The Shepherd and the Shepherds

The Shepherd and the Shepherds Luke 2:8-18; John 10:11-18 With the lighting of the Shepherd's candle this morning, I wanted to take a lingering moment to look at the shepherds a little more. Shepherds were very poor people who worked hard, long hours, usually for other people. Rarely did a shepherd work for himself and tend his own flocks on his own land. They were hired help and poorly paid. They were excluded from society, in that, they were outstanding in their fields, literally. When they did come to town to mingle, they were strangers and they smelled; and their reputations were as shallow as their stories of bravery and tall tales of the wilderness. So they usually ended up with each other, regardless of where they were. The shepherds knew they were considered common and simple and undesirable by the rest of society. They knew they did not have the prestige, education, money or power or influence that others in society had and used to succeed. They knew they occupied the lower end of their culture's socio-economic ladder and had little means for any upward mobility in society. Know anybody who feels like that sometimes? And yet, angels, divine apparitions of heaven, floated down from above and visited them and sang to them. They were chosen to be visited and to witness and be the first to proclaim, on the greatest night the world would ever know, that Christ the Lord was born in Bethlehem. In Luke 2:20, after seeing the Babe lying in the manger, the Bible says that "the shepherds returned to their fields, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen." The shepherds came away from the manger realizing that their self-esteem had just received a huge award. Theirs was the academy award for being the lowest of society and yet most distinguished among humankind; and now, the whole world, for all eternity, would know the favor that had been granted to just them. They had become one of the few who were ushered into the company of the Messiah's family, and not only that, but that they had been favored as at least equal to the wise men who visited later, and all who would come and worship the Christ Child. God had seen fit to include them, mere common men, in this wonderful, divine event. All of us, because of the common interest we share with the shepherds, are one in our worship with the shepherds that night. We are all one in the great event because we are one in the Christ. The shepherds came away, rejoicing and praising God, knowing that the job that they had been doing, 2 tending sheep, was no longer just a means by which to keep food on the table and clothing on their backs. Now, instead of just tending sheep, they could say, "I shepherd sheep for God." God had elevated their lowly place, their commonness, and had blessed their everyday jobs and the people who do them. Now they tended sheep for God. The task of keeping the sheep was now a labor gladly accomplished for God. This attitude has transformed the world. Jesus teaches that we have all been made one, when He says, "there shall be one flock and one shepherd." Jesus is not only willing to make Himself one―with bragging, though humbled shepherds―but to proclaim that there is one flock of all people with one Shepherd for all. Jesus states three truths in this passage: 1. that Jesus loves us because we are His, 2. that Jesus loves us because He knows us, and 3. that Jesus loves us such as to be willing to die for us, to save us and to redeem us. Friends, we are called to the manger today, to look upon the face of the Christ Child. We look upon the One who loves us, yes; however, we must answer whether we are willing to love Him in return. Jesus will settle for nothing less than a total commitment to this relationship of becoming one with Him. The jobs and labors, at which we toil in this life, are accomplished, or should be practiced, with the attitude of the shepherds. "I tend sheep for God." "I pump gas for God." "I do laundry for God." "I am a carpenter for God." "I am an athlete for God." "I am a teacher, a factory worker, a banker, a lawyer for God, a secretary, an army private, a musician, a farmer for God." "I am an artist for God." "I work with computers for God." "I am retired for God." "I am a homemaker for God." “I light the candles for God and sweep the church and decorate the sanctuary and serve on committees for God.” Whatever we do, whatever station we occupy in life, we can do it for God. The most wonderful thing in the world is that God loves us just the way we are. He loves us, even as He knows us. And the love that Jesus has for us is so complete, that when the time came, Jesus stretched out His arms and while saying, “I love you this much,” He died upon the cross. Christ calls us to be one with Him, one in love with each other, and one in our ministry to all the world. I’ve got a parable for you. Once there lived a king who had power over all the nations and people. His 3 courts were of richest splendor; his tables were heavy with the finest food. Music and laughter and gaiety floated from his castle. Clouds wrapped his mansion in majesty. A shepherd, living in the valley below, filled with violence and hunger, stopped and looked at the castle for a long while, wishing they might know the king. But none were able to reach it. In the cold of winter, the king's tailor entered the royal chambers with the latest additions to the king's wardrobe. He had selected the finest materials and woven them into the most beautiful garments that eyes had ever seen. But the king was not pleased. He ordered his tailor out, vowing to make his own clothes. The door to the throne room was shut and locked. Weeks passed. The royal court waited with anticipation to see what the king would make for himself. They knew they were bound to be blinded by the glory of it all. Finally, the awaited day arrived. The door opened and the king appeared. Everyone, especially the tailor, gasped in surprise. His majesty was dressed in the simplest, cheapest, most un-kingly garments imaginable. He had the choice of the world's finest materials, but he had chosen to wear the clothes of a beggar. He spoke quietly to them all: "I am going into the valley." The end. (Author Michael Daves) Our shepherds were also in the valley, along with all the rest of us, all of humankind. This is why we celebrate today. Our God, our King, became flesh to dwell among us. It all began with the shepherds, those common people, who were invited to a great event and realized that God not only knew of them, but recognized then, favored them, brought them in close, embraced them and loved them. Through the invitation, delivered by angels no less, they were made one with humanity but even more so, they became one with Christ. Money, education, position, power have no meaning here in this sanctuary or in God’s kingdom. Quite the contrary. “The first shall become last and the last shall become first” (Matthew 20:16). We all come humbly as sinners, forgiven and redeemed, one in the love of Christ. As our worship is ending, let the service begin, as we also return to our lives rejoicing and praising God, saying, "I will tend sheep for my Lord!”