WHY SHEPHERDS
Luke 2:8-20
Intro. Outside St. Mary's Hospital in the slightly shabby London section of Paddington, the crowd was growing by the minute—more than 300 reporters, TV technicians and curious onlookers milled anxiously behind a double row of police barricades and dozens of photographers and TV cameramen perched atop ladders nearby. Inside the hospital, in the private wing, Diana, Princess of Wales, had been in labor since 7:30 a.m. Finally after nine hours, as the afternoon light began to fade and a gray sky threatened rain, a son emerged for all of Britain. Fair of face and blue-eyed like his brother, William, he weighed in at six pounds, 14 ounces. The infant, third in line to the throne after his father and brother, would be known officially as Prince Henry Charles Albert David, it was announced—and just "Harry" to his family and chums. A TV crewman, hooked up to his home office through head-phones, broke the news to the mob outside St. Mary's. "It's a boy!" he shouted. The crowd exploded in cheers. At that a rubbernecking motorist in front of the hospital drove into the side of an ambulance.
Moments later a town crier, decked out in a white-plumed hat and red knickers, rang a large bronze bell and intoned, "Her Royal Highness the Princess Diana has issued forth a second son." Champagne corks popped and church bells pealed throughout the kingdom. Congratulatory flowers and telegrams poured into the hospital, and two traditional 41-gun salutes ripped the air.
. All this press for the birth of a little boy.
. That’s what happens when man announces the birth of a prince or maybe a future king.
. My guess is that if there were birth announcements sent out they would have been laced or edged in gold.
. The point here is that by mans standards you would have expected the birth of the Messiah, The Christ Child to be announced to the most important people in the world wouldn’t you?
. Political leaders – kings, governors, magistrates, even Caesar – might be invited to come and pay homage to the future ruler. Religious leaders – Priests, rabbis, synagogue officials, the head of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin – they would all be invited to worship their Messiah. Military leaders. Wealthy merchants. Men and women of distinction. The news media. But none of them got the word. None of them were invited .
.There were three kings from the east who figured it out but not by invitation and they got there significantly late.
. Only a few, poor, shepherds, the social and religious outcasts, received the announcement.
. Lets read our scripture. Luke 2:8-20
. That night there were fshepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.9Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,10but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.11The gSavior—yes, the hMessiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!12And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14“iGlory to God in highest heaven,
and jpeace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
15When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.17After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.18All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished,19but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.20The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
. The fact that god made the announcement to shepherds helps us to understand the real meaning of Christmas.
. John 3:16 tells us that God loved mankind so much that he sent His son to save us. The greatest birth in history and here in Luke, we see recorded that He chose to make this announcement to and through shepherds first.
. Let me tell you a bit about shepherds. They were the last people you’d expect God to take notice of. First of all, they were religious outcasts. According to Jewish religious law, these men were unclean. Their line of work prevented them from participating in the feasts and holy days that made up the Jewish religious calendar. Why? Well, somebody had to watch the sheep. When everyone else was making the trip to Jerusalem to make sacrifices at the temple, or to participate in one of the annual feasts, they were out in the fields, watching over the sheep. A modern day example might be a trucker or a shift worker, whose job keeps them from regularly attending church. It wasn’t really their fault. But they were looked down on, from a religious point of view. Whatever might have been in their hearts, they weren’t able to participate fully in the religious life of the community.
. Not only that, but shepherds were borderline social outcasts. Since they were constantly on the move to find new pasture for their flocks, they were looked on with suspicion. Kind of the way people today might look at gypsies, or carnival workers. They were often accused of being thieves. If something came up missing – it must have been those shepherds. They were not permitted to give testimony in a legal proceeding, because their word wasn’t considered trustworthy. And on top of all that, they really didn’t have much contact with other people. Most of the time, they were “living out in the fields” (v. 8). This was not a 40-hour a week job. They didn’t come home at night. They were with the sheep 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. During the day, they led the sheep to grass and water. They watched while the sheep grazed. They kept an eye out for predators like wolves. And at night, they actually slept in the sheep pen with the sheep to guard against theft and animal attack. A good shepherd could identify each one of his sheep by sight. He knew his sheep and they knew him.
