Sermon for December 22nd, 2013

Luke 2:8-20

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ 13And 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 favours!’

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.’ 16So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

The Love of Shepherds

I'd introduce myself, but my name doesn't really matter, and by tomorrow you wouldn't remember it anyhow. Names are for prophets, for cities, for angels, for kings...for important people. In the Bible, my kind are just "some shepherds" who were abiding in the fields. Just...some shepherds. I'm a shepherd.

I bet you think that Shepherds are a thing of the past. Or that we're out there somewhere with our sheep, "abiding" in our fields by night. Actually, we're everywhere you are--in the cities and towns, in houses and workplaces, at the bus stops and in the check-out line at Wal-Mart.

Shepherds are the people who do the jobs that no one else wants to do. The dirty, smelly jobs that keep everyone else clean, safe, and well-fed. We're the ones you see but don't see, the ones without names or faces, the ones usually left out of the story altogether. But not this story. We're the shepherds, and this is our story.