1.3: “Come, Let Us Adore Him”

Friday, January 3

 

“And behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.”

Matthew 2:9b

  

Rise Up, Shepherds, and Follow

Though our Advent theme is Handel’s majestic Messiah, a simpler song came to mind when I read this passage – the Christmas spiritual “Rise Up, Shepherds, and Follow.”  I first heard this song on the album Little Drummer Boy sung by the Harry Simeone Chorale and it immediately became my favorite.

There’s a star in the East on Christmas morn!

Rise up, shepherds, and follow;

It will lead to the place where the Savior was born;

Rise up, shepherds, and follow.

I didn’t realize until much later the creativity of this song.  The scripture is from Matthew and the story is about the visit by the Magi but the spiritual swaps out the Magi with the shepherds and re-imagines the appearance of the angels in Luke.

It makes sense, doesn’t it?  Of course the shepherds would have seen the star first and I can picture an angel with a baritone voice like Paul Robeson belting out the call to rise up and follow the star.

The shepherds were the first to welcome the one who would become the Good Shepherd, not only of the people of Israel, but for all the nations, the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.

 

Prayer:

Eternal God, light us up so we can light up our world.  Amen.

 Joe Bulko