our quantifying, qualifying and comparing.

For many of us the story of Jesus' birth is one of these deflated experiences that has lost it's wonder. We've heard it over and over again and to some of us it's just a story. Sure, there is theological significance — God coming to earth, the incarnation, the messiah—but we don't pause in awe at these events.

Today, let's look at this story with an attempt to peel away the coldness of our hearts to experience the story of Jesus with wonder again.

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[next slide] - Mary and Joseph

It was a time when God hadn't talked to His people for hundreds of years. Miracles didn't seem to happen any more. In that way that time was a lot like ours today.

Bethlehem wasn't their choice, they had to go because the government required them to be registered to pay taxes. That too was ordinary. Secular. Uninteresting. What was interesting is that Joseph brought his pregnant, betrothed wife with him.

During their time of betrothal an angel told Joseph that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit and that he should proceed with the wedding since Mary had not been unfaithful to him.

This first piece of the story is AMAZING. This had never happened before. Mary was pregnant and had never been with a man. Not only that, but a supernatural being of light and glory had visited both Mary and then Joseph to tell them this wasn't an ordinary pregnancy but it was literally God—the Messiah, the Christ—in the form of a baby inside Mary.

Pause.

Take a moment to be filled with wonder.

This is an awe inspiring thought.  God became a baby. A zygote, an embryo. If this isn't beyond science and logic, I don't know what is. There is no way to quantify or qualify or compare this to anything that has ever happened on earth.

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[next slide] - baby in womb 

This is a real story of real people and real challenges. Joseph brought Mary to Bethlehem and Luke records that Mary gave birth to Jesus, wrapped him in strips of cloth and used a feeding trough with straw in it as a crib. That was all they had because they were in a stable since there was no rooms available anywhere in Bethlehem.

Don't give in to your temptation to gloss over these details and idealize them with songs. There's no way any of you would consider having a baby in a barn. Maybe  your bedroom with candles and soft music and a midwife with all her medical equipment nearby. Maybe the back seat of a car as you race to the hospital. But never a barn.

Mary didn't have a choice. The time had come, and her baby was going to be born one way or another so she did the best she could with what she had. I'm sure Joseph gathered as much clean straw as he could find and laid out all the blankets they brought with them and a few more from the kind people living nearby. I imagine there was water drawn from the town well.

Mary might have been giving birth to the Son of God, but to her it was still the painful and beautiful event of childbirth.

[next slide] - baby in womb 

[next slide] - baby in womb 

Even though we know the stages of development and have images of babies at every stage of growth inside the womb, birth is still something to marvel at, even if it's not usually the son of God.

Pause.

Take a moment to be filled with wonder.

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That night, just after Jesus was born, the angels who had been hovering around Mary and Joseph had to express their joy—they needed people to share in the glory and wonder of the event. God had come to earth!

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Shepherds were watching their sheep in a field near Bethlehem. Without warning the night was filled with the light of an angel who was covered in the glory of God.

Let’s pause the story for moment and roll back to earlier that day.

Imagine that you were in that group of shepherds. You had been tending your sheep, maybe talking about the longing you had for the messiah to come, and suddenly your sheep were illuminated by a brilliant light with a figure in it. It was a light so pure that you wondered if you should even look at it. You were startled and filled with fear and yet excitement.

Then you heard the voice of the figure in the light. It was so warm and full as he said,

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"Don’t be afraid! I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.

[next slide] 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!

[next slide] 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 

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The blazing figure was then joined by more angels, a large number that Luke refers to as a "host" of angels, and they all sang an anthem of rejoicing with such harmony and beauty and volume! The whole hillside echoed and reechoed the song long after they had ascended to heaven and disappeared from view.

Pause.

Be filled with wonder.

That the angels came. That they sang.

Oh! What a song that must have been.

Their vocal chords untainted by the degeneration of sin. Their memory for music, perfect. Their skill in harmony and melody unmatched by any talent on earth. A millennia to practice the song. Oh, what would that have been like?!

I’ve been trying to think of how to put us into that experience. How can we imagine the awe of the shepherds at the angel’s song? Maybe this will help…

[next slide] - Angelica Hale

Have you ever watched America's Got Talent on TV or YouTube? Earlier this year I was watching a youtube video of a girl named Angelica Hale. She's this little 9 year old girl with a typical 9-year-old, high-pitched, talking voice,

[next slide] but as soon as she opens her mouth to sing it's almost like she's lip syncing to Whitney Huston. I was amazed as I listened because she's such a small little girl with such a powerful, mature voice. It was totally unexpected. Now, take that amazement and multiply it a few times and you might approach the wonder the shepherds experienced.

While we can’t duplicate the shepherds’ experience we can listen to a version of the angel's song. If you need to, close your eyes and let your heart be filled with wonder.

** [next slide] - video — angels from the realms of glory** Audio required

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After the angels disappeared the shepherds left their sheep and raced down the hills to Bethlehem.

Had the people in town seen the light and heard the angels’ song? Maybe it had woken the whole town. We don't know, but as soon as the shepherds had seen the baby in the manger they couldn't keep their excitement inside. Luke says they [next slide] “told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.

[next slide] All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished,

[next slide] but Mary [treasured] all these things in her heart and thought about them often. ()

This seems to be a common theme with wonder and amazement—we like to share it.

[next slide] - snow through a window

Yesterday I was at the office, with no windows nearby when I got a call from my wife. “The kids are outside playing in the first snow of the season, and they’re loving it!” Joelle exclaimed.

We love to share things when we’re full of joy and amazement. Maybe snow isn't your thing, but you get what I'm talking about—we've all had that feeling at one time or another.

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Kids do this all the time. They want to share their latest art piece or their finished lego project or how they mastered some skill on their musical instrument. Especially when it's the first time you've accomplished something or experienced something, the desire to share seems to overwhelm you.

The older we get and the more times we experience something the less wonder and amazement we have.

I think that one of the reasons our hearts grow apathetic is that you and I don’t cultivate the sense of wonder the shepherd’s had, and we tend not to treasure things in our hearts like Mary did. And maybe that's one reason why it's not always bubbling out of us to share with others—we haven't recently been filled with wonder.

Did you have a rock collection when you were a kid? The first time you saw a glimmering golden rock you probably put it in your pocket to keep forever. Then you saw a quartz rock and though it was amazing. Then you picked up a pink rock and decided that must be your favorite ever, until you saw that deep green rock. Every new discovery made you wonder. Until you discovered that the shimmery rock wasn’t worth anything and that quarts was everywhere. Today, if you collect rocks they’re probably geodes and precious stones that actually have some monetary value, but even those likely don’t cause you to wonder any more.

What miracles in your life have you stopped being amazed by?

Are you amazed by falling snow?

Do you marvel at the miracle of friendship and human love?

Are you filled with awe at the thought of a God who loves you?

Have you wept recently at the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross?

Have you pondered the great mystery of Christianity, Christ in you, the hope of glory?

Do you treasure the thought that the Holy Spirit has made you His home?

Have you stopped to look at your life? Really paused to wonder at how God has already been changing you into His image?

There is so much about God, His creation and His salvation that we should marvel about.

The shepherds marveled at the angels song and told everyone about the baby Messiah. The townspeople wondered at the news that God was again talking to his people and that their savior had come. Mary pondered it all and kept it close to her heart.

This Christmas, spend some time pondering. Don't allow your mind to explain away the miracle.

Be filled with wonder at His amazing gift in coming to earth.

Be overcome by awe, and then with your heart overflowing, share the amazing story with someone who doesn't know it or hasn't yet realized how awesome it is.

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Merry Christmas.

May you be filled with wonder.