shepherds and angels

I was thinking advent-y thoughts in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I pondered the word advent in the back of my mind like a Christmas carol that got stuck but I didn’t mind it.

Advent is the beginning of adventure. When we talked about the Advent season and lit candles each Sunday, I felt the anticipation of a big event, like Santa coming—finally! But instead of the great arrival advent implies, bringing Heaven to Earth, I couldn’t get over the events that happened before Jesus was born. I was stuck on the journey, the anticipation, the almost. I think God values adventure, and I love how He weaves it into the birth of His son.

One journey captivated my imagination this year: the shepherds’. Their mention in Luke is the highlight of the Christmas story, hands down. I can hear Linus’s voice when he shuffles on stage, blanket and all and tells the story that changed the world.

There were in the same country shepherds abiding in their fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, an angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone about them, and they were sore afraid.

Early in December I was walking home from a friend’s house. It was late, and the stars were shining like they do over the Highlands. I looked up at the stars and lingered by a field of sheep. I listened to the sound of their chomping on grass and their sheep sounds in the darkness. I imagined the surprise that must have overcome those shepherds camped out. I breathed the cold and took in the vastness of the sky. What was it like to behold the glory of God? What was running through their heads as they listened to a message of such unexpected joy, surrounded by a choir of angels’ voices?

I love the shepherds’ response. I imagine they looked at one another wide-eyed, shaking in their boots and agreed, “let’s go.” They went to Jesus just as they were; not with expensive house-warming presents like frankincense and myrrh. They didn’t go home and shower. They just showed up with their sheep to worship Jesus.

I welcome Him into the stable of my heart—not a very fitting place for a newborn baby, let alone a King. But here he is, Emmanuel, God with us.

Let earth receive her King.