Shepherds: Unlikely Guests In The Christmas Story


Many of us will decorate our homes with manger scenes for Christmas. Those arrangements will generally include shepherds. I met one once, and it's a story I love to tell.

We were traveling down a dirt road in Maasai Land in Kenya when we saw him. He kept his distance, but his curiosity was evident as we slowed to a stop. His clothes were worn and rather tattered. He smiled and waved, but never approached us. He was a shepherd. His brothers may learn to read and write, but he never will. His brothers may receive better clothing, but sheep aren't really concerned with your apparel. Being chosen as the shepherd is a difficult lot in life. It's always been.

I wanted his picture so I asked our host if it would be appropriate to give him something in exchange. He assured me it was fine so I reached out the window to offer him some money. He didn't move. "He can't take it from you. He's a shepherd. You have to drop it on the ground." I did and as we drove away he ran over to pick it up. I felt sad. I wanted to go back and hug him, but no one hugs him. He's a shepherd.

When Joseph brought his family to Egypt during the famine they had cause to hide their profession. "For all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians." Genesis 46:34

When the prophet Samuel visited Jesse's house to anoint the next king of Israel David wasn't even called inside. This wasn't simply because he was the youngest. "Do you have any more sons?” "Yes,” Jesse answered. “My youngest son David is out taking care of the sheep.” I Samuel 16:11. Why would we call him in? He's the shepherd.

In first century Palestine shepherds were known to be thieves and liars. They couldn't testify in court because they weren't trustworthy.

One night everything changed.

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." Luke 2:8-11

Jesus changes everything.

People will judge you based on your race, level of education, nationality, gender, and even the chapter of your life they walked in on. You're more than that. Society had determined a shepherd couldn't testify, yet the first to testify of the Savior's birth were shepherds. Society's labels don't matter to God.

This Christmas as you view the manger scene the shepherds will probably appear well dressed and refined. That's not who they were. Their presence at the Savior's birth was radical. Of course, if you get right down to it, our presence as sons and daughters of God is pretty radical as well. No one is left outside with Jesus. All are welcome to come and worship the newborn King.

Following the Son,

James A Williams

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Get The Rebound

Image
If you've ever played or watched basketball you know that rebounding is a huge part of the game. If you're unfamiliar with the sport rebounding is quite simply getting the ball when a shot is missed. You can't score without the ball which makes the play of great importance. It's not unusual for a team with a higher shooting percentage to lose a basketball game because they were out rebounded. On the court what you do when you miss can be even more important than making shots. It's true in life as well. Everyone misses shots, but that doesn't mean you've lost the game. Get the rebound. "For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again." Proverbs 24:16. People won't always give you the chance to rise again. For some your shortcoming is how they'll label you forever. Get the rebound anyway.  It was the historian Froude who wrote, "The worth of a man must be measured by his life, not by his failure under a singular a...
Read more

What’s In Your Cart?

Image
On this day in 1939, Sylvan Goldman who owned the Humpty Dumpty supermarket chain got an idea. He was trying to think of a way for his customers to transport more groceries around his stores. He attached 4 wheels to the legs of a wooden folding chair, and then attached a basket to the seat. The shopping cart was born.  Before this shopping trips to the Humpty Dumpty or the Piggly Wiggly would be limited to what you could carry in your arms. I wonder if Sylvan’s original patent stated that one of the wheels was to either not spin or rapidly shake back and forth? It’s possible that this is some modern improvement on his original design. However it happened the carts keep getting bigger. When I bring my groceries to the check out counter I sometimes use the self check out. I don’t like the self checkout because the computer keeps telling me I put things in the bagging area when I didn’t. When I get a real person they will often ask this profound question. “Did you find ev...
Read more

Mercy

Image
We visited our nephew and his family last weekend. They have three boys, and witnessing their interactions brought back memories of both fun and difficult days of raising our boys. Sometimes when my boys were young I felt like all I did was discipline them. It seemed at times like we couldn't make it through a meal, homework, or even play time, without a fight breaking out, some inappropriate comment, backtalk, or a hundred other random things they could find to do to push their Mother and I over the line. I remember calmly saying things like, "I need for you to understand that I can feel anger welling up within me."  Sometimes this would result in corrected behavior, other times they would look at me as though I were speaking Chinese (I know this isn't actually a language, please don't write me a letter). I realize spanking children is controversial, so I tried not to spank my sons over 3 or 4 times a day (That's called hyperbole). On one occ...
Read more