"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale…”
Okay, take a moment and finish humming the theme song from Gilligan’s Island before we get started. Funny, isn’t it, how familiar that song is for those of us who watched the TV series?
Does the Christmas story fall into the same category for you, so familiar that it brings a smile to your face and you walk around humming it, even though you may have forgotten the words? Have you heard it so many times that the words of Luke 2 seem like a good friend—familiar, expected, welcome, maybe even a little too familiar?
Maybe you even start to zone out when you hear the beginning of the story, just listening for your favorite part and perking up again when you know the end is coming.
Tale. The word itself conjures up thoughts of fairy tales, make believe, fantasy, children’s stories. When stories, even true stories, become overly familiar, we tend to go on auto-pilot in reading or hearing them. This story, this tale, over 2000 years old, is no fairy tale. It is amazing, supernatural, unexpected, yet predicted and documented in history.
Maybe we’ve just heard the story too many times. Could it be that we’ve allowed the familiar words to lull us to sleep so that we miss the power and significance of the tale of Jesus’ birth?
Take a moment to talk to God, asking Him to open your eyes and ears to the story of Jesus’ birth, then read through the following excerpt from Luke 2—
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
What stands out to you as read the story about Jesus’ birth?
The simplicity of the first Christmas belied the wonder of what God was doing at that moment in history. Bethlehem was filled with the hustle and bustle of crowds, of frantic, travel-weary, crowds finding a place to spend the night. In the midst of it all, a baby was born, new life came into the world. In that everyday occurrence, the sacred intersected the ordinary.
Stop.
Did you catch it? The wonder? The awe? The mystery? The sacred? The divine moment?
At that moment, angels worshiped—
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
They proclaimed peace to frantic, harried, stressed, burdened men and women—
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
They affirmed God’s love and care for us—
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Try reading this simple phrase aloud, slowly, repeating it and each time, emphasizing a different word—
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
As you celebrate Christmas this year, this day, all year through, don’t miss the sacred, the divine, the wonder, the mystery. Don’t let the frantic nature of life, the everyday stresses, the hustle and bustle of living in the 21st century mar your ability to glimpse the sacred reality that God has become one of us, that His glory is revealed, that He has blessed us with peace, that He loves us, He really loves us.
Not just the generic “us” that is humankind, but the “us” that is you, and me, and the others all around you—in your house, at your school, in your workplace, in the stores, and on the streets.
As you walk through your days, allow the angels’ message to permeate your life and soul. Whisper—to yourself and to a listening world—
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
You’ve memorized it by now, and you’ve prayed it as you’ve meditated on the angels’ words. Let it become your prayer as you move through your days.
Like the angels, take time to respond to God in worship this Christmas. Tell the tale to those around you. Proclaim the good news that, in Jesus, God is for us—and live it out!
Let your life tell a tale of worship, peace, and love this Christmas.
Now that’s a tale worth listening to!
Which part of the angels' message do you need to hear this Christmas? Wonder and worship? Peace? Love?
Which part do those around you need to hear, not even necessarily in your words, but in the way you live and celebrate Christmas?
What will you do to make the angels' message part of how you prepare for and celebrate Christmas?
How will your life proclaim the wonder, peace and love of Christmas to those around you?
To view the worship celebration related to this article, click http://www.touchandchange.com/artman/publish/article_1567.shtml
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