But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” –Luke 2:9-11.
I’ve been going for a lot of long nature walks lately. Not even because I’m super reflective, not because I have an affinity for nature, no. It’s much simpler than that, it’s because I have a dog. Yes, you read that right; my dog is the reason I go for long nature walks. Bear with me here as I tell you a bit about my fur baby. I have a golden retriever named Daisy, and boy is she energetic! Simple neighborhood walks don’t do it for her any longer, not like they did when she was a pup. She requires the cool of the earth beneath her paws now, she wants the scent of crisp autumn leaves, actually, more like whatever’s lurking beneath them. She wants the sight of the forest with its beams of sunlight and the sound of squirrels rustling about, birds chirping, up in the trees somewhere, she wants to lick the dew off of the fallen foliage. To say she loves the woods is an understatement—she is elated when she’s in them! When I say the words, “wanna go for a walk?” she comes to life. She bolts towards the door, ready to run, head-on into a new adventure. Over the past couple of months, as Daisy and I have trekked various New England trails, my dog has taught me to love creation. It’s because of her that I’ve been reminded nature was created for me to enjoy as well. Daisy stops and smells the flowers. She investigates every twig that appears suspicious. She picks up on any trace of any other creature who may have gone before her. She is so present in every moment. Locked in discovery mode, she traces every sight and scent—familiarizing herself for next time. Her desire for discovery got me thinking: “what if we lived in wide-eyed wonder as Daisy does? Awestruck by all the beauty that surrounds us? What if the earth, formed by the hands of our Maker and designed for us to thrive in, elicited the same awe-struck response in us as it does in Daisy?
Throughout Scripture, God is referred to as an AWEsome God. I think that says something about the lens through which He wants us to view Him…
By definition, awe is an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc. It is produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like. Knowing the Creator of the universe invokes just such an awe inside of us. It awakens some deep knowing that fulfills our every need for belonging. I mean, it was the voice of God, after all, who spoke the stars into existence and gave the earth its form; He who, with just one Word, spoke light into existence. And it was this same God who allocated a place in the ecosystem for every living being. Everything that has breath sends that same breath right back to Him, in praise. His hands the very ones that formed humankind, the crown jewel of His creations. And it was His breath blown into the lungs of that first man that gave him life—us too. Yes. From the very beginning of time, God’s watchful eye has been on us. If I stopped right here, what I just said should be enough to ignite a great big spark of awe in you. But alas! There’s more…
The bond between God and man was broken by Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden—their sin separating them from Him. But God set out to—had a plan to, restore what they had broken! Considering the Christmas season that is upon us, I thought it appropriate to look at the response of mankind to the arrival of God in the flesh, in the person of His Son, Jesus. In Luke 2, we find the story of Jesus’ birth. But before I get there, I need to remind us- Jesus chose to come into this world in the most unlikely way, and to the most unlikely of people. Ordinary people like me and you. Jesus did not come with a heavenly army, nor to a kingdom as we know it. He came through Mary, a humble servant. And He chose to be born in a simple stable, in a very unlikely town. In Luke 2 we learn that the very first people to be told of His birth were lowly shepherds. What got me when I read Luke 2 was the shepherd’s response. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. So, they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger” –Luke 2:9-11; 16. They were terrified—a response to being awed. Yet despite this, after they were reassured by the angel, they were moved to action. That overwhelming awe didn’t paralyze them. It moved them. First, to go and see, then, secondly, to go and tell!
When you have a genuine encounter with the Living God, something magnificent happens within you. That encounter causes you to act because of what you’ve just experienced for yourself! Understand, this kind of supernatural reaction doesn’t just impact you, the one who has the initial experience, it has an eternal chain-link effect that connects you somehow to countless others. Luke 2 goes on to tell us that, “all who heard it were amazed by what the shepherds said to them” –Luke 2:18. All who heard. Those shepherds couldn’t keep quiet about their awesome experience with the angel of the Lord. They told anyone who would listen to them all about Jesus, His star, and His birth—about their divine encounter with Him. They shared all that the angel had spoken to them and everything they had witnessed with their own two eyes. They could have chosen to write the angel off as some dream-like apparition, yet they chose instead to unapologetically stand by what they knew to be true.
I can call to mind some experiences I’ve had where I may have dulled down the story to make it seem a bit more “normal”. But the truth is, the supernatural things of God are anything but normal. There’s a reason they’re called “super-natural”. They defy earthly definition. And when we share these supernatural things God has done in our life with others, it causes amazement to well up in them.
Let’s look, for a moment, at the wise men. Fun fact: The Bible doesn’t say how many wise men there actually were. We know from Scripture that there were three gifts, but there very well could have been a caravan of people traveling to behold the Savior of the world! Regardless, these wise men, or “Magi” as they’re referred to in Matthew 2, were highly esteemed and well-educated men. Yet these same men came and bowed humbly before a baby they believed to be the Messiah. They saw a star in the heavens, a sign, and they followed it. They did not worship this sign mind you, they simply allowed it to lead them to their Creator. With this in mind: I pray we are never too old or too prideful to recognize and respond to the move of God—no matter how undignified doing so may seem. Like the Magi who knelt before a baby, I pray we have the humility to adore Him in every situation we may find ourselves in. Secondly, I pray we don’t look at signs as gods, rather that we allow them to lead us to the One True God—the source of all wisdom and life.
From the moment He was born, Jesus evoked an unadulterated passion from His own—from all those who recognized Him as their Messiah. I have the feeling that all the emotion tucked into the Christmas story may have been placed there to help us to return to a childlike state of simple joy and admiration for the Babe in the manger.
As Jesus grew into His ministry, He healed many and spoke with such wisdom it shocked those who heard Him speak. The Samaritan woman, the lepers, the blind men, the lame, each received His gift of healing and love. Then, telling everyone they knew what they had experienced, most of them responded just as the shepherds did—in wonder and amazement. Part of the beauty of this story is that we get see Jesus amaze people all around the world, still. Whether it be restoring hope to the hopeless, bringing healing to the afflicted and broken, or bestowing a sense of belonging to someone who is lost. Jesus is still working today—right here, right now. He still displays signs and wonders around us every day. We just need to open our eyes, our hearts, to both see and to receive them.
If my dog can live in the moment, soaking in the awe and wonder of God’s endless goodness, His abundant provision, and splendor, I’m thinking we ought to be able to as well. Wouldn’t you agree? This Christmas season, my prayer for you is that you might find the “extra” in ordinary things. Most of all, I pray that you discover the hope found only in Jesus Christ. I pray His joy fills you beyond measure! I pray you begin to live in a state of wonder and awe, flat out amazed by all that God has done, is doing, and is yet to do!
And if you’ve never asked this God of awe and wonder into your heart—what better time than now! Give your life to Jesus today let it be your gift to Him in return for all that He has given you, starting with your very breath. He has allowed all this time to pass just so that you’d read this, and then ask Him into your heart as Lord. “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” –2 Peter 3:8-9.
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