“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, an angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them…” Luke 2:8-9

I cannot help but smile at the wonder and excitement my ten-year old grandson demonstrates each Christmas when it’s time to open presents. It’s a wonder that most of us can easily relate to at this time of year. However, it’s not Christmas presents under the tree that our heavenly Father smiles about, but that moment when one of His children truly grasps the wonder and awe of the Christmas story.

In our simplistic enactments of the Christmas story, we sometimes omit the sense of awe and wonder that must have stunned the shepherds that night as the angelic announcement came ablaze with the glory of the Lord. Did you catch that in the passage? The glory of the Lord shone around them! Like a nuclear bomb, the Lord’s glory burst upon that pastoral scene and forever transformed those who witnessed it. Out of the complacency of their ordinary lives came an explosion of wonder and awe at the news of something so extraordinary that they had to go see “this thing that had come to pass”. What they saw was so wondrous they could not help but tell others what they had seen.

There is no scarcity of complaints about how commercialized Christmas has become and all the ways that Christ is left out of a holiday that is supposed to be all about Him. It’s all true, but perhaps we would do well to focus less on all the shortcomings of others who fail to grasp the true meaning of Christmas, and more on the condition of our own wonder and awe of God’s love expressed in this event we call the Incarnation. It is only as we approach Christmas with a child-like wonder of God’s glory in the birth of His son, that we can hope to help our grandchildren see the real wonder Christmas that makes the dazzling display of Christmas decorations and presents under the tree pale in comparison.

GRANDPAUSE: “Every human being has an aching for awe—a longing for something deeper—unfortunately, we are prone to misdiagnose that ache in our heart thinking it’s for superficial stuff when it is actually for God’s glory.” –Matt Heard