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The Shepherds Encounter
About a month ago, my wife and I visited Georgia’s park at Stone Mountain. Besides climbing the mountain, we visited some of the tourist attractions. One of them was a 4D 12 minute presentation of the film The Polar Express. It was quite an experience.
One thing really struck me about the movie. We have the Hero Boy living his normal life. All of a sudden, something from beyond comes into the normalness of life. The magic of the world beyond has broken through. There, in the middle of the street, is a huge train, heading to the North Pole. Audiences give this movie a rare A+ and consider it a classic in part because it captures that magic of Christmas so well.
That movie captures something of what happened on Christmas night 2,000 years ago. The Polar Express is an imaginative, made up story. This story, the story of the angels and the shepherds and the Christ child, is real. It’s all true.
On a night like so many others, the shepherds were watching over their flocks. All of a sudden, an angel appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord filled the place. The angel said to them: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”
God created human beings to be a joyful people. Joy is our natural state. This joy was rooted in the fact that human beings would submit to their place under God, rejoice in His love for them, receive His gifts, and take their place among the human community.
However, we all know that this is not the way we find humans. Alienated from God, we find them anxious and wandering. Alienated from God, we find them frustrated and taking on the weight of the world. Alienated from God, we find them trying to find joy by escaping into a smaller world through addictions to drugs, work, sex, or people. Alienated from God, we find them alienated from one another. Alienated from God, we find them under His judgment and ultimately sentenced to death. So, joy escapes them. Joy escapes us.
But the angel announces great joy, mega-joy, to play off the word in the original language. Why? Because, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” The Savior has come. It is the eternal Son of God come to earth. He is bringing us back to great joy. He restores us to God by taking on human flesh, suffering on the cross, and rising from the dead having defeated death. He is the Messiah, the one God promised who would destroy all the works of the devil and bring everything back to what He intended. He is the Lord, the great King, who is bringing in a new reign of joy and peace in the lives of people. Well, then, did the angels sing to God: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).
The Shepherds Tell
After the angels left them, the shepherds immediately went to see the Savior. “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about” (Luke 2:15). They said.
The angel told the shepherds that they would find the baby. “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).
And, sure enough, it was just as the angel said. They found the baby. The sight of this baby Savior filled them with such great joy that they went and told everyone.
That’s what happens when we are filled with great joy. We want to share those good things. We are made for community, and we want to share our lives with others. That’s what the shepherd did. If we take in the great joy of Christmas deeply, that’s what will come out. When we find a great joy that transcends all our circumstances, we cannot but tell about it. This spreads the emotions of great joy. They are contagious!
I experienced this Sunday. Several folks from our church went Christmas caroling. We sang for those who have been watching our services from home. One of these families encouraged us to sing to their neighbors. One man came out as we sang. His ailing wife remained inside. As we sang, you could see he was deeply moved. Tears came to his eyes. His emotion brought tears to my eyes. I was moved by the wonder of the fact that we can spread the joy of Christmas by reaching out to those who are isolated and need a touch. This is something that I want to remember throughout the year and let the tears in the eyes of that man lead me to others who need the touch of Christmas joy throughout the year.
The Shepherds Remember
And that’s the key. To become people of great joy, it’s not enough simply to encounter the angel and the Christ child. We’ve got to actively remember what we experienced.
In the movie, The Polar Express, the Hero Boy recovers a bell from Santa’s sleigh. Santa gives it to him as the first gift of Christmas. However, he loses it because it goes through his pocket that the train had ripped at the beginning of the movie. He awakes on Christmas day to find the bell in his house. This is another confirmation of his supernatural experience. The key thing, though, is that he continues to listen to that bell throughout his life. That one experience and its reminder shapes his life and thinking for years to come to make him one who truly believes.
And that’s precisely what had to happen for the shepherds. They experienced a supernatural encounter that could change their lives forever. But they had to remember it. They had to keep it alive in their hearts and minds for it to become the story that changed their lives.
We get a hint of that from what it says about Mary. “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered thhem in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Through her memories, she experienced them again and again.
And that’s what we can do. As Ebenezer Scrooge said at the conclusion of A Christmas Carol, “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” Like the shepherds, we can encounter the great joy of Christmas, but we can also let it shape our lives by treasuring it up in our hearts like Mary. Then, each day throughout the whole year, we can tell everyone about it and go about glorifying and praising God for all the things we have seen and heard. Merry Christmas. Amen!