Shepherds Interrupted

The drama of the birth of Christ feels anything but peaceful to me. Angelic visitations and announcements. Scandalous conception. Escaping death threats by a tyrannical king. A government census imposed, causing long travel for a nine-month pregnant woman. There was no hotel room available and no medical care for birthing a baby, rather surrounded by barn animals and found a bed in a feeding trough. Noblemen journeying a great distance to pay homage, under a ruse from the king to find the baby and kill him. Ragged shepherds shouting in the streets about this birth.

Geez… I’m wore out thinking about all this! Where’s the movie?

The glow of Christmas lights, the carols ringing out all around, and the fresh pine scents of trees and wreaths immerse our senses. We dream about the idea of “Peace on Earth” through greeting cards, social media posts, and songs. Increasingly we feel the weight of the not peaceful times we live in. Bombarded with shopping ads for this year’s greatest gifts, consumerism becomes a bandaid for our discontented souls. Prowling our feeds and email inboxes, we are on the hunt for just the right kill as we trot victoriously with our finds to the gift wrapping room. Then we wake up January first to debt tied to the previous year, reminding us of our indulgences and leaving us with little peace.

Where is this season of peace we are to be embracing? Where does this idea of peace even come from?

Ordinary Interrupted

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.” Luke 2:8

The angels announced this tumultuous birth by lighting up the sky in the distance to shepherds. Shepherds were typically not the ones to experience good news first. They were out in their fields, keeping the flocks of sheep from predators and often isolated from the rest of their community. There they were, minding their own business as usual, not particularly hopeful or hopeless. Living in the ordinary.

This. This was when God showed up. In the ordinary. In the day-to-day drudgery of their work. When the common accolade was silent because the work was nothing spectacular and taken for granted, God showed up in the ordinary.

God shows up in the ordinary. Today. In the day-to-day drudgery. In the thankless work of work, adjustment to zoom and phone meetings. In the day in day out, keeping the kids on task with their classes. In the Groundhog-Day-Like movie that has become our real life. This is the moment God chooses to show up.

Reactionary Fear

“An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.’” Luke 2:9-10

As a child, I didn’t understand why they were afraid. I thought I would never be afraid of an angel! I imagined how great it would have been to have seen an angel choir up in the sky. As I have grown over the years, I understand the fear. I imagine there was a responsive fear to the sight they witnessed - you can read all about it in Luke 2 if you are unfamiliar with the context.

Fear rises when we are confronted with God because we know that, after that moment, nothing will ever be the same. We know we have been given something unique. There lies a certain amount of pressure to do something with this announcement, and they responded with joy and enthusiasm. Is this how I respond when God clearly meets me? When so clearly He moves in my life and pours out His spirit around me, do I embrace it? Do I believe it? Or do I walk away in fear, refusing to find joy in what has been given to me and viewing this gift as a burden?

Peace Declared

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14 NIV

In the ordinary and to humans who are predisposed to fear, God shows up to declare peace. Seems ironically disjointed. Through the lens of cynicism, I too easily get caught up in turmoil around us in our world, and I wonder where the peace is.

But peace isn’t declared for all the earth. Very clearly, peace lies with those whom his favor rests. How do I know if I’m one of those people? I firmly believe God’s peace is available to all, as it is one of the nine fruits of the spirit. It must be a choice for us to walk away from the things this world offers - self-satisfaction through lust, pride, greed, and so on - and choosing to walk in love, joy, and peace. It can only be by setting aside my own desires that my heart lines up with His - then I experience his favor, and with that, His peace.

So…What Happened After?

What happens after that moment is over? After the shepherds experienced the angelic high…after they went to behold the newborn babe…after they shouted through the streets of the newly arrived Messiah? Did they know this peace once the moment was over for the rest of their lives? How many of those shepherds lived to see Jesus’ ministry thirty years later? Did any of them witness the crucifixion and realize this was the baby they saw a few decades prior?

After the high of the moment, when I believe I have received the answers I have been waiting for, do I embrace the peace promised to me in that very moment for the longevity of my journey? Or do I crash, wondering where the peace went and why I need to do work now to pursue this peace actively?

If you know me at all, whether in person or through my writings, you have caught onto my own pre-disposition to unrest - some might call it a lack of peace. Often, I live in a place of deep and vacillating emotions, getting the better of my demeanor. Peace does not come naturally to me. I have to seek it out and remind myself of the truth. I can only renew my mind by actively engaging with Scripture on a regular rhythm. Romans 12 reminds us our transformation comes from this effort.

Will you join me in seeking out peace as we near the year’s end through an affirming of the truth through Scripture? How will you embrace the moment of peace God is giving you in the midst of your ordinary, break from the pattern of reactionary fear and embrace the peace declared over your life?

If you found value in this post, check out my post last week on looking for clues of hope.