Today’s reading… Luke 2:1-20. The characters: Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus and a bunch of nomad shepherds. The questions: What do you think the shepherds were thinking when this bright light and multitude of flying people hovered just above them, telling them a Savior had been born and singing “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.“?
It seems our loco story is continuing here…does it not? I mean, come on people – am I the only one that sees how crazy this whole story really is? First, Mary contracts a kid from the Holy Spirit. Then, Joseph stays with a woman who is pregnant…but not from sleeping around…and doesn’t sleep with her until the child is born. Next, a bunch of nomads supposedly see some bright lights and hear voices telling them about a savior?
I think they were probably thinking, “Oh my, what did I eat for dinner? Was that pipe laden with something else? Except I look around at my peeps and they too seem to be experiencing this…WHAT IN THE WORLD??? Did we all die at some point and didn’t know it? Can you still feel so much fear when you are dead? (For the bible does say they were full of fear.) Oh man, I got to get my head checked out after this. Maybe living with a bunch of sheep for so long does take a toll on my mental state. But I really want to get the heck out of Dodge right now. Wonder if the others would notice?”
Who knows, but I think this is what I would be thinking. Even knowing that God does some pretty loco things once in a while in my own life – I think I would still be hesitant to believe what I was seeing with my own eyes. How would I have known it was real? Even if my compadres had also seen it…
As I think about it more, I am guessing that these shepherds must have been Jewish and knew the scriptures. Something that isn’t evident from our English translation…so I’ll have to go look it up in my e-Sword and see if there are any cultural notes (and yet another reason I CANNOT wait to start Fuller next summer…almost done with my app – yeah!). I imagine this little detail would add something to the story – for they would have known if they were Jewish the scriptures and would have known the promise of the Savior that was made in there. It is not clear whether these nomads knew what type of Savior it was – an earthly one or heavenly one…but they would have known the scriptures promised this.
Lastly, about the shepherds that caught my eye…is that after their rad experience…they did not hesitantly go towards Bethlehem and check out their facts. No, they “made haste”, “went quickly”, “hurried off”, “Fueron a toda prisa”, “they left, running”, “Après l’avoir vu”….basically “Run shepherds Run! Whatever they first thought or believed when the first angel appeared had so dramatically changed by the time the multitude of angels left…it had built enough excitement in them that they felt they had to get the heck out of Dodge and run for Bethlehem to see if what they had just heard/experienced had any validation. They wanted to fact check their odd, loco experience.
While we just assume that the shepherds solemnly yet joyfully walk onto the stage of God coming down to Earth in a little babe – just as they do in our pageants…looking again at the versus I realize we do not know how long it took the shepherds to find Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Here are some additional questions I came up with when this dawned on me:
What would they find when they got there? Would it be just as the angels had said? How many places did they have to check in on, how many doors did they have to knock on before they found the one? Were they close to despair and dismay as they narrowed down the search, still not finding the One they had been told about? How long did it take?
Why are these important? Well, because many times in our life …at least in mine…I know I’ve read a verse or been in prayer and heard a promise God has made to me. It might not have been followed by the pomp and circumstance these shepherds received…yet the feeling that the promise was real and tangible and worthy to hold on to was/is there. Yet, I am not ever promised a time frame…and even if I hear a “soon”, I’ve come to realize that God’s timing isn’t always my timing. For to Him a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day.
So – to me – an answer of “soon” might not be as soon as I think or would like it to be. So, I therefore must ask myself if I will give up on God, on His promises to me, on “making haste” to follow after those promises as if they were true …and not falling into despair and dismay as I await to find the right “place” where that promise is waiting for me. No, I must keep pursuing…must keep “fueron a toda prisa” towards the place where I know God has encouraged me to go…treasuring up in my heart the promises I have heard Him promise, holding onto them with all hope knowing one day my joy will be complete…just as Mary treasured up all that was going on around her in that stable of smelly barn animals and a little newborn babe.