. While they were good at what they did, they weren’t exactly the cream of the crop by societal standards.
. As I thought about this as I did two weeks ago as to why God chose Joseph to raise His son, the leading of the Holy Spirit prodded me to ask why God chose these lowly men to announce His birth to.
. The first thing we see is that God does not Discriminate.
. God wanted to show that His love does not discriminate on the basis of class, or wealth, or social standing. He does not respect kings and princes more than hourly laborers, he does not value priests and pastors above the people in the pews. God does not show favoritism; He does not give preferential treatment to one group of people over another. His love is available to all on the same basis – faith in Jesus Christ, and faith alone.
. God knows each and every person in existence.
. All people are important to Him.
. Not just the socially acceptable but everyone.
. Everyone is important to God and He can use us no matter what our status in life is.
. In 1 cor. 1:26-28 the apostle Paul wrote: 26Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God jcalled you.27Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.28God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all,…
. A young Jewish boy named Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers & carted off to Egypt. Yet, when God wanted to deliver a very special message to mighty Pharaoh, it was the slave, Joseph, who was brought out of the dungeon to interpret the message. God uses the lowly & despised to show His power.
. As we saw two weeks ago. When God wanted a dad for His son, he chose a lowly carpenter.
. He could have chosen a prince or a king but He didn’t. He chose Joseph.
. When God decided to select a mother for His Son, He went past the fashion salons & beauty parlors. He went past the furs & diamonds & gold, & went to an insignificant village called Nazareth. He found a peasant girl. She did not dress in designer clothes. She did not have a sophisticated education. But she was pure, & God selected her to be the mother of His only begotten Son.
So when the Christ comes, He is not born in Mt. Sinai Hospital in Jerusalem, surrounded by gynecologists, nurses & assistants. But rather, He is born in a stable. He is wrapped in swaddling clothes & laid in a manger.
The world looks down its nose & says, "That’s foolishness." But Paul says, 25This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:25)
C. When God makes His announcement, it is delivered to shepherds. It is like Jesus saying in the Sermon on the mount, "If God cares about sparrows & lilies, then He cares about you." If God cares about shepherds, He cares about you!
We need to hear that, don’t we? Children 12 & 13 years old need to hear that in orphanages when they see younger children being adopted & realize that they probably never will be adopted. They need to hear that.
Mothers of children without a husband to help need to hear that. Lost souls on skid row who drink away their fears need to hear that. People who are lonely need to hear that. Husbands who have lost their wives in death need to hear that. Church people who feel useless & empty need to hear that.
We all need to hear that. All of us have known feelings of rejection. All of us have known feelings of being left out. Christmas comes. The light shines, & God says, "No! You’re wrong. I made the announcement to shepherds, & I make it to you. Unto you a Savior is born."
. God cose the shepherds to show that no matter who you are, no matter your social or economic status. He loves you and He sent His son for you.
. Next God chose shepherds to model what He expects of those who hear of Jesus and experience Him in their lives.
. The Shepherds are our models if we are Christians
. We see this in verse 17&18; 17After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.18All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished,
. After they had encountered the Christ, the Messiah, God himself, they told everyone they saw about Him.
. We see the Shepherds sharing the good news at His birth.
. In the story of his life we see people who after encountering Jesus run and tell others about Him.
. The last command of our Savior was to tell others about Him.
. To share the Good news of salvation to the world.
. Yes we celebrate the birth of our savior but the celebration is really about celebrating the good news of our salvation that He brought with Him through His birth and subsequent death, burial and resurrection.
. We must be like the shepherds and tell everyone that we have encountered the Christ child this Christmas season.
. There’s an old Christmas song that goes like this.
. “ Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.”
. The verses of this song tell the story of the shepherds that night and then this chorus tells us what their response and ours shoul be.
. Go tell it everywhere that Jesus is why we celebrate this day we call Christmas.
. God chose the shepherds to show us that no matter who we are, we are important to Him.
. He loves us no matter who we are.
. He chose the Shepherds to spread the good news that the Messiah had been born and the savior of mankind was now in the world.
. Folks we must communicate with the whole world that Jesus came for all mankind.
Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources:
Holy Bible NLT
Melvin Newland
James May
People.com
