Luke 2:8-9
“There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.” |
| Here's our newest, glorious disruption! |
"TEXT
“Christmas is a delightful disruption of the way things normally go”, says William Willimon, Dean of the Chapel at Duke University. Today’s Biblical text tells of a Christmas disruption of majestic proportions!
Here are shepherds doing what shepherds must have done on a cold Judean night. They poke at the fire, swapping stories while one of them softly pipes an ancient tune. One moment they are watching for wolves and jackals; the next moment an angel steps out of God’s presence into their presence without changing. The shepherds are suddenly overwhelmed by his glory, and engulfed in his blinding light. A heavenly messenger from another realm of reality, from another dimension, manifests before them." T. Smith
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These are such familiar words- our family read them out loud every Christmas morning. And my grown children now confess that those words were not a delightful tradition for their Christmas joy. It wasn't the tender family moment we had assumed - it was a source of frustration and well, disruption.
Like the shepherds who were doing what shepherds do, they were children and wanted to do what children do- open gifts, eat birthday cake ( it IS a birthday) and assemble the latest Lego model. Maybe it would have been a better tradition to put them to bed with that story from Luke each Christmas Eve- at the time we just wanted to create the holy in the midst of the wild. We had a plan, we thought it through, we were the parents, we were the adults- we were in charge!
God had a plan, God thought it through and He always always knows best. He sent angels. He sent angels to interrupt and disrupt a quiet, ordinary night with quiet, ordinary folk. Men who were not accustomed to getting the news first- they were just out in their fields, trying to stay awake. And suddenly an angel came upon them, and the Glory of God shown around them- this glory was not up in the sky but among them, encompassing them, as one translation says. The only other time this Greek word, peri-lampo, is used is when Paul is describing the light that poured from heaven and blinded him on the road to Damascus in Acts 27.
Why did I always see light around the angels? This light was all around the shepherds! The Glory came down! The Israelites hadn't seen God's Glory on earth since Ezekiel watched it depart from the temple and God let His people go into exile four hundred years earlier. Ezekiel 10:18-19.
Suddenly the visible manifestation, the Glory of God, was around, encompassing, enclosing and generally terrifying some dull, ordinary shepherds. Out in their fields. With sheep.
The angel said, "Fear not" but it was too late, they were sore afraid. Is that the afraid that makes your whole body ache? This must be some news! Something worth the sore.
8-12 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.” The Message
A baby? You're a big angel, you just appeared and scared our sheep, you terrified us and made us sore; you proclaimed good news, you say David's back- the great warrior king. We think "Yes! We're kicking those Romans out!" And it's.... a baby- wrapped up in some blankets and in a feeding trough? Don't try to fool us, we know what a manger is.
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As human parents we tried to control our children, insert the holy, do the right thing. Manipulate, control, even dominate some days. God just sent an angel, then a choir of glorious music, and pretty simple directions that didn't make a lot of sense.
Go to the neighboring village, look for a baby- the one lying in a manger.
With animals, and a tired mother and a confused father.
Ordinary people on an extraordinary night.
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We don't have to force the majesty of the gospel.
We can't control our childrens' response to the story.
We don't have to earnestly belabor the mystery of the arrival of
God on earth in human form.
Who really understands the incarnation, anyway?
God's plan always means He is breaking into our dull and ordinary. He is opening heaven for us to have a glimpse. He has good news. And He is reassuring us that we don't need to be afraid. Not even afraid of making mistakes with our kids or not explaining this thing called Christmas well enough. Those kids are just watching us and doing what we do. And we just need to follow the directions and look for a baby.
And look where you might not think he'd be.
With the ordinary, the humble, the shepherds.
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| The wonder of the ordinary |
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