Day 24 Stay Out of Bethlehem

 

Stay Out of Bethlehem

An Advent Calendar Story

Day 24

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see the lie!

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by;

Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee to-night.

The light of the star lit up the hillside. Could I forget my father’s warnings, leave the sheep and follow into Bethlehem? I looked about for an answer. Amos’s dog! I whistled for him. “Guard the sheep,” Picking up the orphaned lamb and resting her on my shoulders, I tumbled down the hillside. 

I didn’t stop by my kneeling friends. I didn’t stop to wonder at the great star resting above the stable. I didn’t stop to call a greeting or announce my name. I rushed in, thinking to find a crowned prince. I had forgotten the angels description of baby wrapped in swaddling and lying in a manger. Surely a Savior would be robed in gold? 

No gold littered the floor. No royal robes clothed the baby. I found a mother and father who looked tired after a long journey. No crowns or scepters. I looked for the baby. He slept in the manger wrapped in common cloths. No one spoke yet I felt a sacredness there. 

I moved closer. The baby’s father moved to protect his family. The mother lifted her eyes to mine, then turned to her husband, “Let him come.” 

I knelt next to the infant. He reminded me of my brother Samuel. He sighed in his sleep. That sigh filled my heart. Awe filled my soul. I looked from the baby to his mother and saw my awe reflected there. I saw that same awe in his father’s face. Turning, I saw it in the shepherds who kneeled outside. The star-bright night reflected the glory of this child named a Savior by a choir of celestial angels. 

A murmuring from the shepherds outside woke me from my reverie, “We must tell the world,” Amos cried. He strode off to wake the town. Others followed. Hesitating, I took the lamb from my shoulders and laid it in a sheltered corner behind the manger, my offering to the infant savior. 

Remembering the flock, I rose and turned toward the hill. Before setting off, I looked once more at the scene in the stable. A father stood guard. A mother gazed lovingly into her baby’s face. The baby rested securely in his mother’s arms. A star shone brightly above. Peace filled my heart.

If I never set foot in Bethlehem again, I will remember this night. My father’s warning echoed in my memory, “Stay out of Bethlehem.” As I walked back to my sheep, I wondered, “How could anyone stay out of Bethlehem when a savior awaits us there?” 

Advent Challenge: Don’t make the Savior wait. Meet him now. 

Prayer: O holy Child of Bethlehem! Descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us to-day. We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel! O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emanuel! Amen