This morning I was thinking about those shepherds who were sitting in a the field, long ago, simply watching over their sheep. You know who I mean … Jo and Mo (Joseph and Moses) and …  Fred and Barney … These men were sitting about keeping an eye on their sheep, and watching out for sneaky Pete the wolf and his pack, plus the odd lion or bear. I can’t imagine what they were actually talking about the minute before the sky exploded… maybe the low price of sheep at the market?  Or where’s the best pasture to go next??

Then BOOM! The sky lit up, an angel appeared and the world exploded with sound. It’s just as well the angels told them to “be not afraid!” You know if they hadn’t said that word straight from the throne of God — Jo, Mo, Fred and Barney would have had a heart attack … on the spot. “Mighty dread will do that to ya!”

Mo-oving on … back to these ordinary men, who were doing an ordinary job, day after day, after day. The same thing their fathers did and their fathers before them —- and their fathers before them. And nothing ever happened … until it did! Their whole world changed in a heartbeat when these heavenly beings appeared out of nowhere!!

Look at the faith of these men, once they got over being stunned, amazed and blessed … all at the same time! … Then they left their sheep mooching about, and hurried off looking for a baby in a manger. You and I might say: “What’s a manger?” But these shepherds knew what that was, and where to find one. They entered into the greatest miracle of all time, on a seemingly ordinary night … with the only fanfare provided by heavenly beings.

Father God chose a dirty stable as the site for His most precious Son’s birth. Jesus Christ was not elevated in any way! And those ordinary shepherds found out about His arrival first… Are we feeling the Vibe yet? Like where would the greatest SHEPHERD ever born … BE born? ….Among shepherds.

Isn’t it just like Jesus, to reveal Himself to people like you and I? That’s why the Good News IS the good news, it’s for everyone and anyone. You know the current King at that time, (Herod), heard about this extraordinary baby second-hand from travelling wisemen. So right from the beginning, Christ was destined to be revealed to this world through the poorest of the poor, ordinary workers… first.  And that set the scene for the rest of Jesus’ short life. He would always reach out to the people who were not rich, those who had no hope, and needed Him the most.

Maybe there were animals restlessly moving about in that tiny shelter, all around this new little family – we don’t really know. Let’s hope all that animal breathing kept them a little warmer in the cold clear night air! Meanwhile, there was no air freshener … no sterile hospital… no antibiotics!!  And no family helpers to assist Mary … just some straw, the floor, her inexperienced husband, and the inevitability of this baby coming … right now. 

What a totally scary place to give birth! There was no indoor plumbing either!! Ya might want to think about that. Christ was not born into a house … right from the beginning He had no home. Maybe Mary hoped He would be born where she had come from, with helpers all around her – but she and Joseph obeyed the law of the land and trotted off to a place far away to take part in a census. They took their chances … and then Almighty God said: “It’s time.”

Joseph himself had an enormous amount of trust.  I often talk about faith on this blog, and boy was his faith alive! He married Mary because of a dream. Sadly he could not give her and their new baby, the King of all Kings … a better place to stay! Such a huge responsibility for such a humble man. He was destined to protect this infant and remain obedient to what God had told him. How devoted to God’s purposes he was. This honourable young man, whose wife is going to give birth … to SomeOne else’s baby! He’s almost a footnote in this amazing story. Yet he was chosen to father God’s Son, when Jesus was a child.

The world was silent that night, and the only players in this little play were overwhelmed with awe and wonder. How could that be Almighty God Himself lying in a food trough? What could it possibly all mean? At that moment, He was just another newborn infant  … they are born every day.  Only those heavenly announcements made Him special. God made Himself known in an ordinary place, to ordinary people who were sitting around minding their own business. But when He speaks, this world gets turned right-side up!  Bless you! 👋🏻