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While the country of India has gained some international notoriety with its formal caste system, there have always been haves and have nots in every society. Even in the suburban, modern west we still easily categorize people as less than and more than compared to us. In First Century Judea, shepherds were universally understood to be among the lowest of the low. Powerless and the object of scorn, they never would have expected to be the first to know the Messiah was born. This weekend, we will explore what they heard and the actions they took on their journey to Jesus.

 

Our choir has already taken us into our text for today. Through their music they have told us the story of Jesus’ birth starting with the prophets. Then, they took us to Luke chapter two where they introduced us to the shepherds, their sheep, an angel messenger and a massive group of angels praising God. Let me continue to read where our narrator(s) left off a few minutes ago and read Luke 2:15-20.

Just as you and I were chosen to hear these words today and live in light of them, the shepherds were chosen to hear the words of the angels and to act on them.

Even they must have wondered why. Shepherds were considered among the least of the people of Palestine. For countless generations, the duty of shepherd fell to the youngest of the eligible children in the family. Whether a particular family was from among the Bedouin or among villagers, the task of shepherding was not considered a choice job at all. It was kind of like being television’s “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe day in and day out to absolutely no acclaim whatsoever. (Mike’s the guy who said of one job, “I'm not quitting. I'm just leaving and never coming back.")

Beyond the family circle, professional shepherds made up many of the shepherds of the day. They would gather sheep and goats from individual homes in a village and take them out to pasture. Because of their role, they were kept from observing ceremonial law as scrupulously as required since they were out in the fields working round the clock. Either because a few proverbial apples that spoiled the whole bunch or because of innuendo and rumor, they were distrusted as thieves. Some of them likely were. After all, no one was the wiser if a sheep was declared dead but actually hidden away and bartered or sold on the sly. For this reason, rabbinical code taught that one should not buy anything from a shepherd. They were not allowed to give testimony in courts of law because their reputation was so stained. Shepherds got no respect and some of them deserved it.

When we lived in Knoxville, Tennessee in the late 80’s, there were all the usual annual events like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. We were delighted to discover that Knoxville also celebrates a Dogwood Festival each spring with the hope that the dogwoods and red buds will be in full bloom at just the right time. There was another seasonal event of an entirely different kind. This was the migration of the gypsies. Word would spread through neighborhoods to keep doors locked at all times. We thought this was pretty ridiculous and more than a little prejudicial. Then, one afternoon a neighbor told us she left her front door unlocked just the day before while she went out in the back yard to do some gardening. She came back into the house to find someone standing in her front hall with one of her cherished silver serving bowls in his hands. When she asked, “Who are you and why are you in my house?” He quite kindly and gently said, “I was looking for someone,” and then turned and walked out the door never to be seen again. Never violent, these folks were known to be of the same kind of reputation as ancient shepherds.

At the time of the opening of Luke’s gospel, there were other people who were not well thought of in the land. Prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors. Why did the message come to shepherds on this night? Was it just because they were marginalized and powerless? Because they were not the only ones to fit that category, I don’t think so. I think the shepherds were chosen for a very specific reason.

There is an intriguing possibility that these shepherds were not watching over village sheep. It could be that they were shepherds watching over animals intended for sacrifice at the Temple. A couple of clues point to this possibility. First, according to a rabbinic rule any animal found wandering free between Jerusalem and Bethlehem (just six miles to the south) must be presumed to be raised for sacrifice in the temple. So, sacrificial animals were kept in that area. Second, just outside Bethlehem there was also a “flock tower”, built for the specific use of shepherds who cared for the flocks destined for temple sacrifice. Its presence indicates that those who watched over the flocks might well have been temple employed shepherds watching over flocks from which would come the unblemished animals through which sins would be forgiven in temple rituals. If it was to these shepherds that the angels appeared, then they were selected to be the first witnesses to the one who was born to die as the final perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.

