The Shepherds’ Story

Luke 2:15  When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Me, Zeke, and Alfonso was sittin on the hillside watchin the sheep.  We hate sheep. They stink, they are as dumb as a sack of rocks, and they are noisy.  Man, are they noisy.  One of them will get excited about something, and the next thing you know, all of the flock are bleating and jumping around.  It would be funny if it didn’t happen in the middle of the night so often.

In the middle of one of the darkest nights I have ever seen, it suddenly became as bright as daylight.  We looked around, trying to figure out if maybe the sun came up real early or what.  Then we heard beautiful music.  It sure didn’t sound like any music I had ever heard before.  There wasn’t no choir, or musicians, just music.

As our eyes adjusted to the light, Zeke screamed this blood curdling scream.  It was really creepy.  Zeke was huddled up in a ball, sobbing.  I looked down at him, trying to find out was wrong. He just kept pointing and crying.  Alfonso was standing with his mouth wide open.  He didn’t scream or talk or anything.  He just stood there staring.  Alfonso does that a lot, though.

Then I looked up and saw what scared them both.  We didn’t see light, we saw a man.  Well, we saw some kind of something.  He was 20 feet tall, and light was shining around him, but it was also shining from him.  He wore gold armor that shined and almost blinded you.  In his right hand he held a huge sword.  It looked like it was on fire, but it wasn’t.  The blade had licks of flames that rippled along the edges.  His wings looked like eagles’ wings.  They were spread out behind him, and they swayed as he spoke.  

He said, “Do not be afraid.”  Easy for him to say, he had that flaming sword thing.  We just had Zeke and his knife.

“I come to give you a message,” he said, “A Savior has been born to you, his name is Jesus.  Go to Bethlehem, and you will find a babe wrapped in cloths.”  As he said that, the music swelled, and we could see for the first time that there wasn’t one of these guys, they were thousands! They were singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

Then, just as quickly as they appeared, they were gone.  The hill was dark again.  The sheep had never even moved a muscle. I don’t know how long we sat there, just trying to soak it all in.  Then Alfonso said, quietly, “We have to go to Bethlehem.  We have to see what this is all about.”

So, we did.  We left the flock with a couple of our apprentices, and we ran to Bethlehem.  We found the place the angel talked about.  And, sure enough, there was this little baby wrapped in cloth.  His mama looked really happy, and she didn’t seem the least bit surprised when we showed up.  She said his name was Jesus, and he was a very special baby.  He was cute, but I sure didn’t see anything special about him at first.

But, you know, the longer I looked at him, it finally dawned on me.  This baby is the Messiah!  It has finally happened, and me, Zeke, and Alfonso were the first to know.  We ran out of that stable and went to tell everyone we know.  As we left, I could swear I heard those angels singing again…

Today’s Readings: Ezekiel 47,48; Luke 2

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