Since it is almost Christmas I thought I would post the short message I am giving tomorrow night at our church’s Christmas eve service. Enjoy!
****

Let us consider tonight one aspect of the birth of Christ that is often overlooked. Luke talks about the shepherds for 12 verses in the infamous second chapter of his Gospel. It can be easy to overlook these fairly mysterious characters because of the obvious emphasis on the birth of the Savior, but let us focus in on their contribution to the marvelous event that took place over 2,000 years ago.

Here are a few fast facts about the shepherds:

They were chosen by God to be the first evangelists about the birth of the Savior. After they saw Jesus they were compelled to go and tell others about Him.

Verse 17 and 18 says, Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the sayings which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

They, like us, were going about their business in the fields they have probably roamed a thousand times before that night. Their animals were probably close by, or at least close enough for them to keep an eye on them. They were no doubt fighting the cold dessert air, and possibly making small talk about the day-to-day events that were consuming their thoughts; their family, their kids, their home, their jobs, their money.
And then, Behold an angel of the lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
This sudden turn of events caused them to be afraid, which would have been the natural reaction I believe for all of us. Think about where they were. They were roaming a field with animals. It is quiet, dark, maybe windy, and even cold. They probably couldn’t see much more than what the moonlight would have provided. Then all of a sudden this angel appears to them with the glory of the Lord showing around them. I would have jumped too! We are lucky these men didn’t have heart attacks right there on the spot. You would have been afraid to.

These men were normal everyday Jewish men who had been hearing all of their life about the coming Messiah. They had heard the priests read from the Law about their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had heard the stories about how God delivered their people from the hand of the Egyptians. They knew about Moses, and Joshua, and David, Solomon, Saul, the prophets, etc… They knew about when Joshua worshipped the Commander of the Lord’s army before they conquered Jericho, and when Moses was communing with Lord on the mountain to receive the Law, and Jacob wrestling with angel all night.

They had heard about the kings who ruled Israel, and how the Savior would be born of the lineage of David. They had heard that he would be born in Bethlehem. They heard him called the BRANCH, the Bright and morning star. They knew he was referred to as the Lilly of the Valley, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah-Rophe, Jehovah-Nissi, Jehovah-Shalom, and of course Jehova- Elohim, the Lord our Shepherd. But the fact of the matter was these were normal everyday shepherds tending to their flocks in the cold dessert night near a little town that no one cared about under Roman rule. What could they possibly contribute to the entrance of the Savior of the World?

We know that God’s ways are higher than our ways, and that we don’t fully understand why He does what he does, but it is clear that he is interested in using the simple of this world to accomplish his plans. He is interested in using the lowly in spirit, the humble, and of course the ready and willing.

These shepherds met the criteria. They were the simplest of simple. Most importantly they were ready and willing. They were not only watching their flocks that night but they were watching for those who might do their animals or their fellow shepherds harm. If some problems arose they were willing and ready to do what needed to be done to keep order. This willingness and alertness, you would assume, prepared them to act swiftly when a heavenly visitor forever changed their “normal night,” the angel Gabriel.

I started out by saying; I like the shepherds because they are more like us than any of the other people in the story of Jesus’ birth. They were normal people doing the job God had given them to do. The difference between them and us was how they reacted to the opportunity that was set before them. They were looking that night, not for an angel to appear before them, but they were looking for whatever God was going to set before them. In an instant their night was shaken and they were forced to rise to the occasion to participate as witnesses of the birth of the Messiah. They acted wholly on faith to search out that stable in this simple town of Bethlehem where the angle said the Messiah would be. This Savior was not draped in blue robes, or surrounded by pomp and circumstance. No when they found him he was wrapped in the lowest form of clothing, swaddling cloths, and guarded by the two teenagers God used to bring His son into the world. It must have been quite the site these shepherds saw when they open that stable door. Mary and Joseph holding Jesus in a lowly barn.

On this Christmas Eve it would behoove all of us to be a little bit more like the shepherds. We are already like them in our normalcy, but we all could be little bit more like them in our openness, our willingness, and our ability to react when God puts opportunities in front of us.

Merry Christmas!