Christmas Speculations: The Shepherds


Today's post is just too fun :)

 I began this blog years ago intending to write to high school and college-age girls because they are some of my favorite people in the world. I love being your friend during your young adult life. I love helping you make wise decisions and love Jesus as you become a woman. (Plus, I love all you adult women who have chosen to read and subscribe to this blog, too. You are such a blessing.)

 But teenage boys are another story.

 Even when I was a teenager, they confounded me. They couldn't keep from hitting each other. They laughed at things that were not funny. They seemed unable to look a girl in the eye, stay quiet in solemn occasions, or take anything seriously. They drove me crazy. (Most of them still do.) And though I was friends with many boys during my middle- and high-school years, I could only take them for so long.

 All women know exactly what I'm talking about. It's like they are aliens or something. Who in the world would use teenage boys to do anything important, right? 

 God, of course :)

 Mary had her baby with only Joseph to help. (If you haven't read their Christmas Speculations post, please do.) And though the immediate moments following the birth of Christ on earth were silent, we can only imagine how heaven was rejoicing. I mean, the One by whom and for whom all things were made (Romans 11:36) had just gone in the flesh to His creation. They were thrilled. Overjoyed. A party that big just has to spill over onto earth, right?

 And in the day before phones, before internet, before any kind of mass communication, who could you count on to get excited, run away from responsibility, forget the "mature" way to act, believe anything, barge into town into the middle of the night looking for a baby, and then run through the streets spreading the word?

 Teenage boys, of course. 

 In those days, shepherds were quite often the youngest boys of the family. Nobody wanted to be a shepherd; you dealt with sheep, you worked incredibly long hours, you were stuck outside whatever the weather, and even in your sleep you had to be on your guard. So though some adult men were professional shepherds, in most families the youngest boy just got stuck with it. [This is exactly what happened with King David, remember? Samuel went to the house of Jesse and, when he looked at all the brothers and realized God had not chosen any of them, he asked if there were any more boys. Jesse answered, "There is still the youngest; he is tending the sheep," (1 Samuel 16:11.)]

 So you've got a bunch of teenage boys out in a field in the middle of the night, probably smacking each other in the head and talking about gross stuff, when the angel appears. One angel is enough to scare the daylights out of any adult, but just picture the reaction of a group of teenage boys upon seeing one in the middle of the night. Not only that, but "the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified," (Luke 2:9). Look at the word them; there was only ONE angel; the them were the shepherd boys. God's glory was shining all around them. We can only imagine the panic. 

 The angel delivered the message: a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in the manger in Bethlehem is the long-awaited Messiah (Luke 2:11-12). Then a bunch more angels appear with the first and start singing. Can you just imagine how loud and gorgeous and petrifying and wonderful this sight was? And of course what did this ragtag group of teenage boys say after the angels left? 

 "LET'S GO!" (Luke 2:15, in all translations.)

 Of course they did. This is the perfect situation for teenage boys. Excitement. Being the first one to know. Mystery. Suspense. Adventure. And though the nativity scenes portray them carrying the sheep to visit baby Jesus, we all know teenage boys; I'm sure they just left them sheep to fend for themselves. NO WAY they thought to be responsible or mature. There was the Messiah to find!

 And my favorite speculation is the look on Mary's face when this group of smelly, wide-eyed, teenage boys stuck their nosy faces in the room and gushed with excitement and joy and nonstop talking. What a blessing of the Lord to bring these teenage boys into Mary and Joseph's life at what was surely a very scary moment. You can just see them talking all over each other and arguing about what the angel actually said. You can see their hands waving all over the place and their loud singing as they recalled the song.

 "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart," (Luke 2:19). God had made those teenage boys crazy enough to jump up and run to the baby. He made them bold enough to increase the faith of Mary and Joseph. He gave them the ability to be uninhibited by the mature, adult things of the world so that one little town could see just how crazy excited Lord Almighty was about the birth of His Son. 

 And maybe, though I hate to admit it, we need to be more like those teenage boy shepherds. Sometimes, we need to let go of everything mature and orderly and expected and adult-ish and just get excited about what makes God excited. Stop being so responsible and follow God's thrill and joy and purpose. Let go of our jobs and priorities for just a minute to really bask in the amazing glory of Jesus Christ and the miracle of who He is. 

 Thank you, Lord, for those teenage shepherds. Thank you for their energy and joy and hope and willingness to tell. May their example inspire us to be on fire for You. Thank you for proving that you really do have a purpose for teenage boys, after all.
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