So picture this…
You are a shepherd. You are minding your own business, watching your sheep. It’s getting pretty late, so you are kinda sleepy, but you still have a few hours left before you can turn in for the night. You are really looking forward to a warm fire and some sleep.
When all of a sudden…
Lights explode across the field! A massive being stands in front of you, and they are so powerful and so big and so bright, and they are terrifying! You’ve never seen anything like this, you’ve never even left your hometown, and this otherworldly person is suddenly standing among your sheep, and you are just so scared! You fall to your knees, and you and your buddies all try to hide, certain you are about to die by holy wrathful fire.
But then…
Something a little unexpected happens…
The angel speaks.
The angel tells you to not be afraid. That they come bringing good news, news that will bring joy to the whole world, and it is your duty to tell people about it!
The angel tells you to go to the city of Bethlehem, to a barn, and tells you that there is a baby in that barn. The angel says that the baby is the son of God and the Savior of the world, the very same one that your mom and dad and teachers have been talking about since before you were even born.
Then, before you can even ask any questions, whole group of angels bursts into song, praising God and worshipping the newborn King!
When the angels are done singing, and you and your friends have recovered from your shock, you waste no time in gathering up your sheep and heading towards Bethlehem, which is (luckily) not too far away. You are so excited! In just an hour or so, you are gonna see the King of Kings!
You go into Bethlehem, and knock on the doors of all the inns you can find, before finally one of the inn owners says, “Yes, I have a man and woman here who just had their baby. They are in the barn.”
The barn??? Ok then, that’s a bit weird for a king, but whatever. Maybe it is a really nice barn, with gold mangers and stuff.
You and your buddies run around to the barn. You approach, and… the barn is kinda dingy, nothing special at all. You begin to wonder if this is the right place, but something tells you, keep going!!
So you do. You approach the dingy little barn, and inside, you find these… teenagers? A young girl, tired and sleepy, and a man who isn’t much older than you. They are just sitting, using a pile of hay for a bed. Surely you are in the wrong place!
But then you here it… a baby. A baby! In a manger.
You don’t know how, but suddenly all your doubt is gone. You know that this dingy little barn is the right place, that these tired teenagers are the right people, you know that you understood the angels correctly!
You stare at this tiny baby, wrapped in rags and laying in a donkey’s food bowl, and you can’t believe how blessed you are. Why do you, a shepherd, a nobody, get to see the beginning of the greatest story that the world has ever known? Why do you get to see the Lord of everything asleep in a manger?
You still ask yourself these questions 32 years later, after you tried to tell everyone you know. You tried to tell the whole world what you saw, but no one believed you. Honestly, if your shepherd friends weren’t there with you, you don’t think you would believe it either. Sometimes you still don’t.
But then, one day, you hear about a man. A carpenter. He’s been living quietly; you haven’t even heard his name before, and the town he is reputably from is not exactly a upscale place. He is said to be a nice, down-to-earth guy - and he just turned water to wine at a friend’s wedding. You hear about this nobody-special-man, from this nowhere-special-town, and you know, without a shadow of a doubt, that he is the same man that you saw as a tiny baby, in a tiny, dingy barn, asleep in food bowl.
You continue to hear of this man’s adventures after that, through town gossip mostly. He fed 5,000 people with a kid’s lunch! He healed a blind man, a bunch of lepers, a man who was paralyzed! He brought a man back to life!
Can you imagine? Did you know, did you have any idea that the baby in the manger would grow up to save the world? Did you know that tiny baby is the same one that held your soul and gave you life and said, “Yes, this child is worth loving and living and dying for”?
When you stood in that sagging doorway of that dingy barn, with the smell of donkeys in your nose and the tired eyes of a teenage girl watching you… did you know that was God sleeping in front of you?