The Advent season is one of my favorite times. I try to find new things each year that renew my awe of Christ coming to earth. I confess, I am frail and human and often forget what a magnificent gift it is that the Creator, the One who spoke things into being, the all-knowing, all-powerful God came down as a baby, growing through each stage of human development in the womb and outside the womb, to come pay a debt we couldn't pay on our own. This truth should disarm me daily, but I, like the Israelites, often forget from whence I came. But every year, the Lord is gracious to me, and shares something new with me that fills me with wonder and who He is and how He works. I wanted to share this year's contemplation.
I was listening to the "God-Centered Mom" podcasts, one of my favorites, because it's like sitting down with another mom who is also broken like me, but tells real stories and interviews real people and it's like having a coffee with a friend. This last week's episode was an interview with Christy Nockels. It was encouraging from beginning to end. But toward the end, she was talking about her new album, "The Thrill of Hope." She tells the following story, as I condense it into a synopsis the best I can:
She said one of the lessons she learned as she took time off of worship leading to be with her kids, was words of wisdom she got from a friend with 9 kids. Christy wondered how she did it all. Christy said her answer was simple, "Invite the Glorious into the mundane."
Later on in time, Christy was waiting for the right inspiration for a song on a Christmas album she wanted to do. She was reading Jewish writings on the story of Jesus' birth and something caught her eye. Apparently, at this time, the sheep raised in and around Bethlehem were specifically raised to be sacrificed by the priests. There were special designations and instructions as to how to raise them and what the procedure was with these sheep. If anyone in that day in age made reference to the sheep of Bethlehem, the person would have known they were making reference to the lambs used for sacrifice for Israel.
However, their life was, what many considered, boring. It was the epitome of mundane. It's the same life day-in and day-out. There were moments of excitement or horror throughout the day, depending on the sheep, but other than that, nothing about their lives really changed. (Sound familiar to any stay at home parent?!) Nonetheless, they knew their work was important in a long-term sense. They kept in the monotonous work, knowing that the work would someday pay dividends.
There were particular parts of their job that were specifically important. One of those things was, when a lamb was born and was "without blemish," the shepherd would IMMEDIATELY swaddle the lamb up in clean linens to keep the lamb "pure." These lambs were especially designated for sacrifice and any swaddled lamb was given special treatment as their life-ending assignment would near. Ultimately, that "perfect lamb" was going to have a definitive end, and the shepherds raised it knowing that fully.
Here's the thing. In the middle of their mundane life, their "monotonous" life and normal daily life made them abnormally cognizant of the knowledge necessary to be translated when the angels appeared! It was the very day-to-day tasks that could be labeled as a "What do you do all day?" kind of lifestyle, that made their ears ready to hear the message God had sent through the angels. Remember, the angel told them, "You will find Him wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger!" Their minds could automatically interpret that because of what they knew from their everyday life! A child wrapped in swaddling clothes would've created a connection with how they cared for those lambs "without blemish!" They could interpret was being said about Jesus. He was the lamb without blemish. He would be the perfect sacrifice that had been promised by the Lord long ago. Their Savior had come, and they knew it! No wonder they were bursting at the seams to get to Jesus and tell everyone! The perfect Lamb had been born, who would be sacrificed, that the sins of all those who believe would be forgiven!
What a humbling thing for me to hear this year! When I get lost in the mundane side of my life, I sometimes think..."Are there dividends? Is there a point? What am I learning here that could benefit His Kingdom?" The story of the shepherds humbled me about Christmas, but also about life as a whole. We are equipped in our day-to-day with knowledge and wisdom that will help us play our particular part in God's story that He's telling. Kids, laundry, play, rest, work of all kinds leads us to being ready for the part that we play. Like the shepherds, we may not know when our knowledge and insight may be needed, but I want to be ready. I don't want to continue to be caught in the lie that just because things can be mundane, that they are useless. I want to invite the Glorious into the mundane.
I am on my knees again this Christmas, so grateful for the knowledge of God, His wisdom and discernment that far outweighs my own. He knew the people to talk to and how to deliver the message to humankind that He wanted to send. I want to move forward, trusting that more and more as time continues to pass. He knows how to speak to me, He knows how to speak to you, and He knows how to speak to anyone and everyone...
And maybe, just maybe, he'll use the mundane to communicate His Glory. I want to be ready.
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