Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.””
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, December 25, 2018
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
“Lemmie see! Lemmie see!” It’s a mantra heard regularly by parents of small ones. It’s partly because they are small and have a hard time seeing over or around adults. But it’s also because they have an insatiable curiosity. It’s not enough just to learn about a thing; kids want to see it, touch it, experience it fully.
The shepherds received quite a grand proclamation of the event of Jesus’ birth. There were angels lighting up the heavens, singing and praising the Christ child. The shepherds’ first response was, ‘lemmie see!’ It wasn’t enough just to learn about the thing; they wanted to see it, touch it, experience it fully.
We can’t see it, touch it, or experience it in the same way the shepherds did. But we can see, touch, and experience the arrival of the Christ child in tangible ways. We see Christ in other people, from small acts of kindness to deliverance for the enslaved, imprisoned, ill, addicted, or war weary. We touch it when we get our hands messy doing God’s work. We experience it when we worship, pray, meditate, when we are in loving relationship with others, when we suffer, when we recover, when we work, play, and rest. The palpable presence of Christ is all around us. We are eyewitnesses to the miracle of Christ’s birth every single day.
Narrative Lectionary Daily Reading:
Luke 2:8-20
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child;and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
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