Christmas With the Shepherds.

It’s finally here.  The event we’ve been waiting for – the birth of Mary’s son, Jesus.  At first, Mary and Joseph had their baby all to themselves.  Then Luke 2 says that an angel appeared to the shepherds in the field, announcing the birth of God’s Son.  So the first visitors to the humble birthplace were shepherds.

In ancient Israel, shepherds were dirty, unclean and thus not allowed to enter the temple.  Shepherds were not trusted; they were not allowed to testify in a court of law.  Shepherds were looked down upon by good, upstanding Jews.  You wouldn’t want your daughter to marry a shepherd, or even bring one home.  A shepherd could follow you into a revolving door and come out ahead of you – that’s how shifty they were.  If a shepherd appeared in your front yard, you’d look around to be sure that everything was still there.  Shepherds could not be trusted.

Yet God’s messenger trusted the shepherds with the message of Jesus’ birth.  Shepherds were the first to hear the great news of a Savior born for all the world.  Think of someone that you look down upon, someone who’s not on your level.  Then tell yourself that God’s angels first told people like this person; they were the first to hear the Christmas news.  If we want to see what God is doing, maybe we need to pay more attention to people like the shepherds.  Let’s spend part of our Christmas with someone like a shepherd.