And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Luke 2:8

Advent is a season of seeming paradoxes of both waiting and watching.

Christians await the birth of the Savior in just a few more weeks, hopefully with joyful expectancy. When we are very young the waiting for Christmas Day, for Santa and presents seems endless. The house is decorated , baking is baked, shopping goes on and on and adults become more and more preoccupied with all the preparations. Children observe and watch all the preparations as for an especially secret time. I think the irrepressible excitement of children is due to this one fact: while waiting for Christmas to come, they watch everything and everyone around them and it multiplies their anticipation and delight.

Adults have lost the wonder of watching while waiting during Advent. December is “us” as busy as elves in Santa’s workshop, frantically scrambling to get everything ready for the Big Trip, trying to over stuff each day like sleighs, as full as possible. Like the frenzied Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, Advent’s commercial slogan has become, “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date.” God’s Word says “to be still and know that He is God.” God is never late, especially for the birth of His Son. And what is one to do while “being still?” While waiting? It is to watch.

In the Christmas story as told by Luke, in the fields near Bethlehem shepherds kept watch over their flock at night. The Greek word for watch in this verse means to “watch over or to guard. “ A different word grēgoreúō means to stay awake. (It is the word Jesus used to admonish his closest disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest. Watch and stay awake. ) Shepherds had to stay vigilant to protect sheep against attacks by night predators. They remained alert to danger and peril both to themselves and to their flock. One particular night, how greatly was the shepherds’ vigilance rewarded! Instead of spotting wolves slinking around, they saw

… an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. Luke 2:9

These ordinary shepherds were not doing anything special. They were simply waiting out the long night and keeping watch over what was entrusted to them. Amazingly, they were the first to see the Christ, the Hope if Israel, They were the first to find Isaiah’s prophecy of a child born to a virgin fulfilled. They were the first Israelites to see God’s glory in the heavens and the Gospel in a manger. They were the first evangelists to proclaim the good news told them by the Angel of the Lord.

Today in the City of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! Luke 2:11

Had they been asleep, unguarded, or irresponsible in their duties, they would have missed the glorious miracle of God’s timing. It’s an Advent lesson. Watching is active not passive. One has to be engaged with body and mind, with eyes and ears so that the wolves can’t come into the sheepfold. God will appear. Will we be waiting and watching for what God has for us this coming Christmas or will we be too exhausted, sleepy and distracted when the time of miracles takes place? As we await Him, may Holy Spirit keep us fully awake, vigilant and ready for what is already coming.