Our Nativity Story series continues and in this week’s video things have gone sideways. Mary and Joseph as new parents have finally gotten a peaceful moment with baby Jesus asleep when predictably - CHAOS! The sheep Eli has wandered off, and the Shelf Elf is causing a ruckus and baby Jesus gets woken up and starts crying.
You know that feeling when you’ve worked hard to get everything serene and peaceful, and instead it feels like a three-ring circus? Yeah, that's this scene.
But then the shepherd returns with Eli on his shoulders — not walking alongside sheepishly(!) not trailing behind with his head down, but being carried. And the shepherd's words to this wandering, disruptive sheep - "You know I'd go to the ends of the earth for you, little guy."
Joseph has an epiphany. He turns and says, "This month... we get to remind everyone that Jesus has come to gather His flock ... even the loud ones... and carry them close to His heart."
That's the Gospel - the Good News message of Christmas in a sentence - Jesus is The GOOD SHEPHERD who doesn't just welcome the well-behaved sheep — He seeks out the wanderers, the questioners, the messy ones, the loud ones. He lifts us up and holds us close and we discover - our Shepherd doesn't love us despite our wandering — He loves us right through it! He doesn't wait for us to find our way back before He starts looking. He doesn't require us to clean up our act before He'll carry us home.
