When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” – Luke 2:15
When I teach a Bible Story to children, I try to help them imagine being in that moment in time; what it would look like, feel like, sound like, smell like. Being fully immersed in the situation, and the Christmas Story is no different. The shepherd’s part of the story would go something like this. Close your eyes and imagine being in a huge field on a dark night, trying to wrangle sheep that keep wandering off in a pasture filled with holes and mounds. You can smell the sheep in the pasture, and maybe even yourself if you haven’t bathed in days. You can hear the sound of the sheep moving around, and then out of nowhere a bright light shoots down from the sky and there’s a huge creature with massive wings that appears to be glowing! Not only does this angel appear of out nowhere, but he begins talking to you! He tells you to go to a town and look for a baby in a manger. The angel doesn’t tell them to go to the town and head east at the camel stables, then hook a hard right when they see the ladies weaving baskets. He sends them with vague instructions and says, “Go!”
Can you imagine an angel coming to you and telling you to just go find a small child without even giving you an address to put into Google Maps? No way! But that’s exactly what the shepherds did; they went to find the baby.
We aren’t much different from these shepherds who lived 2,000 years ago. God encourages us to have faith daily. While He doesn’t send angels with instructions, He leads us with the Holy Spirit. God sends us plenty of messages, just like he did for the shepherds, and we must have our minds and hearts open to receive them.
This Advent season is going to feel different, but I pray we can all slow down and wait for the messages that God is sending us. Especially the message to love our neighbors: the shepherd, the inn keeper, the people who turned their heads, the kings who traveled from afar, to love all of these neighbors with no exceptions.
– Taylor Easttom, Director of Children’s Ministry
