From ‘Woe’ to ‘Wow’
When you’re feeling like you’re about to expire, how do you find the wonder in life again? How do we return to jaw-dropping awe?
Scripture: Luke 2:8-16
“It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much mistltoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When loved ones are near
It's the most wonderful time of the year”
I love the word "wonderful." It means to be full of wonder. The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is full of wonder. Christmas is full of wonder. The Christian life should be full of wonder.
I want you to think about that word in light of those weary, monotonous days in your life. There are often many days and times when it seems nothing is happening, yet things can change in the blink of an eye. Our entire life, everything we know, all the structure and safeguards we've built can drastically be altered in seconds.
Have you ever had an experience where you saw or felt something that it made your senses come alive? You couldn't help but say to yourself, "I am amazed at what just happened."
Imagine for a second what it was like to be a shepherd when the angels appeared to announce the birth of our Savior.
"Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.' When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherd said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’" (Luke 2:13-15)
Wonder is a feeling of pleasant surprise. When we experience something so beautiful, so unexpected, so unfamiliar, and so inexplicable that it grips our hearts. Wonder leaves us with jaw-dropping awe. So when God moves on His people, I love to think that it ought to do something to our mouth. We should be left standing with our jaws dropped or our shouting hallelujah. Amen?
Wonder helps us find the "wow" in life again
Folks, we've been through a really tough time, and very few people are saying "wow." They're saying, "Whoa, Bro. Chris, you don't know what I've been through or what's happened." It's been a time of pandemic, and it's been a time of panic. It's been a time of dread and misery and the unexpected in the worst way.
Multiple times in my life, I've been in that "low camp" where there was no wow. But God always showed up and moved me into the "wow camp." So many people in the Body of Christ need to have their "wow" restored.
I can't think of a better movie than It's a Wonderful Life. It's a great movie, and I thank God for George because he knew what it was like to be in that “low camp.” He had all the money that he'd been saving stolen from him. He wanted to impress his bride, and they were going down as fast as the snow was falling. So God had to help George move from that feeling of woe, and he used some challenging circumstances to get him back to wow.
There are a lot of people that aren't living an awe-inspired life. They're about ready to expire because they have been perspiring so much with their hardships and circumstances. You cannot live well unless you understand that we have a wonderful God, and He has a beautiful plan. Our God is moving wonderfully by the power of His Holy Spirit in hungry and thirsty hearts. It is the essence of life.
The Wall Street Journal recently wrote about the importance of awe in our lives. Here's what the study revealed:
The actual feeling of awe and experiences that inspire it to benefit us in more ways than we can count. They move us from stronger health to improved relationships. These all experiences make us more generous, more humble, more empathetic, more trusting, and even help us to battle depression.
That's why the mountains and the oceans have ministered to so many people over the years. I can't wait to get my feet in the sand again. I love the rolling sound of crashing waves. There's a unique awe connected to being in the mountains and hearing a little brook flowing. It's in those moments that I can restore that sense of wonder in my life.
But all experiences are essential. That's why it's good when you are feeling depressed, or you've lost your perspective, to get outside your routine and go somewhere different so that God can speak to you.
“We must be aware of losing wonder, or life will become dull and barely tolerable.”
Researchers say that awe attunes us to things more significant than ourselves. I love that because when we get wrapped up in ourselves, we make mighty small packages, and we become self-absorbed in our own set of circumstances. It's good to hear what somebody else is going through to get your mind off of what you're going through.
Joy is experienced as we get a glimpse of the greatness of God and the goodness of God. As He breaks into our weariness and restores our wonder, then we taste the goodness of God again. We are dead as the people of God if we lose our amazement. At best, we are asleep if we've lost our sense of jaw-dropping awe.
The stories of the Bible need to become our experience. When you read the Bible, be reminded that these were ordinary people that were the recipient of God's extraordinary blessings. As you read, ask that God let it be you; let it be your story today. Do not be afraid to ask God to restore your wonder, whether it's about who God is, your life, your church, your family, or anything else.
"Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider Your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place…." (Psalm 8:1-3)
There should be two things that awaken your wonder. First, as described here in the Psalms, when we ponder the greatness of God. The second is as described in the poem below, our wonder is awakened when we see God's creation. When we see the wonders of our cosmos, Gerard Manley Hopkins put it so beautifully in his poem "God's Grandeur," our wonder is awakened to God.
God's Grandeur
by Gerard Manley-HopkinsThe world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
Hopkins tells us God's grandeur will flame out out the glory of the Lord and will shine upon people as they pay attention to the glory and wonders of His creation. Even our use and abuse of God's creation will never cause nature to be entirely spent. God sustains us. His creation, including our very lives, with what he says, "is dearest freshness in deep down things." I love that.
Creative Power & Special Revelation
Recently my son and I were the only ones awake during a drive back to Memphis from Chattanooga. The moon was bright and brilliant. It declared the glory of God and proclaimed the work of His hands. That night the moon looked so close that it seemed we could reach out and touch it. We later looked it up, and the moon is 238,900 miles away.
Take a second to think about our Father's creative power. Think about the miracle and gift of creation—almost 400,000 plant varieties globally, with around 94% bearing flowers. There are more than 1.2 million known species of animals, but there's an estimated 8.7 million that they think are unknown species/ animals we haven't identified yet.
All of this is God's creation. We could talk about the animals, plants, oceans, mountains, stratosphere, and galaxies, but out of all of God's creation, no one's higher than we are as human beings in God's heart. You are a miracle of God. Each one of you. You talk about creative power. Your brain works, your eyes can see, your heart is beating, blood is pumping, and you're not thinking about it. Aren't you grateful for the mystery and miracle that it is to be a human being? The scripture says that "you are fearfully and wonderfully made."
Who are we that God would care for us so much? He made us a little lower than the heavenly beings yet crowned us with glory and honor. He made us ruler over the work of His hands and put everything under our feet. The psalmist was filled with wonder because he knew that God wanted a relationship with people.
“There are no ordinary people; You have never talked to a mere mortal.”
Our wonder awakens when we see the wonders of God's creation. So everything that we see around us is what theologians call "general revelation." That's a fancy way to say that what's seen has been made available to every continent and every person.
That night I stared at the moon because it was so close to us, it occurred to me that someone on the other side of the world could look at that same moon. They may not be seeing it simultaneously, but it's the same moon. That's pretty amazing, isn't it?
Everything that God has created is God's general revelation, and it's been given as a gift for people to conclude that there must be some master designer that has created everything. But we've also been given something called "special revelation," and that's the Word of God. So that's God, not just indicating by His power what He's availed Himself to us, but by His word. The true spirit of our wonder awakens when we see the wonders of His salvation.
God says that the most important thing of everything He’s created is for us to have a relationship with Him. Christ died to deal with our sin and fill your heart with joy and life. He wants to know you for who you are and where you are. There is no need to come a certain way or after attempting to reconcile your life.
Where did God reveal Himself to the shepherds? Right where they were. You won't be able to transport yourself 1,000s of miles away to those Judean hills where they watched the sheep that night, but you can expect the same experience. God knows you and where you are, and He wants to visit everyone with His glory. He doesn't want us to see Him in His creation, but He wants us to see Him in His Word.
The wonder of the shepherds called them to action in pursuit. They said, let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that happened. So I pray this Christmas that we will see ourselves on a journey to experience everything that God died for us and lived for us to experience in His Son Jesus Christ.
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About Christ Church Memphis
Christ Church Memphis is church in East Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 65 years, Christ Church has served the Memphis community. Every weekend, there are multiple worship opportunities including traditional, contemporary and blended services.
