One of my favorite songs of this year’s Christmas playlist
is by Jason Gray. It’s a song called Gloria!
(The Song of the Shepherds), and it tells the tale of the shepherds after
the angels’ announcement and song:
After the angels song,
everyone held their breath as the darkness rushed back in upon those shepherd
boys. Staring into the night, climbing up off their knees, with their hearts on
fire, they were trembling with fear… and JOY!
Gloria! Gloria! Was a
choir of angels singing, the shepherds’ ears were ringing, they were ringing
with Gloria! Gloria! Now everything is going to change—Christ the Lord is born
today!
Racing down from the
hills, running like children run, reckless and wild, with a song that they
begun again. As the field beneath their feet turned into city street, they were
crying out, “Have you heard, have you heard O Bethlehem?!”
Gloria! Gloria! Was a
choir of angels singing, the shepherds’ ears were ringing, they were ringing
with Gloria! Gloria! Now everything is going to change—Christ the Lord is born
today!
A land under the rule
of the priests and kings
Only shepherds heard
the song that the angels sing
The humble are the
keepers of the secrets of the Kingdom that is coming
With a song that will
break the whole world like 10,000 horses running
Gloria! Gloria! The
shepherds they were singing, Now all our ears are ringing, they‘re still
ringing with Gloria! Gloria! Now everything is going to change—Christ the Lord
is born today!
….
One day He’ll come
again to bring us a brand new song but til then we’ll sing along with those
shepherd boys”
Can’t you picture it?
These shepherds have been astounded by the announcement of the birth of
the long awaited King by an angel of the Lord shining with the glory of
heaven. WHAT?! And then this angel is
joined by a choir of angels, glorifying the Lord and speaking peace to those
with whom He is pleased. INSANE!
The shepherds have heard and seen this all upon their
knees. They were afraid (or as is said
here in Bundi, they were fearing.). The
angel knows this and commands them, “Fear not” and then speaks wonderful,
jubilant news. It isn’t announced to the
kings and leaders of the land. Not to the capital of the known world or people
with accolades and riches. The angel
comes to the humblest, the lowly. Those
who keep the sheep. Those with whom He
is pleased. Those who are doing what King David began with. Those who are doing what our King does, our
Great Shepherd of the Sheep. The humble are the keepers of the secrets of
the Kingdom that is coming.
As the angels went away into heaven, can you imagine how
that darkness rushed back in? How those
shepherds looked at each other in wonder?
I might have looked around thinking “Was that for real? Did that really
just happen?” But, as this song says,
their ears were ringing with “Gloria!”
They got off their trembling knees filled less with fear now, but
finding joy rising up. My ESV says they
said to one another, ““Let’s go over to
Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known
to us.” And they went with haste…”
I love the image this songwriter paints, of them running
like children run, reckless and wild. I
think they were probably screaming, giggling, running as fast as they could. They were churning up the earth, maybe taking
a few tumbles on the way and hopping back up with joy and glee. Running to find this baby. This King. This
Savior. The one of whom the angels sang,
the One who the Lord made known to them. Can you imagine being in their sandals? My
mind would be blown. I would be
sprinting down that hill, willing my legs to move faster, forgetting the sheep,
not caring how foolish I looked. Crying
out in the streets, “Have you heard Oh Bethlehem?! The King! It’s the King I
tell you!” Racing to find him, to bow
down before Him, to bespeak the work of the Lord I had witnessed in the fields
and now witness in the arms of his mother Mary.
As I picture myself as a part of that night, I find myself
praying that the joy and glee these shepherds experienced will revive my heart
this season. That I might delight anew in
the miracle of the Savior’s birth. As I
await His return with a new song, that my ears might echo with this song and my
heart and life might live it out. That I
might call out in Bundibugyo, “Gloria! Now everything is going to change—Christ
the Lord is born today!” His birth
changes EVERYTHING. May He awake my
heart once more to this beautiful reality.
That the gift of all gifts has been given, the child of the Living God
who lived, died, and was raised to life for me. For you. For my friends in Bundibugyo. For the students at Christ School. For each and every one of us. For the whole world. Who might need to hear this good news this
season? I know my heart needs to hear it
again, and the Lord is asking me to share this news like those shepherds. Have you heard, have you heard? Everything is
going to change. It already has. And it
will continue to. He is bringing His Kingdom to earth through His people. What is your heart echoing and crying out
this season?
I’m also hung up on and delighted by the idea that He comes
to the humble, He comes in unexpected ways to the people we’d least
expect. Are we living with hearts
attuned to the humble ones? Who are those people in your community, who you may
least expect to see Jesus? They may be the ones He’s revealing Himself to
today. Are we living as humble ones who
have been given the secrets of the coming Kingdom? What does that look like? Are we opening our hearts to share this
beautiful secret?
As this song continues to play, my heart continues to
ponder. Christ the Lord is born today.
What a mighty, miraculous, magnificent, true story. Merry Christmas friends!
