It was not curiosity which led the shepherds to seek
the baby in the manger. Three times in this short space of
Scripture it affirms the compelling motive was what the
shepherds HAD BEEN TOLD.
Verse 15,
"...which the Lord has made known to us." Verse 17,
"... the saying that had been told them concerning this
child." Verse 20, "... glorifying and praising God for
all they had heard ..." Even a fourth statement
punctuates finally the importance of motivation from the Word
of God, " ... as it has been told them."
The
Nativity of Jesus Christ follows a pattern instructive to us
about the direction and dynamic of all theology.
God acts
through His Son Jesus Christ. (God's gift of Himself)
God
reveals His Son to men. (God's gift of His Word revealed)
Then God
moves men to respond. (God's gift of faith)
Because
God in Christ is the source and impulse of our faith, He must
receive all the praise.
Here at
Bethlehem, God acted by delivering His incarnate Son from the
womb of Mary who laid God's Son in a manger.
Here at
Bethlehem, God revealed His Son to shepherds keeping watch
over their flocks by night.
And now,
here at Bethlehem, God moved people to respond to the wonder
of His Son. The shepherds are stirred to look for this
exceptional child. Mary is moved to ponder in her heart the
significance of Jesus' birth and all that had happened.
Inhabitants of Bethlehem are motivated to wonder also at this
miracle as they received the account from the shepherds.
We
repeatedly see throughout the history of God's people the
response of people to God's actions and revelation. The true
spiritual seeker is not the curious eccentric or inquisitive
mystic who makes a pilgrimage to "find God."
It is the
person who is blessed to have been introduced to the
fountainhead of God's Word.
Daniel,
to whom the Word of God was made known as a child, sought the
Lord (Daniel
9:3); sixteen year old Uzziah who had been
instructed in the fear of God set himself to seek God (2
Chron. 26); Jehoshaphat in the ways of David sought
the Lord (2
Chron. 17); the noble Bereans "received the word"
and daily and eagerly examined the Scriptures (Acts
17:10-11); Greeks who had been introduced to God's
Word came to Philip and asked, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." (John
12:20-21)
The
stimulant is always God's Word.
And here
now are shepherds, and Mary, and local folk of Bethlehem drawn
by the Lord to look, see, touch, know, ponder, and glory in
the wonder of Christ. They respond.
Responding is always secondary, but it is also always derived
and inseparable from that which prompts it. Faith is never
separated from its object, and for us the object of our faith
is always Christ.
Jesus
Christ was born in Bethlehem for the express purpose of making
God known to us by the conduct of His life so we could and
would respond in faith. God made Himself known to us
corporeally and tangibly as our bona fide Savior in the flesh.
He is Immanuel, "God with us."
Because
of God's action, because of God's revelation of His Son, we
are now blessed to respond in an array of ways each of which,
if truly to celebrate Christmas, will be a product of the
Word. Any observance of Christmas detached from God's Word is
mockery. Only those of Christian faith really commemorate
Christmas. And how shall we do so?
Exactly
as it was done the first Christmas night.
Go to
Bethlehem and see what has happened. Hurry to where Christ is
present. Search out the surprises of grace and love God has
wrapped in humble garment. For us, this means we gather for
the Sacrament where Christ is truly present, swaddled in the
humble means of bread and wine.
Christmas, then and always, is making known to others what you
have been told about this Child. It is treasuring the marvel
of Christ's incarnation in your own heart. It is meditating
on the meaning of all God has done for you beginning at
