Guess Who's Coming to the Birth?

Here's the thing: Shepherds who slept with the sheep they were watching, and who left those sheep standing in the field by themselves. Astronomers, scientists, who did nothing but "star watch" all night and had to travel from an entirely different continent. Not exactly the star power you'd necessarily think about when it comes to the Creator of the Universe sending his son down to earth. Pretty absurd when you think about it. With nativity scenes that are not only made out of ever substance on earth but range from the realistic to the ridiculous, it's easy to forget that these were real people, with real social standings, and they were about the most ridiculous group possible to be included in on something like this, but man, what hope this particular aspect of the Incarnation gives!

There's the obvious fact that God is not interested in how much money someone has, and that's true and does give hope, but for me, when I start thinking about the fact that he sent his star so that men from an entirely different country and race could see it, it just reminds me that Christ came for every tribe, tongue, and nation. (Good news for all us, non-Jews!) And that they didn't get there until probably at least a month after the birth. What a great testimony to the fact that God is drawing people to himself, in his time, at his pace. A great reminder to me that I should never give up on folks. Those who seem like they'll never make it to Christ, those who I've been praying for for so long. Just when I want to give up, the absurdity of the wise men coming from the East reminds me that God never gives up on those whom he calls, no matter how long it takes them to get there, and that maybe those folks I'm praying for just have a little more desert to cross before they finally make it.

Then, when I think about how the shepherds must have looked when they arrived at the stable. They'd been out in the fields with animals, and the Bible doesn't say they stopped off at the Bethlehem Bathouse before they went to the manger. And yet, in a matter of minutes, they found themselves kneeling before the one who had come to save them. What hope! What a reminder that I bring nothing to the stable. I come, smelly, cut-up, without a "social" leg to stand on, and kneel before the Messiah, the one who came to save me, not so I would look and smell good, but so that I would, through him, be good, and be upgraded to adopted son of God.

I love the way the shepherds reacted as well. They didn't give a second thought to their appearance or status. They knew something so good was taking place that they went, immediately, to see what was going on. In many ways they foreshadow the disciples who left their nets, tax collection booths, and followed Christ when he called them. I pray I would remember the absurdity of who the shepherds were and what they did as a reminder that my coming to God is just as absurd if it weren't for Christ making a way. And I hope they serve as a reminder too that Christ is exactly the person smelly, low-lifes like me are supposed to run too.