“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Luke 2:8
Sixty-three years and one week ago, my father was killed in an automobile accident a mile north of York, NE. I was seven, my sister was 13, my mom was 37 and in an instant on that morning, she became a single parent, a week before Christmas. We lived on a farm south of Seward, NE with 20 dairy cows, wheat planted and acres where corn would be planted. The Christmas program at St. John’s Lutheran in Seward was a very sad moment for us that year. I still remember that it was a moonlit evening and a thousand stars filled the sky for the three of us.
That was in 1957 and sitting here today in Normal, with this pandemic hanging over most everything, I wonder what it must have been like on the night that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. To really get a true image you need to drive several miles out into the country, away from all of the lights and look heavenward. There were nights, when I lived in the Sandhills of Western Nebraska when the night was so still that I could literally hear my heart beat and listened to goose bumps ‘pop’ on my back as I looked up nto the black void. The stars appeared to be bright shining diamonds hanging in the sky and that is a time when God is so close that one can almost reach out and touch His hand. While living in Petionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince it was possible to go onto the roof of my apartment and gaze at the stars since there was no electricity; and there too, the stars seemed so close that a person could almost reach out and rub against them and feel the closeness of our Heavenly Father, Creator.
The Son of God came to earth on a still, quiet night; oblivious to many. Too many people in our world today will not spend time considering the importance of His birth, His life, His death and resurrection. It seems so difficult to separate ourselves from the activities of this world to stop for a few moments and give thanks for His coming to be our Savior. I close today’s devotion closes with the words to the hymn ‘Silent Night’ that was written by Joseph Mohr in 1818.
“Silent night! Holy night! All is calm; all is bright, round yon Virgin Mother and Child. Holy Infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace. Silent night! Holy night! Shepherds quake at the sight; glories stream from heaven afar, Heavenly hosts sing, Alleluia. Christ, the Savior, is born! Christ, the Savior, is born! Silent night! Holy night! Son of God, love's pure light radiant beams from Thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth. Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.”
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay