It was the end of ordinary on a remarkable night like no other
By Dean Collins
I’m guessing you have an ordinary routine you follow every night. Maybe it starts with dinner. Possibly it involves a glance or two at email from work if you are an overachiever. Maybe there is a conversation with a loved one, catching up on the day’s events. Hopefully there’s a book to read or you find something entertaining to enjoy through your television or streaming devices. Eventually you do the mundane bedtime prep of brushing and flossing and so on. But if you’re pregnant and the contractions start and then they accelerate, all that is ordinary can suddenly get chaotic. Especially if it’s your first birth.
All of the planning and childbirth classes might be helpful, but in the moment there is usually a little panic and forgetfulness as you rush to the nearest hospital or birthing center or call the midwife for the home birth. But if you had to travel due to some government requirement to pay your taxes and be counted in a census, you might start grumbling, because, now of all times, the baby has decided it’s time! Babies seldom choose the ordinary time to do much of anything. When a baby arrives, ordinary gets tossed out the window.
Majestic words, chaos unmentioned
Luke chapter 2 reads so majestically. The familiar words, comforting and inspiring, prepare us for our annual Christmas celebrations. Luke probably got much of the story from Mary herself. Maybe he interviewed a shepherd or two. But since these words were written years after the event, they likely don’t describe all the chaos of finding a place to have a baby while traveling by foot or on a donkey. Having a baby in a familiar home or hospital is one thing, but in an unfamiliar place I can’t imagine what Joseph was saying or doing. Mary, I’m sure, must have been the calmer one, even though she was the one with all the work to do.
Nearby there were shepherds doing their ordinary routines as well. While some likely slept, whoever had the night shift did the normal check on the flock to make sure no danger was present or sheep were missing. A dog barked in the distance. Conversation echoed faintly from nearby Bethlehem, crowded with those who had gathered for the census. And then the angel showed up. I don’t know exactly how he showed up, but when the glory of the Lord shone around them, the ordinary evening evaporated.
Frightening sight, familiar forgotten
Angels always bring those they visit to full attention! Scripture describes them demonstrating the glory of God, always a spectacular phenomenon. Extra adrenaline and rapid heartbeats were the experience this night, both at the delivery at the stable and among the shepherds fear-stricken in the field. But the angel spoke words of assurance: “Fear not, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for everyone.”
Likely it took a minute for the shepherds to calm their breathing and process what was happening. If the shepherds were able to think clearly, which seems doubtful, they would have recalled God had spoken to a other shepherds in the past, including well-known ancestors like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the famous local shepherd, David, who had become king. But I doubt these shepherds could recall any of that in the moment. The glory of God with its radiance and then a multitude of singing angels remove every thought and hold captive one’s mind, heart, and soul.
Before the evening was over, no one was doing the ordinary. Shepherds went to the manger to see the Christ child. Mary’s silent, holy night was interrupted by enthusiastic shepherds describing what they had seen. I don’t know how far the sounds of multitudes of angels singing traveled in the night air but maybe Mary and Joseph heard the distant praise. Whether they did or didn’t, the shepherds told them all about it as they looked in awe on the baby in the manger. Even for Mary who’d had a visitation by an angel nine months earlier, it was a lot to take in. Luke tells us what Mary probably told him years later, “I treasured all of that evening. I’ve never stopped thinking about it or giving glory to God for what he has done. “
Spectacular night, the ordinary interrupted
This spectacular night interrupted ordinary for all time. The Word became flesh and lived among us perfectly, lovingly, gracefully, and sacrificially. Jesus, the name above all names, arrived with a mission. He would accomplish his mission never to waiver from the will of his Father in Heaven.
Whatever is ordinary today awaits interruption. Whatever suffering or difficult situation you may be experiencing can change in an instant when we pause the activity of this moment and invite the Son of God into our minds and hearts.
The familiar carol includes a prayer for us to offer God again as we reflect on the birth of our Savior:
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray,
Cast out our sin and enter in.
Be born to us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell.
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel!
Click this link and listen to this wonderful arrangement. Say or sing the words, and experience God elevating you beyond the ordinary as you remember what happened in Bethlehem.
Merry Christmas!
Your time with God’s Word
Luke 2: 4-20 ESV
Photo by Denis Degioanni on Unsplash
