Tag: shepherds

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Shock & Awe

krisshetter 
"Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking." Ezekiel 1:28

At the beginning of our church’s Christmas Eve service they played a video of kids answering questions about Christmas. One question posed to them was: “How do you think you would react if angels came down to speak to you?”  In their sweet innocence, all of the kids mimed being scared and in awe. They hadn’t sanitized and sweetened the idea of angels. They knew the Christmas story well of the shepherds in the field being visited by angels announcing the birth of Christ.

"And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people."'  Luke 2: 9-10

Those kids pictured the lowly shepherds looking toward the sky in fear of the mighty and glorious sight they were beholding. And although I can’t say what the angels looked like that day, if you look through the Bible and read the references to angels they are pretty scary and odd looking creatures. 

Last night, we took my grandson to a local area which features street upon street of lights and handmade, large Christmas cards in their front yards. The homeowners take different cartoon themes and make clever Christmas sayings such as “Hakuna MaChristmas!” At one house there were four foot tall, pudgy Precious Moments angels placed all across the yard. Those sweet little cherubs with big doe-like eyes made into tiny statues. I couldn’t help but think how far we have ventured from the Bible’s “shock and awe” angels.

"Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back," Revelation 12:7

I don’t know about you but those angels don’t sound like doe-eyed cherubs. In fact, I recently heard a theologian remind us that every time we read about angels visiting someone here on earth they first proclaim, “do not be afraid!”  Because of this, he also remarked that a true test of someone claiming to have been visited by an angel or even Jesus should state that fear was their first reaction. The glory of the Lord, whether in the form of angels, or the Lord Himself, is so great that even Moses had to be shielded from His great light! This makes it all the more amazing that God came as man so we could, in fact, see His face, touch Him, and just be with Him.

When I heard this “test of truth” statement it actually gave me comfort. You see, a few years ago I had a vision in which Jesus visited me and gave me clear instructions for some charity work. When I first tell someone about the vision this is how I describe it:

Suddenly, Jesus was standing next to me. I couldn’t look at Him because I was afraid if I did I might die. He was so gloriously bright. I could only peer at Him from the corner of my eye. While I was afraid, somehow He also comforted me. But at no time did I turn and fully look at Him. It was too much for me to take in.

Friends, so much of our Christian story is sanitized to be palpable and “user friendly.”  We want Jesus to be our friend, not our glorious King. We want angels to sit on our shoulder cooing in our ears, not appearing and scaring us into action for the Lord.  Our God is a god of such great glory that we should fall on our knees and bow our heads when we pray. Because we are not worthy of even being in His presence and yet, He sent His Son to wash us clean and allow us to participate in some of that glory. No man-made deity has ever wanted to share his glory, has ever expressed his love for his believers like the God of Abraham. For that alone we should give Him all glory and honor and thankfulness.

Soli Deo Gloria. Amen

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Glory Revealed

krisshetter 
A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40:3-5

You may have seen the widely distributed story and corresponding photos of the family who, after placing their Christmas tree inside their home, found an owl living in it. Four days after it had been decorated beautifully, admired, sat around, and I’m sure photographed. Four days. While the owl wasn’t some large barn owl, it wasn’t a tiny baby either. It appears to be about 6″ tall.  Let’s be clear about this too — the tree wasn’t decorated by children in some slipshod way. Someone draped and swirled gorgeous red, gold and white checkered ribbon. Lights were strung throughout, placed deep inside the branches. And no one saw the owl.

I was thinking about that story when I heard a podcast about the announcing of Jesus’ birth by angels to the shepherds. How His glory was revealed to the lowest on the economic totem pole, not to the religious elite. And once again I was struck with how God flips our view of “the way things should be” upside down. 

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:13

While we are told at various points in Holy Scripture that God sees all, sees and knows every single hair on our heads. However, there are those among us who are destined to never see or understand the glory of God. We are told in Mark 6 that after teaching in the synagogue in Nazareth many were astonished to hear such wisdom. Instead of wanting more, however, they “took offense” and shunned Him. The result was that Jesus did not use His might and power there. They had closed off their hearts and minds to Him. They missed out on his glory.

The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” Matthew 13:11-13

You know how that owl was finally seen? A neighbor was bending over to plug in some sort of device and saw the tree from a different angle. As believers, we should have that same perspective change so we can see and know the secrets of the Kingdom. Like that owl revealed in the tree we can see the glory and the light of the Lord shining in hidden places and in places that seem so obvious to us. Once seen, it can never be unseen.

When God reveals His glory to us, once we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, we are able to see two worlds. The world of the flesh and the world of promised His Kingdom. We see the joy and the hope while the world may just see bitterness and despair. The world so often looks down and inward. We turn our eyes outward and upward taking in the view of God’s people in need and ask how we can serve them. We see the glory of God revealed at work throughout our day — if you aren’t, just ask the Holy Spirit to help clear your eyes.

Friends, the King of Kings doesn’t just knock on the door of palaces and mansion. He knocks on our doors. At our apartment, our tiny home, our tent, our bedroom door. We need only to open the door, unlike the people in Nazareth, and welcome Him in (Rev 3:20) and His glory will be revealed. 

All honor and praise to the God who loves the lowly and reveals the secrets of the Kingdom to all believers in His Holy Word. Amen


		


			
		
	






			

			
							
		

	
	

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Our Furry Friends
	


	

							

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Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;  Proverbs 27:23





I am certainly thankful that the Lord sent His Holy Spirit to be with us always – to comfort, guide, and even giving us those taps on the shoulders when we are about to say or do something we shouldn’t.  Sometimes, however, we need an earthly comfort. A warm and fuzzy hug or a big sloppy kiss.  And that’s why I’m so very thankful God gifted us with pets.





There’s no clear answer as to when we humans started domesticating animals.  Some say the beginning of the 5th millennium BC, while others think it was a bit later in that millennium.  But no matter, we can know it was a long time ago we became shepherds and farmers.  It’s thought that dogs became our companions around 27,000 years ago!  The oldest known dog remains were found in the Americas and are dated to approximately 17,000 years ago.  We’ve certainly have had a long term love affair with our pets!





The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 2 Samuel 12:1-3





Now, while this verse is a rebuking lesson for David from the prophet Nathan, it also shows us a glimpse into the everyday life of the people – ones who loved their pet companions.  I can also imagine the shepherds who received the message of Jesus’ birth with their faithful sheep dogs by their sides that fateful night.





I’ve been blessed with two dogs, a few cats, some fish and even a few hermit crabs.  My dog right now, Tucker, brings me so much laughter and joy.  Don’t we all need someone in our lives that, when we come home after a long day, jumps for joy and begs to cuddle with them?  I thank God for this companionship and the love so many of us throughout the ages have received from our furry friends.