It was a dark and quiet night.
A night human history would forever know as Christmas.
Today, that night no longer seems so dark or quiet. Kitchen clatter mingles with live-streamed music. It layers the sounds of tearing paper, scrape of spatulas on cookie sheets, and clink of tangled light strings on tiled floors. Children exclaim with alternating delight and impatience. Weary parents attempt to keep up with the frenzy. In some homes, by end of day, peace lies in pieces on a cluttered floor. And the day after, news media replaces the wonder of Christmas with worry over a world still brimming with conflict.
I want to go back to that dark and quiet night of long ago. The sounds were so different from what they’ve become. The only sound heard in one corner of the world was the bleat of sheep blended with muted talk from their keepers. If you’re searching for a definition of peace, that night of quiet watch might seem to be what you want to hear. Yet beyond the boundaries of the sheep pens lay a similar world to our own—one that had faced darkness and conflict for many long centuries. In that quiet hour, many on earth longed for peace.
Then, light illuminated the sheepfold.
An angel of God stood among them and the sound of his voice spoke into the darkness. They were terrified at his appearance, but he quickly assured them.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
The light and sound intensified. A huge crowd of heavenly beings joined the spokesman. Did they speak? Or did they sing? No matter. Their proclamation punctuated history.
“Glory to God in highest heaven. And peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
The angels walked off earth’s stage. The lingering note was the bleat of a lamb. In dim light fed by stars and firelight, the shepherds looked at each other, their faces eager, anticipating, hopeful. “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that the Lord has told us about.”
They responded to what they had heard and hastened to find Mary and Joseph in the small village nearby. The angel’s words were true. There was the baby in the manger, just as the angel had said.
My mind wanders into wonder.
What did they do with the sheep? Did one representative lamb ride the shoulders of a shepherd, as my childhood nativity set suggests? Did one shepherd stay behind to guard the sheep, forever feeling left out and living the memory of what he was told by the others? I suspect—but Scripture does not say—that those shepherds left it all. Considering such wondrous news, what does the welfare of a few sheep matter? History was about to take a hard upward turn, and they were witnesses of sounds that would forever reshape their world.
Peace had arrived, peace available to anyone who chose to put faith in what this child had come to do. Incredible peace beyond human understanding. Peace with the power to end war between sin and self. Enduring peace authoritative enough to conquer conflict through a divine government based on fairness and justice. A personal peace that brought hope in Jesus’ ability to overcome the troubles of the world.
The night was no longer quiet.
The message was too big to keep silent. Those shepherds told anyone who would listen what they had seen and heard. It became a night like no other.
And so, as we approach yet another anniversary of that dark and quiet night, we celebrate the night the stage lights came on and the chorus broke out with news of the best gifts of all—joy and peace—gifts that would never go away.
A Savior has been born—yes! Christ the Lord!
To find out more about the peace the message of Christmas offers, check out these verses from the Bible:
- Luke 2:8-18
- Isaiah 9:6,7
- John 16:33
- Romans 15:13
- Phil 4:7
May the sounds of this Christmas remind you of the lasting peace Jesus came to offer.
Explore the wonder of sound and what we hear with Karen in her latest book, With Open Ears: 60 Reflections on the Wonder of Sound from a Woman Born Blind, now available for preorder from Amazon.
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