What we can learn from this story is for sure obedience and acceptance and even intense trust.
When we read this verse. In Luke 2:
[8-12 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep.
Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified.]
First we have to realize who these sheepherders were. They are a group of men who were considered outcasts.
The majority of people in the villages had nothing to do with them. They were rough and rugged.
Not much terrified them. They were used to fighting off wild animals while protecting their sheep.
They were not ‘lightly’ startled either, they were keenly taught to be sheep herders.
Were they standing around the camp fire and all of a sudden someone appeared right beside them?
We are not told what the angel looked like, and how it actually happened.
What about the glory blazing around them, that had to have been very amazing, and a bit scary.
[At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:
Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.]
Was it a flash mob of angels in the sky singing and praising God?
That would be enough to make one rethink some thoughts. In awe and wonder and also maybe disbelief?
I find it interesting they sang ‘the right language’ so the sheepherders understood the song.
[15-18 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over.]
Then to see the angel choir go back into the heavenly clouds? that would be amazing too.
The sheepherders talked it over among themselves and said ‘we must go quickly.’
[“Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.”
They left, running,] We have to remember these sheepherders would never leave their precious sheep for any reason.
They knew that it was not an option to leave the sheep unprotected. Yet they did.
They ran quickly. What we can learn from these men is their desire to see with their own eyes.
The baby born in a stable laying in a manger.
[They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing.
They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.]
The other significant issues around this is the sheepherders were not often thought of as reliable resources.
Not believable, not someone who you would trust with information.
They learned to speak with impressionable language and believable attitudes and behavior.
The verse says ALL were impressed. NOT some but everyone.
Kind of like they were the first missionary’s on the stable floor.
They saw, they shared and they were truth tellers for the first time.
What we can learn from this story is the life changing ability of a little baby named Jesus.
The men who were outcasts became acceptable, the men who never were listened to, became credible witnesses.
They told everyone they met, about this life altering experience and as they returned to their field of sheep.
I am sure they shared among each other, the experience and the reason why they all ran to the stable.