The first Noel. Those three words evoke a lot. Many start singing the next phrase in the Christmas song, “The angel did say…” Some may think of Christmas memories, Christmas scenes, or all the present-day accompaniments. It can also bring to mind a nostalgic picture of a snowy scene and Santa himself.
We all know what Christmas is. We cannot miss it. It starts in stores before Thanksgiving, sometimes in October! The all-too-familiar songs start being played everywhere uninterruptedly. Then think about the to-dos: Christmas cards, Christmas gift list, scrolling through the web for gifts, hunting in stores for all gifts eventually purchased, packages mailed, finding boxes, wrapping, decorating the outside, the inside, the tree or trees, baking cookies, cooking special meals, cleaning the house, and then after Christmas taking it all down. Christmas is a black hole that draws every molecule of our life into its orb and doesn’t allow us to escape its frenetic pace. It is a loud crescendo, beckoning our full attention.
What surrounded the birth of Jesus wasn’t much different. Yes, it was a different time and culture, but there is one similarity. Lots of things, like our experience, were pressing in on Mary and Joseph. There were whispers of “How did she get pregnant?” To complicate life, they had to head back to their ancestral city for a census. It was 70-90 miles to traverse on foot. When they got there, no one was in the welcoming party, and no family was there for a place to stay. They found a place among the animals, had their first child, placing him in a feeding trough. Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus were simply unnoticed, unknown. In fact, the first Noel was just another night for the residents of that very ordinary town of Bethlehem.
Unknown, unnoticed are the commonalities of these two scenes. At this momentous birth and in our present-day experience, we miss noticing Jesus the Emmanuel. Two thousand years ago, no one knew Jesus. God’s mysterious way of bringing his Son into the world would totally frustrate our over-hyped social media influencers. Why bring Jesus into a backwater town? Why not Jerusalem…or Rome?!
Jesus can easily be missed. It was true then and it clearly is now.
Curiously, the Father had two things up his sleeve. He had the best plan to tell the world of his Son, Jesus. The first was an overpowering announcement to a few unknown shepherds. The angels sang Glory to God in the highest, in an extravagant fashion. (Luke 2:14). The shepherds now had heard. They soon would behold the child and know what a handful knew in sleepy Bethlehem. God boldly proclaimed his Son.
The other tactic the Father took was dialectically opposed. Stargazers from the east had seen something in the heavens. They knew it was something big. It made them curious, curious enough to drop everything and figure out the meaning of the star. These outsiders were brought quietly into God’s greatest announcement.
The beauty of these two announcements is that the Father wants us 
to know him, to find him. Sometimes he will use a megaphone to blast his presence. Other times he will silently put down bread crumbs for those searching. Either way, the Father wants each of us to see, “his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
May you too be drawn to our Lord Jesus!
Merry Christmas.
