Shepherds . . . Blessed Visitors

Week Five
The Shepherds
Blessed Visitors

Luke 2:8-20

“Shalom, my friends.

It’s me, Abel.”

“Shalom!”

And me, Samuel,
Abel’s son.”

”Shalom!”

“And me, Daniel,
Samuel’s son
and Abel’s grandson.”

Shalom!”

“Not much to be proud of,
after all,
we’re just shepherds—
right son?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“And grandson?”

“Yep!”

“What did you say, grandson?

“Oh, sorry, Grandpa. Yes, sir!”

“But none of that really matters tonight . . . .
What a story we have to tell!
Angels! Our race into Bethlehem!
Seeing the Savior! A baby!
Daniel, tell them about the angels!”

“Wow! Me? Yes, sir!”

 

Luke 2: 8-12

And in the same region
there were shepherds out in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were filled with great fear. 

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold,
 I bring you good news of great joy that
will be for all the people. 
For unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
This will be a sign to you:
You will find a baby
wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

It seemed like any other
night spent in the fields.
But we did notice the sheep
seemed skittish.
But they did settle down.
I was actually dozing
when the terrified shepherds’ screaming
woke me up.
Then I saw the angel—
the brightest light I ever saw.
And that voice!
Like thunder!

“Fear not!”
“Good News!”
“Great joy!”
“For all people!”
“In David’S City!”
“Our Messiah!”
“Our Savior!”
“Our Lord!
“Praise His Name!”
“Amen!”

Thank you Grandson!
I can’t forget that angel’s face.
I can’t forget that’s angel’s voice!
I can’t forget His great good News!
“Hallelujah!”

“Now, Son!”

“Yes, Dad!”

“Tell these folks about our race into town.”

“Yes, sir!
But what about those other angels, Dad.”

“Oh, I forgot.
How could I forget?
Too much excitement!
Tell them, my son.”

Luke 2:13-14

And suddenly there was with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
 and on earth peace among those
with whom he is pleased!”

“Yes sir!

Most of us were already on the ground,
overcome by the splendor
of the one angel.
Then suddenly there were thousands
of angels just as glorious.
And they were all declaring God’s praises.
They were declaring glory to God.
They were declaring peace
to God’s people.
I can’t describe how we felt.
We were overcome with joy.

Luke 2:14

When the angels
went away from them into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another,
“Let us go over to Bethlehem
and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has made known to us.”

The angel had told us how to find Him,
this Baby, our Savior born
in Bethlehem.

We all just started running.
I was running faster
than I even knew I could run.
We were racing to find
the Baby born in Bethlehem,
the Baby born to be our Messiah
and our Lord. 

No one was on the road into Bethlehem.
No one was in the streets that late at night.
We were twelve—
nine shepherds
and three shepherds-in-training
like my own  grandson, Daniel.

As you might have guessed,
those three young ‘uns
got there first.
Even they were out of breath.

But they were too overcome
with excitement.
They waited for us at the stable
set up behind an inn
in a cave in one of our hills.

When we were all there,
once we recovered a bit,
once we could catch our breath,
we noticed the husband.
Joseph is his name.”

“Good job, son.
And I have to admit
that as the oldest of us shepherds,
I was the last to arrive,
and the last to finally catch my breath.
But that crazy race was worth it all,
wasn’t it?”

“Amen, Dad.”

“Yep, Grandad, oops, I mean amen!”

“And now, here’s the heart of our story.
I should say, His story.
It’s all about the story of the Baby Jesus.
I tried to explain the angel
and his good news.
I tried to explain the angels
and their glorious
praise for God.

But Joseph asked us to return
in the morning
so Mary, his wife,
and the Holy Baby, Jesus
could rest.

But Mary called out
from inside the stable
and invited us
to come in and see
the Baby.

Joseph gave in
and all twelve us crowded in,
on our knees and silent—
none of us could speak.
Awe-struck,
that’s what we were.
The angels had amazed us.

But the Baby changed us forever.
Even as a baby
He overwhelmed us
with love, joy, and peace.

I finally found my voice
and praised our God
for the Baby, the angels
and all we had seen and heard.

Praise be to God!”

“Hallelujah, Abba, Father!,” declared Abel.

“Amen, Abba, Father, “ echoed Samuel.

“Amen, Abba, Father,” agreed Daniel.

We slipped outside into the night.
Joseph bid us Shalom, Shalom!
And we did the same.

But as soon as we got to the street again,
our joy burst forth,
and we began singing,
and shouting and dancing,
as only shepherds can.

Surprised?
Come join us one night
when we are alone
out with our sheep
in the field
around the fire—
and you will see what shepherds
do to praise our great God.

Our lives have certainly been different,
better, somehow richer
since that night
when angels came
and our Savior,
a baby was born
in our own town, Bethlehem.
Every night with our sheep
we realize how blessed we are,
we, twelve humble shepherds,
blessed to receive the Good News
of the Savior Born
first, before the Priests,
before our own Rabbi,
first in all the world
blessed by His coming.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

“Right, son?”

“Yes, Father.”

”And grandson?”

”Yep!

”What grandson?”

”Sorry! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!”