With Joy and Amazement: Luke 2:1-20 - Christmas Eve

Last Saturday, Elizabeth and I had breakfast at the Knead Community Café in New Kensington. If you’re not familiar, Knead is a nonprofit restaurant that’s staffed mostly by volunteers, and the meal prices are suggested donations. The idea is for anyone to be able to enjoy a meal, regardless of their ability to pay.

The restaurant was packed that morning, as there wasn’t an empty table to be found. As we were finishing our meal, a young boy, no more than three years old, approached our table. He was impeccably dressed in a plaid shirt and white bow tie, which made me wonder if he was on his way to a Christmas photo shoot. 

He immediately handed Elizabeth a Capri Sun juice pouch and said, “this is for you.”

Elizabeth was stunned, and looked up at the boy’s mother, asking her if it was okay for her to accept the juice. His mother seemed just as surprised as Elizabeth was, and said, “yes.”

Elizabeth thanked the boy profusely, and he returned to his mother, and they exited the restaurant. We sat there surprised, wondering why he approached us, when there were so many other patrons he could’ve given the juice to. 

Image by Andreas Böhm from Pixabay

We were immediately minded of a similar incident when we were passing out bags of candy to trick-or-treaters. A little girl, no more than two-years old, took a snack pack of Pringles out of her bag and handed them to Elizabeth before she received her candy from us. Her mother laughed and explained that this was her first time trick-or-treating, and said “she doesn’t know how this works.” 

In hindsight, I think she understood quite well—trick-or-treating is about sharing, and she wanted to be part of it. 

There was something about those children that I can only describe as angelic. Theirs was love in its purest form, totally without pretense.

Since then, I’ve been wondering if the shepherds felt something like this when they saw the infant Jesus in the manger.

Click here to read the Scripture text

When you think about it, there’s nothing extraordinary about a mother giving birth to her child. It happens every day and every night. 

But they didn’t stumble upon the infant Jesus by accident. They had been visited by angels while keeping watch over their flocks by night. They went with haste and found Mary and Joseph with the child, lying in the manger. 

The bible doesn’t give us any details about what Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds talked about, or even if they spoke at all. I’d like to think that once they explained to Mary and Joseph why they’d come, there began a lively conversation that only added to the wonder and amazement of what God was doing. Perhaps they helped each other to better see the fullness of God’s love dwelling in that fragile, tiny baby lying in the manger. 

It was nothing short of peculiar that God chose shepherds to be the first to meet the infant Jesus. After all, people usually stayed away from shepherds because they were dirty and smelly. Shepherds were considered unreliable witnesses since they tended to graze their sheep on other people’s land. This would be like having random people stealing tomatoes out of your garden or parking their vehicles in your driveway or reserved space. 

Yet, once they departed and told everyone what they had witnessed, their faces would have glowed with joy and wonderment. All who heard were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 

This joy and wonderment is something we all need in our walks with God. And why should we expect anything less, now that we know that Christ is active in the world?

I wonder if God chose shepherds that night because one of their basic duties was keeping watch. They had to be on the lookout for predators or any hazards which would threaten the sheep. What do you keep watch for?

A recent study published in PC Magazine reported that the average person checks their phone 144 times per day. This means that if you’re awake for sixteen hours, you are checking your phone every 6-7 minutes. Do you give God that kind of attention? What would God need to do to get your attention? I fear that our modern world has made us so distracted that we’re losing our ability to see the sacred in the ordinary, as the shepherds did that holy night. Then, we lose our joy and wonder.

It's never a question of if God is going to act. The only question is if you will be paying attention. 

No one will ever be able to encounter the baby Jesus as the shepherds did, but do you know where and when I am filled with wonder? When we’re here at church, ministering to our children. When we’re at bible study or sitting at meal tables where we talk about what we’ve seen God doing. When we’re out in the world and we’re seeing ministry making an impact on people’s lives. People who love Jesus are given a power that transcends our human abilities, and this power changes lives. It’s the Holy Spirit creating joy and wonderment through you. 

There’s nothing ordinary about love, mercy, forgiveness, charity, healing, or transformation. When Christmas is over, the decorations are put away, the songs are no longer sung, and we return to our daily lives, the joy and wonder will live on. You can keep the Spirit of Christmas by living each day in hopeful expectation of God’s goodness, and by being ready to share that goodness with the neighbor in need. God will keep giving you reasons to praise him. And you’ll be someone else’s reason to praise God all the same.