A Special Holiday Christmas Inspiration.


"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD LORD. . . SHEPHERDS?!"

by Tim Knappenberger

  

Can't you just hear the heavenly hosts: "Shepherds?! We're going to make THE most holy, THE most monumental, THE most anticipated announcement of ALL time to SHEPHERDS??!! Lord, are You absolutely sure?! No disrespect meant, Oh Most High, but we've been practicing for millennia for this very event and you want us to deliver it to . . . well, uh, (Let's see, how can we say this gracefully?) . . . SHEPHERDS!!??" OK, so maybe I've imparted a few more humanly qualities to these heavenly beings than I should. After all, one of the traits that make angels angelic is their unquestioning obedience to the Lord. But I can very easily hear us say such things had we been permitted to stand near the throne of God when the order to announce Christ's birth was issued: "For cryin' out loud Lord, shepherds?!"

God could not have chosen a more unlikely and less regal band of men. A modern day corollary might be sanitation engineers (garbage collectors, no less). Hard working, but of very low career-estate. Not ones noted for making public speeches, let alone entrusted with eternity-altering pronouncements. In 1st Century Palestine, shepherds were the lowest of the social status low. They were so disregarded and distrusted by Hebrew society at-large that they were not permitted to testify in court. They smelled and were considered rough and crude. A shepherd was not what you wanted your good Jewish son or daughter to aspire to. But shepherds it was.

Thankfully for us, God could not have made a more reassuring choice. Picking shepherds says a great deal about what goes on in the mind of our Creator; imaginings that should stir our souls.

In picking shepherds God says:

  • I will not be figured out nor bound by Man's conventional wisdom. (For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. 1 Cor 1:25)

  • I will share My heavenly treasurers with earthly paupers. (At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Matt 11:25)

  • I see Man not as he sees himself, but as I originally created him. (. . .The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Sam. 16:7)

Yep, shepherds. Common folk like you and me. Smelly, rough, and sometimes liars to others as well as ourselves. But in the blink of an eye and with one word from Jehovah God, we, as they, become messengers and emissaries of the most fantastic news to ever hit this planet. LOOK OUT WORLD! YOUR GOD IS COMING TO YOU! Yes, it's amazing what God can do with shepherds. One day a herd-tender; the next a Messiah-announcer.

Yes, shepherds crying out loud: Glory to God in the highest!


 


And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2:8-14
 


God could not have chosen a more unlikely and less regal band of men.
 

Please drop Tim a line at   knapp@raex.com

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