I know its Christmas, but I have to work backward from an Easter memory.
There was a Holy Thursday tradition at my boyhood church. Parishoners would take turns praying in the sanctuary throughout the entire evening, up until Good Friday services the next day. You would sign up for 30 min. or an hour to pray and "keep watch." It was a reminder of Jesus' admonition to the apostles before he was taken captive,
"Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Mark 14:37-38
My dad had one of the first "watches" of that Thursday evening (right after the church's potluck dinner...), and so I could accompany him for a few minutes if I agreed to be quiet and respectful while he prayed. Still very young, I asked him to explain our purpose that night in the quiet of the church. I understood prayer and church services, but not the details of Jesus' arrest and trial. Somewhere in my dad's patient explanation, he said something about us "keeping watch for Jesus." With a natural curiousity I whispered, "do you mean we'll actually see him right here in our church?"
Of course we didn't "actually see him" that night - nor has anyone else here on earth for the past 2,000 years.
But that first evening in Bethlehem...
I just know there was a shepherd boy somewhere who had heard his dad talking about God. Maybe at home or in the synagogue. Maybe his dad would have taken his young son along in the cool desert evening to watch over the flock.
The kind father would have patiently explained the power and majesty of God - and of God's promise to send a long awaited Messiah.
"Do you mean we'll actually see the Messiah right here in our fold?" the boy might have wondered, as I did in our church.
For some shepherd boy and his dad near Bethlehem that night, the answer was a spectacular...yes!
"But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
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.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." Luke 2:10-20
They "actually" saw Him, the Savior of the world, come to live among us, so that we could all know that He truly understands this world and what we experience. Though I didn't see him that night in our own church, I know that Jesus is real, and that shepherds did indeed see him that first evening near Bethlehem. Someday I will actually see Jesus in heaven - and my shepherd friends too! What a glorious day it will be !
What do you believe?
