Sermon for December 20th, 2020
Luke 2:8-20
8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Angel Songs: Afraid to Run
A shepherd was looking after his sheep on the side of a deserted road. Suddenly a brand new Porsche screeches to a halt. The driver gets out--he's a young man dressed in an Armani suit, Rolex watch, and Patent leather shoes. He says to the shepherd 'If I can guess how many sheep you have, can I keep one?' The shepherd looks at his large flock of sheep and says 'Okay'.
The young man takes a few snapshots with his cell phone, uploads them to a NASA website, scans the field using satellite technology, opens a database in the cloud linked to 60 Excel tables, filled with logarithms and pivot tables, then downloads a 150 page report to his iPad. He studies the reports and says to the shepherd 'You have 1,586 sheep'.
The shepherd replies, 'That's correct. You can have the pick of my flock.' The young man packs away his equipment, looks at the flock and puts one into the back of the Porsche. Right as he is about to leave, the Shepherd says, 'If I can guess what your profession is will you return the animal to me?' The young man thinks for a minute and says 'Okay'.
The shepherd says 'You're a Consultant'. The young man says 'Correct, how did you know?' The Shepherd replied, 'Simple. You came here without being invited, you charged me a fee for something I already knew, and you don't know a thing about my business. - Now, can I have my dog back, please?'
