From Lowly Shepherds To Mighty Witnesses

Luke 2:8 “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

1. LOWLY SHEPHERDS.

In our upcoming Christmas production, we have an assorted cast of animals that are going to need some strong and patient shepherds.

And our “animals” are much better to wrangle than those that shepherds in the Bible had to wrangle.

In the Bible, shepherds were considered the lowest of the low.

As a matter of fact, the self-righteous Pharisees considered shepherds to be unclean.

Because they were unclean, they were not allowed into Jerusalem anywhere near the Temple. The shepherds were in daily contact with dirty, smelly sheep, and when I say daily contact, I mean they literally slept with sheep to protect the sheep from predators.

They were filthy. They were smelly. They were dirty. They smelled like the sheep and other animals in their care.

Because they were unclean, the shepherds were never clean enough to worship with God’s people in God's presence. They were outsiders.

Dear friend, we need to be careful so that we do not treat certain people as outsiders. Dear friend, God loves everyone. You will never look into the eyes of someone God hates. When God walked this earth in human flesh, He healed lepers, He ate with prostitutes, He ate with tax collectors, and He healed a cripple at the pool of Bethsaida that no one else cared enough about to see to his needs.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

In our day, dear friend, we need to be careful not to treat certain people as the shepherds were treated. The drunk needs us to show them the love of God. The homosexual needs us to show them the love of God. The lying politician needs us to show them the love of God. The child abuser needs us to show them the love of God.

Too many times, we are like those Pharisees. We deem some people unclean unworthy to come into God’s house to worship. We treat people as if they were these lowly shepherds. How many people in our society want to come to see what Jesus is about, but they feel unclean because that is the way too many religious folks treat them?

Dear friend, the Bible says whoever calls on the name of Jesus shall be saved, and our job is to welcome those whoevers and let God transform their lives.

These shepherds were unwelcome. They were unclean. They were smelly. They were filthy. They were the lowest of the low, but God went to them first.

2. God’s Visit.

Luke 2:9–11 “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.”

Luke 2:12–14 “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.”

The Pharisees wanted nothing to do with the shepherds. Religion wanted nothing to do with the shepherds, but God chose them to be first to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

Dear friend, the Christmas narrative in the Bible can never be taken lightly. The Christmas narrative in Matthew and Luke is the ultimate revelation of God’s desire to save mankind.

I want you to pay careful attention to verse 9. The glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.

Let me say this briefly. When I am typing my sermons, on occasion, I am blown away by what the Holy Spirit reveals to me through Scripture. Verse 9 is one such verse. I was at 3 Oaks Thursday morning December 5th typing this, I just had a general outline, and I almost fell out of my chair when this came to me.

We always read this as simply an angel, but this angel comes in the glory of the Lord, and the KJV calls Him the angel of the Lord.

When the phrase the angel of the Lord is found in the Bible, it is understood as God’s presence appearing in a visible form.

It is the Shekinah glory of God.

In Luke Chap 2 verse 9, the Old Testament concept of Shekinah is connected with the New Testament narrative of Jesus’s birth, signifying God’s presence on earth through His Son Jesus.

Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

Literally, I believe that God was on the earth at that very moment in physical form in the manger and in Spirit in His Shekinah glory. Now, when the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to that truth. I was stunned, and realized, that truly, nothing is impossible to God.

In the Old Testament, every time the Shekinah glory of God is referenced, one reaction is generated, and that reaction is fear. These shepherds were sore afraid. As will all men be when they come in the presence of God.

This Being, who I believe to be God in His Shekinah glory, did not come in fear. He came to deliver to these lowly shepherd news of great joy which shall be for all people-even the lowly unclean shepherds. Often, God reaches out to those whom the world has rejected.

God declared to these shepherd that in Bethlehem a Savior had been born, and that Savior was Christ the Lord.

Now, do not think that I am stretching the Bible here. When you get saved, who glorifies Jesus Christ in your life? God, the Holy Spirit.

God, in His Shekinah glory, was relaying to the shepherds what the Holy Spirit reveals to you and me, and then notice what else God told these shepherds.

He tells them how they will be able to identify their Savior. Remember, these shepherds are Jewish shepherds, and God tells them the sign to look for.

The Savior would be the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

When God delivered the message of good tidings, a host of the heavenly multitude broke out in joyous celebration of the event that all of heaven had been waiting for in perpetuity.

The angels were celebrating in heaven because the One who was lying in the manger would bring glory to God, peace on earth, and good will toward men.

AMEN!!!! It is only through Jesus Christ can you ever know peace, and I am talking about real peace, the peace He brings between you and God. He connects the children of God to the God of the Old Testament and the God of eternity. It is really incredible.

Think of the shepherds. They could not even go into the Temple to worship. They were outcasts, but God came to them to share the good news of the gospel.

Now, I am not asking you to believe what I just told you about these verses, but I want you to know and I hope you do know that I would never say anything to you that was not Biblical or anything that was not given to me by the Holy Spirit.

I had read this passage for 50 years and never saw the possibility that God was both in the manger and in His glory, sharing good news with the shepherds. I say AMEN!!! AMEN!!!! AMEN!!!!!

3. Lowly Shepherds Become Mighty Witnesses.

Luke 2:15–17 “And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Beth-lehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.”

Luke 2:18–20 “And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”

It is one thing to hear the good news. It is another thing to accept in faith. As soon as the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds showed their belief by coming to Bethlehem to discover the truth that God had given them. They did not wait.

The shepherds came with haste.

Do you know what they found? They found exactly what God told them they would find. They found the Savior lying in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.

Immediately, upon finding Jesus, they did not keep the news to themselves. The Bible says they made the news known abroad. What does that mean? It means everywhere they went they told everyone about the Savior.

Some believed. Some did not, but the shepherds believed and knew what God had told them. Their reaction was to glorify and praise God for the Savior and for the gospel.

The outcasts were the first to hear the gospel. They were the first to believe. They were the first to share the good news. They praised and glorified God for what God had told them and done for them.

Now, dear friend, why is this so important?

Are you like the shepherds? Dear friend, all the time we should praise God for our salvation, but many Christians face Christmas with dread.

Dear friend, there is no dread associated with Christmas. Associated with Christmas is the Savior, the Gospel, peace, and good news.

If you are lost, I have some great news for you. That baby born in Bethlehem can and will give you peace if you believe in Him. You have to be like those lowly shepherds. The lowly shepherds were not wanted by anyone but God as God told them the good news first.

Dear friend, you may feel like you are unwanted, but you are not unwanted. You are loved by God, and God wants you as one of His children. As a matter of fact, God has done all He possibly can to make you one His, but you must accept what Jesus has done for you in faith.

Are you troubled? Do you feel like an outcast in the world? God is wanting you to experience the peace that was made possible by the Savior coming to this earth.

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Come to Jesus, and you will feel so differently. You will no longer feel like an outcast as you will become a child of God.