Go and Look #adventbookclub – Day 29
Luke 2:13-20 (CEV)
13 Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said:
14 “Praise God in heaven!
Peace on earth to everyone
who pleases God.”
15 After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about.” 16 They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay.
17 When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him. 18 Everyone listened and was surprised. 19 But Mary kept thinking about all this and wondering what it meant.
20 As the shepherds returned to their sheep, they were praising God and saying wonderful things about him. Everything they had seen and heard was just as the angel had said.
We’ve read on days 21 and 26 of the angels appearing to the shepherds. Now we see what they do about it.
It would have been possible for the shepherds to hear the angel’s message and do nothing about it. To dismiss it as a vivid imagination on a cold night, or something altogether too scary to consider, or too much like hard work to move.
But they didn’t, they decided to go and investigate, to see what it was that God was wanting to show them.
As they arrive, things are exactly as God said – Mary and Joseph and the Son of God. Just as God said.
And they worship.
Mary, she took all this in, and wondered…
What was this all about? Where was it heading?
The shepherds, they went back to their sheep, but not to forget about it. I’m sure that night lived with them for the rest of their lives. They went back praising God – for all they had seen and all he had done.
God calls, delivers his message, It is up to us what we do about it. But if we ignore it, who knows what we might be missing. If we follow it, we will find everything just as God says.
God speaks.
Do I hear?
If I hear, do I do anything about it?
Do I leave it?
I am Very Busy.
I have Responsibilities.
Perhaps I was imagining it…
That wasn’t meant for me,
surely for someone else?
What might I miss out on?
Encounter with God?
A space of worship?
A chance to know?
Something to learn?
Lord,
when you call
may I hurry to you,
kneel before you,
find you
and know you
This year, several of us are reading Beginnings and Endings by Maggi Dawn and joining together to comment on it. Do join us at the Adventbookclub Facebook page, follow #adventbookclub on Twitter or comment below. If you are also reading and blogging on this book, let me know and I will link to your blog.
Pam's Perambulation 
Discussed these verses today at church, we have looked at Luke’s version of the Christmas story during advent and after.
We wondered what the story would have been like without the shepherd’s, why did Luke given them such a big role and if they brought their sheep with them.
I’ve always assumed Luke’s focus on them was part of his overarching theme of God being as much for the poor and outcast as the rich and privileged.
I so hope they brought the sheep 🙂 what a commotion that would have made!
Also during the service we played pass the parcel to reveal figures from the Christmas story, wrote new carols and sang old ones too #nonconformist party service. Things we have learnt this year – no singing angels! and of course no donkey!
that sounds brilliant 🙂
I used to lead a service that sounds similar to that. I do miss it.
Really enjoy your songs at the end of your posts “Lord, when you call may I hurry to you”. Yes!
Thanks! I like to round things of with a song and a prayer. Makes my brain think a different way and I find the prayers a useful way to express what I was trying to say more addressed to God