‘There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.’
*Either have cards with the W words in bold, or, get kids to stand up when they hear them. The final paragraph can be turned in to a prayer to finish with. When you ask the questions, obviously wait for some answers and engage with your audience / congregation!*
A couple of things about Shepherds in Jesus’ day:
Firstly, they were often looked down on. Effectively homeless - sheep were kept all year round on the hills near Bethlehem to provide sacrifices for the temple and the shepherds would not have been able to return to their home town to register for the census.
Secondly, their testimony or witness could not be trusted - they could not give evidence in court!
Thirdly, they could not keep the ceremonial laws, which was all part of being ready and prepared for worship and going to the temple - they would not have been able to fully participate in worship with other people.
Before we get in to what happened with the Shepherds, a couple of other characters:
Have you ever WASTED something? Your time, your money?
HEROD was the King. He was nasty and brutal. He heard about a baby being born who was going to be King. That wasn’t going to work out - HE was King! Herod had a lot of stuff, money and power - he could do anything. At this amazing moment in history he WASTED the chance to meet Jesus. His only King was himself. What a WASTE.
Have you ever had to WAIT for someone? I mean, really wait?
The wise men had been watching the stars. They knew something special was going to take place, they had seen the signs. But, they had to WAIT. They patiently WATCHED and WAITED. They had to watch and wait for the right time to begin their journey. Then they had to wait while they were on their journey (no in-camel DVD players back then). We have no idea from the Bible when they set off, only that by the time they did arrive Jesus was no longer a baby in a manger. They had WAITED so long!
So, back to the Shepherds… what happens next?
Who have the angels visited? Have they made a mistake in appearing to this bunch of nobodies? Do they apologise and move swiftly on? Do they look for the religious leaders? Do they rock up at Herod’s palace? Nope. Those who cannot WORSHIP - are invited to be among the first to worship the King of Kings as God incarnate is born. Those who cannot be WITNESSES are the first to go and tell everyone they meet all that God is doing!
There is no ‘inn’ crowd (quite literally, as you will remember there was no room in the inn!) with Jesus. At Jesus’ birth all that separated us from God is dramatically - and particularly for the shepherds - shattered! In their case the rules and order that people had put in place are shattered - but, more than that right at the start of Jesus’ life God was getting rid of things that were getting in the way of people being able to worship Him. Then, at Jesus’ death something happened in the temple - the veil was torn in two. Anyone can come in and worship!
So, this Christmas don’t WASTE this opportunity like Herod did. You don’t have to WAIT any longer like the wise men - you can come, now, today and join with the shepherds as they WONDER and WORSHIP then WITNESS - which just means sharing the story!
ADVENTure! Is a fresh resource for families this Advent. Written by Ali Campbell, ADVENTure! has 26 devotions for the advent season with scripture readings, reflections, actions and a pray for each day. You can grab your own e-booklet copy for just £1 here :: http://bit.ly/1Qo8cTh
Follow Ali on Twitter @alicampbell_68
