Christmas Awe

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Today's reading, titled Christmas Awe, was written by Sheridan Voisey. I was in London one night for a meeting. It was pouring rain, and I was late. I rushed through the streets, turned a corner, and then stopped still. Dozens of angels hovered above Regent Street, their giant shimmering wings stretching across the traffic, made of thousands of pulsing lights. It was the most amazing Christmas display I'd seen.

I wasn't the only one captivated. Hundreds lined the street, gazing up in awe. Awe is central to the Christmas story. In Luke Chapter 1, when the angel appeared to Mary explaining she would miraculously conceive, and to the shepherds announcing Jesus' birth, each reacted with fear, wonder, and awe. Looking around at that Regent Street crowd, I wondered if we were experiencing in part what those first angelic encounters felt like.

A moment later, I noticed something else. Some of the angels had their arms raised, as if they too were gazing up at something. Like the angelic choir that burst into song at the mention of Jesus, it seems angels too can be caught up in awe as they gaze on Him. The sun is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, Hebrews 1-3 proclaims. Bright and luminous, Jesus is the focus of every angel's gaze.

If an angel-themed Christmas display can stop busy Londoners in their tracks, just imagine the moment when we see Him face to face. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Hebrews Chapter 1 verses 1-9. In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets, at many times and in various ways. But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe.

The sun is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. So He became as much superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, You are My Son, today I have become your Father.

Or again, I will be His Father and He will be My Son. And again when God brings His firstborn into the world He says, Let all God's angels worship Him. In speaking of the angels He says, He makes His angels spirits and His servants flames of fire. But about the sun He says, Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever. A scepter of justice will be the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, Your God, has set you above Your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, signs of Your glory are everywhere. Some of them are in the magnificence of nature and others, expressions of man as we try to capture the wonders of all You are. But nothing compares to the gift of Your Son. Thank You for sending Jesus to reveal Your true nature to us and extend Your hand of mercy and grace, offering us the freedom that can only be known as we live in relationship with You. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.