Paul Baloche - Christmas Worship DevotionsSample

The First Noel

“They looked up and saw a star shining in the East..."

For one moment, imagine being a shepherd in the hills outside Bethlehem in the years before Christ. Daily life is rather uneventful. Surrounded by bleating sheep 365 days a year, the shepherd is endlessly guiding them up hills, down hills, into sheep pens, out of sheep pens, fighting off predators and dealing with sheep-related predicaments of every kind (like being a pastor...minus the doughnuts, bulletins and potlucks).

Every year is the same. Nothing really changes, until one night...the sheep fall strangely silent. The shepherd leaps to his feet and grabs his staff, assuming a predator is near. But as he rubs his eyes and looks around, he notices the hills are gleaming with a light he's never seen. This is not moonlight, but rather some kind of radiance shining from a star that bathes the whole earth in silver! And the sky! The clouds are rolling like huge waves on a stormy sea as voices begin to whisper from behind the clouds, gradually becoming louder and louder until the heavens are filled with the blast of a thousand shofars. 

"This must be the sound of the Temple!" the stunned shepherd thinks to himself. "This is what the priests hear when God visits His Temple!" 

Then the shepherd turns to find an angel standing right in front of him. Now this would be mind-boggling enough for people living in the 21st century, but to a man who had never before experienced holograms, 3D movies or Surround Sound? Wow.

"And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."  (Luke 2:9-11)

So what did they do? If this had happened today, the shepherds might have taken lots of selfies, texted the local news station and tweeted till their thumbs fell off. This miraculous event could have become more about their fifteen minutes of fame than it was about Jesus (but thankfully, those shepherds didn't have Smart Phones). 

“So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.' And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:15-26) 

Okay, so now what did they do? Did they form a ministry called "Shepherds Aglow"? Did they sell their sheep and decide to write a book, lead a seminar or book speaking engagements? Nope. 

“Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen...” (Luke 2:20)

Can you believe it? They simply went back to being shepherds! Still reeling from the magnificence of that night, they had no desire to race off to Jerusalem and start a different life. 

They had just experienced the glory of the Lord, and their lives would never be the same. They didn't need to change their outward circumstances, because that night of glorious worship had changed them on the inside. True worship is like that. It doesn't necessarily change our job or our lifestyle...but it does change the heart. 
So when you hear (yet one more time!) this well-worn Christmas carol, don't just chalk it up to being a tired old song. 

Remember the shepherds...and act accordingly.