December 29, 2024
There is a curious phrase found in Luke’s account of the Christmas story. If you remember, the shepherds were in the fields watching over their sheep when their graveyard shift was interrupted by an angel of the LORD and the light of God’s glory shining all around them. Then, these bewildered shepherds heard the announcement of the angel informing them of the birth of God’s Messiah. This announcement was followed by a “multitude of the heavenly host” (a whole bunch more angels) singing and praising God. And then...it was dark and silent once more. Luke sums it up this way in Luke 2:15 “so it was, when the angels had gone away into heaven.” This is the curious phrase to which I am referring. When this miraculous event was over, these men were faced with a decision. Imagine how easy it would have been to start “rationalizing” what they had just witnessed. Mass hallucination...they all fell asleep and dreamed the same dream...too much shepherd’s pie for supper or the biggest elephant in the field, we had best leave this miraculous stuff alone because if God could do what we just witnessed, what could He do to us shepherds if we mess up? Put yourself in the sandals of one of these shepherds. What would you do? What is your next move? To the shepherd’s credit, they said, “Let’s go see this thing the angels told us about.” Not only did they say it, Verse 16 tells us they did it “without haste.” Verse 17 tells that after the shepherds saw the baby Jesus, they told everybody they could. Not only did they make it known, they made it WIDELY known. Verse 20 tells us when the shepherds returned to their flocks, they returned glorifying and praising God. Would you say their lives had been changed forever? Did you know we are in the same situation these shepherds were in some 2,000 years ago? They were faced with a decision to either go back to watching over their flocks and pretend nothing had happened or go see the baby and tell everyone what they had witnessed. They were obedient because their encounter with God had changed their lives forever. This Christmas season, we too have “seen the baby Jesus.” The Christmas plays are over, there is nothing left of the beautifully wrapped presents other than a trash bag full of wrapping paper. Christmas dinner has been consumed, and the Christmas tree has probably either been taken down and stored until next year or hauled away to the trash heap. Turns out, the phrase “the angels had gone away” applies to us as well. We too have a choice. Return to life as it was before Christmas or get busy telling everyone how our encounter with Jesus changed our lives. The angels are gone away, what is our next move?
Be blessed and then go be a blessing . . . Bro. Andy
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