Luke 2.8-20
Good morning! My name
is Abner, a shepherd from Bethlehem. You won't find my name in today's gospel,
just these words from Luke 2: "In that region there were shepherds living in
the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified." I was one of those shepherds, along with two
brothers, my father, and some uncles.
This morning I'd like to tell you my story.
THE SHEPHERDS
First, let me tell you what it's like to be a shepherd. It is hard work, especially when we stay out
all night. It's cold, frustrating, and
dangerous at times. And, on top of all
this, the people who live in town look down on us---they think we're dirty and
dishonest. We don't keep the Sabbath the
way we should, or go to the synagogue regularly. We can't go up to Jerusalem for the big festivals. We are tolerated, but not respected!
Now this is hard because we Israelites have famous ancestors
who were shepherds like us. Abraham, the
father of our race, had his flocks and herds.
Moses, our great liberator, tended sheep in the wilderness for his
father-in-law Jethro. Then there is
David, our greatest king---his brothers had to go and get him from keeping the
sheep so he could be anointed king. And on top of these, we even call the Lord
God our shepherd. One of our greatest
psalms begins with these words: "The Lord is my shepherd..."
Anyway, to get back to my story, I was one of those
shepherds mentioned in today's gospel, living out in the fields and keeping
watch over our flocks at night.
Actually, I was dozing when it all happened, when the angel appeared to
us.
THE ANGEL
Second, let me tell you about that angel. It was the most amazing experience of my
whole life! There I was half asleep, out
in the field with our sheep, when that angel appeared. Have you ever seen an angel? It is not like what you think. This angel was very scary: big, bright, and
loud. I was terrified. I thought I was a goner. I just knew that angel had come to punish us
shepherds for our sins. But then the
angel spoke: "Don't be afraid---I bring
you good news of great joy." Well,
you've got my attention, so let's hear this good news.
The angel's message was good news: the Messiah that we were
waiting for, the Messiah that I really didn't think would ever come, the
Messiah had just been born right here in our town. And the angel told us that we could go find
him somewhere in Bethlehem,
wrapped up in someone's manger. When the
angel finished giving us this message, there was a whole army of other angels
that sang to us. It was the most
wonderful song I have ever heard in my whole life! Then they were all gone and it was dark and cold
again.
How did we respond to that angel? Some of us stood there in disbelief---did
this really happen or did we just dream it?
But most of us wanted to go into town and see this Messiah A.S.A.P. We drew straws to see who would stay with the
sheep (they don't take care of themselves, you know). So we trotted into town to find this baby
king.
THE BABY
Third, let me tell you about the baby. Now I'm not a big one for babies---if you've
seen one you've seen them all. Anyway,
we checked at the one inn in Bethlehem
because the innkeeper knows everything that goes on. He had just returned from a cave on the edge
of town where that baby had been born, so he led us to it. It was just like the angel had told us: there
on some fresh straw in a manger was a newborn baby, all wound up in cloth the
way that women do in our area. The
mother was resting on the ground right beside that baby, and her husband was
sitting beside her. I didn't know her,
but I recognized him because his family was from Bethlehem.
They were shocked to see all of us shepherds come trooping
into that cave. But when we told them
about the angel's message, they could only nod their heads in agreement. They told us that an angel had appeared to
each of them months before, telling them that this baby would be born. That night we all believed that the baby in
front of us was the Messiah, so we knelt down and worshipped him. What else could we do?
When we left the baby and his mother, we woke up our family
and friends: "Come see the Messiah who has been born today in our town of Bethlehem!" But a strange thing happened when we told
others about the baby: some were curious, but others were skeptical. Some even asked us what we had been drinking
out in the fields. After all, we were just
a bunch of shepherds, and you know you can't trust shepherds anyway. So any interest about that baby died out
quickly in town. But I know it happened just the way I'm telling you today.
Years later, I heard about a man named Jesus from Galilee, who said God's kingdom was right at hand and who
taught like no one ever had and who healed the sick. People said he was the Messiah, so I went to
see for myself. When I met him, I just
knew it was that baby born thirty years before in Bethlehem, the one I had gone to see because
of the angel's message. So I left my
sheep in care of my sons and followed that Jesus. You see, I believe what the angel told us
that night: he really is the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord. I am here today to invite you to do the same
thing I did, to believe in and follow that Jesus. You can trust me about this, even if I am a
shepherd.
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