Christmas in Perspective -The Shepherd's Story

Hey World,

As I'm writing this I'm sitting on the couch in my dorm room, listening to a Christmas song by Alan Jackson, and thinking about how fast this semester went by (which was fast by the way). I've learned so much this semester and had so many great times, it's going to be very hard to leave. Though I'll admit, it would be much harder if I wasn't going home to a snow covered Minnesota Christmas with family and friends. Christmas. I love Christmas. For that reason, I'm going to try and start a little Christmas themed series. With my consistency on here, I wouldn't bank on much, but you never know.

For this series I want to focus on different groups of people or individuals, and see how the coming of Jesus affected them. Tonight (3 AM so I guess it's this morning) I want to take a look at the shepherds.

  

Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 2:8-18. I'll let you read that for yourselves, but here is the gist of it (though I'm sure you already know). The shepherds are outside (on what we all know was a cold winter's night). It's probably the middle of the night. They are bored out of their minds. Some of them may have even lost their minds a long time ago. I mean, seriously, if all you do is sit outside all day and watch your sheep, I'm not sure how much can really be going on upstairs. Well, all of the sudden an angel is in front of them. Whoa! The night just got a little more exciting. I think a few of them might have even peed their pants. Probably a couple sheep too...though I doubt the sheep were wearing pants. Then again...the shepherds were really bored.

Anyway...an angel is in front of them. And he probably didn't just look like a regular guy either, since the verse says "the glory of the Lord shone" and "they were greatly afraid." My guess is the night suddenly got brighter than day, and this angel is suddenly in front of them. Pretty cool. The shepherds are thinking, "Whoa! An angel! Is he lost? Why is he here in front of shepherds? Why do I feel wet?"

All of the sudden the angel says something. "Do not be afraid." Yeah, I'm sure that helped a lot. A bright shiny guy appears out of nowhere telling you not to be afraid. Thanks for the invite Mr. Angel, but I think I'm going to go ahead and be scared for now.

Then the angel says, "I bring you good tiding of great joy." Now, the shepherds aren't any less scared, but this makes their ears perk up, and maybe even a sheep or two's. Good news? For shepherds? What kind of good news could angels possibly have for shepherds? It's gonna rain tomorrow so the grass stays green? That would be nice! Yeah. Hopefully that's it.

Then the angel adds, "which will be to all people." Huh. Maybe it's gonna rain all over the world. Strange but...still good. Maybe shepherds around the world could make this a international holiday. "National Day the Angel Came and Brought the Good News About the Rain to All Shepherds Around the World Day." Or the "NDTACABTGNATRTASATW Day" for short. Yeah. That has a nice ring.

Then the angel adds, "For their is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." This is the point where even the deaf little lamb turns toward the angel, eyes wide. You see, even deaf lambs back then could hear the word "Savior." Everyone in Israel knew the word "Savior." Israel had been waiting for a Savior for thousands of years, every generation praying for Him to come while they were alive. For that deaf little lamb. For these less than brilliant shepherds. They were the generation God had chosen.

One little shepherd boy turned to his father. "Father. Does anyone else know this?" The Dad could barely hear his son, his ears still ringing from the voice of the angel. Again the boy asked his father, this time shaking the bottom of his fathers mantle. "Father, does anyone else know this?" This time the Father heard. He turned to his son. "Of course they do. I'm sure we were the last to know. God wouldn't choose us lowly shepherds to be the first to know."

Then the angel said, "This will be a sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." Praise God! The lowly shepherds were going to get to see their Savior. Their Savior! "Father! Let's go!" the little boy begged. But before the father could respond, the first angel was joined with thousands more, singing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

Then shepherds were shaking with fear, and even more from excitement. Nothing like this ever happened to shepherds. Ever. Even the little deaf lamb was jumping up and down, baaing loudly. And just as quickly as the angels had come, they were gone. The shepherds stood motionless for some time, trying to figure out if what they had seen was real. But the look on each shepherd's face told the story. Still, no one moved. But after a second or two, the little deaf lamb began to dash toward the nearest town, Bethlehem. Just behind the lamb was the little boy. Just behind the boy, the Father. And behind the father every other shepherd and lamb, racing as though their very lives were at steak.

They stumbled into the city, gasping for air. They were all a little out of shape. They went from house to house, asking if a baby had been born, but nobody knew. They were all too busy sleeping. Just then the little boy heard something. "Did you hear that Father?" The father listened. And then everyone heard what the boy had heard. The laugh of baby. It was coming from...the barn. The barn? What was a Savior doing in a barn? Well, no time to worry about that. They had to get there quick if they wanted to beat the crowds. Hopefully they at least got to see a glimpse of him.

When they got close enough to see just where the baby was, the sight took their breath away. No one was there. It was only the father, mother, child, and a few animals. They walked the rest of the way, not wanting to scare the parents and child. At last they reached the small family. The baby was wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger, just as the angel had said. The father of the little boy fell to his knees, beginning to weep. "Father?" asked the boy. "What is it son?" replied the father, tears streaming from his eyes. "Is this our Savior?" The father let out a half sob, half chuckle. "Yes. Yes it is." The little boy smiled. The father wept with joy. Some shepherds wept along with him. Some could only laugh. Others just stood or kneeled in awe. The little deaf lamb began to baa. The other sheep joined in.

It's really a beautiful story. The shepherd's story. The Savior of the world had come for the lowest of men. And not only that, they were the first to see Him. Not the rich. Not the kings. Not the religious leaders. The shepherds. Christ came to be our king, but this amazing story is our first glimpse at the fact that He wasn't going to be the kind of King the people expected. He was going to be a humble King. A King born in a manger. A King for the poor. A King for the Shepherds.

But that isn't the end of the story. After the Shepherd's were done visiting the newborn King, which was mostly likely all night long, they didn't just go back to watching the sheep. They didn't just meet their Savior and go about their lives. In the same verse that says they saw the Savior, they began to tell everyone what they had seen. They told them about the angels who had made them pee their pants. And they told them about the baby born, who was going to save the world.

There are two things, and surely many more that we can learn from the shepherd's story.

1. Christ came for the lowliest of people. If you feel unworthy or poor or just too little and unimportant of a person for Jesus than think again. God made a statement when Jesus was born. You were the one on His mind. You were the one he came to save. And if you are rich and proud and feel like you deserve Jesus think again. Jesus came to exalt the lowly and put down the mighty. Jesus didn't come to save you because you are "important." Jesus came to show that none of us are important, and only through him, a baby born in the lowliest of places, can you truly become important. Jesus came in humility to show that we too must be humble if we are to accept him...if we are to be saved.

2. What are we going to do with the Christmas story? Do we just watch the Christmas Eve play at church like every other year and go about our lives? Or...do we tell everyone we can find that a Savior has been born...who changed the world forever?

Let's learn a message from the shepherds. Let's humble ourselves before a Savior who humbled Himself for us, and then let's tell the world.