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Today’s
text
Now it happened that
when the angels had gone from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one
another, 'Let us go to Bethlehem
and see this event which the Lord has made known to us.' So they hurried away
and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about
him, and everyone who heard
it was astonished at what the shepherds said to them.
Reflection
I wonder what the Shepherds thought about what they were
seeing. What did they make of it?
Tell them the child is the “incarnation” of God in the flesh,
and they would have scratched their heads and walked off.
Dumbfounded stares would have been their reaction to discussion
of the two natures of Christ, God and human. They knew no creeds or doctrine. This
was beyond them.
Their actions are concrete and plain: They hurried. They
saw. They told their story. Simple.
They make me realize how I--and most of the Western
church--have made Christian faith unnecessarily complicated and difficult.
I like knowing complicated words and concepts. They give
understanding of the faith in depth and help me know what I believe, the God I
trust, stripping away false and foolish notions.
But such knowledge can also puff up the ego, distracting the
heart and the mind from what we most need, from what I most need
Like the shepherds, I need to see Jesus--and seeing, I need
to tell what I see.
See and share: In seeing I receive precious knowledge, not
of mind but heart, but of a Heart so great it has room for me and everyone.
In telling, this awareness fills me with the joy of being
part of this Great Heart that embraces all creation, all humanity in all its
need, joy and brokenness, an embrace of infinite love and red-hot passion for
the healing of all things.
Near the end of Jesus ministry, before his crucifixion, out
of town strangers came to Jesus’ disciples with a simple request, “We want to
see Jesus.”
Here at the start of Jesus journey, shepherds come out of
the cold with the same request, “Where is the child? We were told he is here.
We want to see him.”
Seeing Jesus, hurrying to see Jesus should be the first
order of life and of each day for us.
Seeing him transforms our minds and opens our hearts to see
and share the beauty and grace he is. It gives purpose, hope and direction to
daily life
Far more than complex words and ideas, we need to follow the
shepherds. Their feet lead to the place of knowing what is most needed.
Pr. David L. Miller
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