They made known

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. – Luke 2.15-17

Several years ago we were in the Dayton, Ohio area in the run up to Christmas. We were invited to attend a ‘Living Bethlehem’ with some folks at a local church there. It was a marvellous experience. We had all the sights and sounds (and smells) of the ancient city. Shopkeepers called out from their stalls. There was a hustle and bustle of people in modern western dress and replicas of ancient eastern dress. There were food samples in the stalls.

Suddenly two or three men came rushing through the crowd. They were dressed in rough looking robes. They were bearded and had scruffy hair. As they ran through the crowd they grabbed people and proclaimed something like ‘Hurry, you have to come and see! The Messiah is here! He is a baby, but He is the Saviour, He brings good news to all men! Hurry, come and see Him!’

That incident has stuck in my mind every time I read this passage. ‘When they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.’

Every time I remember that night and this verse I have to pause and consider how much I am doing to ‘make widely known the saying’ about my own encounter with the Saviour. Do I make that news known abroad with the same kind of fervour? Indeed, do I make the news known with any fervour at all? Even more thought provoking – do I make known the news of my encounter with the Saviour at all?

How about it folks – are we ‘making widely known’ the news about the Saviour we have encountered?