Looking today at the incredible birth of Jesus, we are
overawed by the significance of this event – God becoming man in order to save the
world from their sins. The shepherds too
must have realised this was a significant event though I am not at all sure
they realised how significant. The heavenly host turning up in glory on their
hillside, telling them of a Saviour born in Bethlehem and now lying in a
manger, was a good clue though.
In today’s celebrity crazy, instant fame society of ours, it
can be easy to get caught up in seeking prominence to give us
significance. Significance often comes though
in places with no prominence; those helping the poor and weak of society in the
city slums, those fighting for social justice and those in the mission field
far away from the glare of media and cameras are often doing incredibly
significant things with no prominence at all.
The Christmas story is full of people of no apparent
significance or prominence who have gained significance by being obedient to
God’s call on their lives. Mary and
Joseph, a poor couple looking forward to being married and having a life of
their own in Nazareth are suddenly thrown into the spotlight on the stage of
world history by the appearance of Gabriel. Shepherds, out in the fields doing
their job, suddenly find themselves chosen to signify God coming to earth for
the poor and marginalised of society again by the appearance of angels.
There must have been many unknown people who helped Mary and
Joseph during their journey to Bethlehem and with the birth of Jesus – unknown
to us but known to God. I am sure Mary, Joseph and God regard them as
significant.
Society seeks prominence and ten minutes of fame to applaud
but God wants men, women and children of significance; significant because of
obedience to his call on their lives. Mother Teresa gained prominence but I
doubt if she particularly wanted it other than to draw attention to the plight
of the poor in India. For those poor
people her life was very significant.
Frank Genor was an insignificant man who for 40 years handed
out tracts on a street in Sydney, Australia in obedience to God to thank him for
his salvation. He had no idea of the effect of this until just before his death
when it transpired that literally hundreds of people had come to faith and were
serving God all over the world, because of his obedience.
Has anyone ever come up to you to thank you for some
kindness of word or deed that you have done that you have no recollection of
but was very significant for them? That is the significance of great value to
God; being obedient to his prompting to bless others. Fame and prominence are
of little value even though highly prized by our societies. Significance
through obedience whether we know about it or not is the prize of the
Christian.
No comments:
Post a Comment