And there is one thing more. The best way I know to state it is that the shepherds were chosen because the baby they would find lying in the manger was a shepherd. “But, Pat,” you might say, “the text tells us that the angel said the baby was the savior who is Messiah the Lord. Where do you get this shepherd idea?” To be sure, he is savior, the One who saves from fear, sin and death; he is messiah, the Lord, the Anointed One, the promised One of God. So, where do I get the idea that he is a shepherd?

Go back with me into the history of God and his people:

• King David who once was a shepherd to his family’s flock writes:

The Lord is my shepherd

Psalm 23:1

 

And then listen to the words of the prophets:

• Isaiah says:

[The Sovereign Lord] tends his flock like a shepherd:

He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart . . . .

Isaiah 40:11

 

• Jeremiah proclaims:

He who scattered Israel will gather them

and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.

Jeremiah 31:10

 

• Ezekiel shares this message from God:

I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.

As shepherds look after their scattered flocks . . . so I will look after my sheep.

You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God . . . .

Ezekiel 34:30,31

 

Now, go forward with me into the public life of the adult Jesus, once the baby lying in the manger.

 

• Matthew writes:

When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Matthew 35,36

• Jesus said:

I am the good shepherd.

John 10:11,14

There were three primary images that followers of Jesus used as visual metaphors for the way of Jesus in the opening decades and centuries of the Christian era. One was the simple image of a fish. Another was the vine representing the life we have as we remain in Jesus. According to scholar Ken Bailey, it is the third metaphor that was the most prominent among early followers of Jesus. It is the image of the shepherd who is always depicted in mosaics and in frescoes as carrying a sheep over its shoulders. The metaphor rings true. The great shepherd of the sheep is God himself placed in a manger. It is through the shepherds that the news comes of God born into the world in the form of the baby in Bethlehem to once again shepherd his people.

Why did the shepherds get the news first? Why did they get the privilege of going into Bethlehem to witness the baby lying in a manger? Why did they get to give the first witness to everyone? Because they carried the title that God himself was now fulfilling: shepherd. So, they were appointed to be the first to pay homage to the restoration of Israel’s shepherd, God himself with them.

And so, friends, the baby is born in humble circumstances among common, everyday people in common, everyday circumstances in Bethlehem. He is the savior who is messiah the Lord. He comes into the world to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He is the shepherd of Israel, God himself in the flesh, the living reminder that he was, and is and will be shepherding his people, the flock under his care.

At this moment, even seated right here, we too can receive this glorious news that continues to break out of heaven. God is with us. God is the shepherd for all who believe. We who like lost sheep are without hope unless our shepherd comes celebrate that he has come. He is savior and messiah the Lord, our shepherd king lying in a manger.

You and I are in need of a shepherd of our souls. We are helpless and harassed and afraid, just like, well just like sheep without a shepherd. Like all generations before us we chase after relationships, goals, values, possessions, experiences and ideologies that we believe will bring fulfillment and well-being and peace. We who know and follow Jesus wander so easily away from our master investing in the same passions that the rest of the world pursues. We do this in actions, words, thoughts and attitudes. We do not hear and obey the voice of our Lord. We all are in need of a shepherd. We have heard today that God himself has come and reclaimed this role that is rightly his alone. You and I can decide right now to yield to his touch, to welcome his embrace, to follow him, to settle ourselves under his power, love, grace and mercy. I invite you to welcome your shepherd, the God of glory in new ways into your life today. You can do that in your thoughts or with words that are as simple as “God, I need a shepherd. I want you to be my shepherd. I will live to follow you as your obedient sheep. Please bring me your peace.” He invites us to find our rest, to find our peace, in him.

Like the shepherds, we can come and worship and go and witness that the long awaited shepherd of our souls has come.

O Come, all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant,

O Come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!

Come and behold Him,

Born the King of angels!

O sing, choirs of angels,

Sing in exultation!

O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!

Glory to God, all glory in the highest!

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ, the Lord!

Oh, how Israel needed her shepherd re-instated! Oh, how the world needed its shepherd identified! Oh, how we need our shepherd to be the shepherd of our souls this Christmas!

Come, let us adore him. Amen.