What If Christmas Was a Surprise?

For Mary, Christmas was a big surprise. I'm struck by that fact every time I read the story.

Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, some shepherds in a field - all surprised, shocked, and utterly leveled by the news of this new thing that God was doing. And so, while we can retell the Christmas story in a sermon, we can recreate it in a drama or movie or song, and we can try to visualize it in a nativity scene, we can never ever capture the surprise that was inherent to the moment.

Think about it. Mary, a virgin, woke up pregnant. Luke 1 is full of it. Men are struck silent, fetuses are dancing in wombs. Matthew 1:20 tells us about the visit Joseph receives from an angel to explain the entire situation. (Angel speaking to God: "You want me to tell him WHAT?")

Then we find these shepherds watching their flocks by night. They're visited by a great company from the host of angels. Let's define that quickly - they were stirred from a peaceful slumber by a literal army of angles. I tend to freak out when my alarm accidentally goes off on a Saturday.

But because Christmas has become such a routine for us, it's hard for us to appreciate the allure and magic of the unseen moment that it used to be. What a surprise it must have been.