This weekend is the third Sunday of Advent, and the theme is joy, the gift of joy to the world.

When I think of joy at Christmas, I imagine my childrens faces looking forward to opening their presents or our fragrant Fraser fir, chosen with great debate.

The story in the Gospel of Luke tells of the dramatic appearance of an angel and then a choir of heavenly hosts descending to bring the message to shepherds. Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11).

This birth of Jesus Christ will cause great joy. When we think of shepherds, we need to remember that shepherds were the lowest of those in society.

Being a shepherd was hard work, challenging work, and generally, they were looked at with disdain and contempt.

Nobody wanted their children to grow up and become a shepherd during that biblical period.

How extraordinary that angels came to them and brought this world-changing news. No one is excluded from the joy and the message.

My visit to Bethlehem was not a joyous experience. It was a little bit of a disaster.

First, I visited the cave where the shepherds had slept on the side of the hill. Standing on the hillside with Bethlehem behind me, I saw the vista and imagined that glorious night.

We sang in that cave chapel while shepherds watched their flocks by night. Then we travelled to the Church of the Nativity or Basilica of the Nativity; the grotto is the oldest site continuously used as a place of worship in Christianity.

The basilica is the oldest central church in the Holy Land. Our chatty guide brought the party and me the bad news: the site is too full of pilgrims, the wait is too long, and we cannot see the spot. No room at the stable!

But dont worry, he assured us, you can see it.

Being a local guide and a

resident of Bethlehem, he took us down underneath the church. Through a winding dark passage to a metal door with a tiny spy hole and said, here look through this, you will see the manger.

So behind the locked door, we peered in to view the site of the birth of Jesus. The message of great joy is that no one, not even a shepherd, is excluded no locked doors, no dark routes or struggling to see.

Jesus said, Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. (Rev 3:20).

What joy!

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Phil Collins is Pastor at Willow Park Church in Kelowna. This regular column appears in the weekend editions of The Herald and Daily Courier.

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SPIRITUAL: Shepherds were looked on with disdain | Life | pentictonherald.ca - pentictonherald.ca