"When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child..."
-Luke 2:17
There must be something about the Christmas season because I'm writing two blog posts back to back. Yesterday I wrote about the birth of Jesus described in Luke 2 and asked the question of whether there is room in our hearts for Jesus. We saw that the shepherds were examples of people who were able to accept Jesus as the Savior of the world. Today I want to talk a little more about the shepherds during the time of Jesus' birth.
After hearing about Jesus' birth from the angels, the shepherds immediately went to see Jesus. When they saw Jesus, they spread the word concerning what they saw. The shepherds not only praised God, as I mentioned yesterday- they went out and told people about Jesus. The Bible tells us that the people who heard the shepherds were amazed at what they were being told.
The natural question to ask is why the shepherds went out to proclaim the good news they had heard. Wasn't it enough to just see Jesus? Matt Chandler, the pastor of the Village Church, often cites this quote from C.S. Lewis: "I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation." In other words, joy is made complete when we share our joy. The shepherds went out to share the news of Jesus' birth because they were filled with joy. To achieve the fullness of their joy, they went out and publicly expressed their joy to others.
This truth told by C.S. Lewis is something we experience all the time but don't often think about. When something that brings us joy happens, we are eager to express our joy to others. For example, when I eat at a good restaurant, I love telling others about it. In fact, part of the reason I have this blog is to express thoughts and experiences that bring me joy.
With the idea that joy is made complete in sharing it, we must ask ourselves a tough question. If we are truly joyful in this Christmas season, why aren't we sharing our joy with others? The shepherds had no reason to tell others about Jesus' birth except to express their joy. We can imagine that the shepherds wouldn't have shared the news of Jesus out of a sense of duty. I think we often are reluctant to share the good news of Jesus because we feel that we're doing it out of duty. Jesus' birth shouldn't give us a sense of duty but a spirit of joy. In this Christmas season let's ask ourselves this question: does Jesus' birth really give me joy?
-Smart
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