“The Faith of the Shepherds”
[Luke 2:1-20]
December 24, 2013 Second Reformed Church
“And in the same region there were
shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an
angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around
them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear
not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the
people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is
Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped
in swaddling cloths and 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 among those with whom he is pleased!’ (Luke
2:8-14, ESV).
I have a friend who is from
Scotland, and he has shown me pictures of his homeland, including some of
shepherds – guiding their sheep in beautiful pastures – very relaxing and
pastoral. Some of you may think of
shepherds like that…but the shepherds we read about in the Gospel of Luke did
not live in twenty-first century Scotland…
God called Abraham to be the father
of God’s people, and Abraham was a shepherd.
In the early years of Israel, they were a nomadic people and they were
largely shepherds. It was a position of
esteem – providing food and sacrifices.
However, once the people were in Egypt,
they found themselves among an agricultural culture and people, who looked down
on shepherds, because the sheep and the goats ate the crops, and the Egyptians
did not consider sheep worthy to be sacrificed to their gods.
After four hundred years in Egypt,
Israel also adopted the view that shepherds were the lowest of the low – on the
level of tax collectors and waste collectors – that was the view that was in
place in first century Israel – shepherds were dirty bums, untrustworthy,
people you wanted to stay away from.
It was assumed that shepherds were
thieves – you didn’t buy things from them – they were dirty, uneducated, and
underpaid. They were also afforded no
civil rights – shepherds were not allowed to hold public office or to be
witnesses in court.
Given this to be true, we might
wonder why in the world God gave the Good News to the shepherds. Why did they receive the revelation of the
birth of Jesus? Why were they the
primary people to whom God revealed the birth of the Son of God – the
Savior? Why didn’t God reveal the Incarnation
to the kings and prophets and priests of the land – people who would have been
believed?
As we review the text in Luke, one
thing stands out to us: the shepherds received
the Word of God by faith – and we see this in at least six ways:
First, the shepherds received the
Word of God by faith in that they immediately went to Bethlehem: “When the
angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let
us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,” (Luke 2:15a,
ESV).
The shepherds heard the Word of God
given by the angels that the Savior had been born in Bethlehem, and they
received it by faith, and they went immediately to Bethlehem. They didn’t debate the meaning of what the
angels said. They didn’t discuss whether
it was true or not. They didn’t think
about the meaning of the words that were spoken. They didn’t seek out officials to justify
their faith in what they had heard. They
heard the Word of God by faith and any thought of who they were in the hierarchy
of society was left behind, and they went immediately to Bethlehem.
Would we have immediately left our
work – our lives – and gone? Perhaps we
are thinking that it would never happen to us – we are too insignificant, but
shepherds were the bottom of the barrel!
Surely, each one of us has or can be called up for jury duty – they
could not, because they were so low in society.
Are we so quick to heard the Word of God and receive it by faith and go? If we read or hear read or preached something
from God’s Word, would we receive it by faith and go – willing to leave
everything behind and not worry about ourselves or our previous understandings
or our feelings, but just go, because God has spoken?
Second, the shepherds received the
Word of God by faith and confessed that the Lord God had revealed the Good News
to them: “which the Lord has made known
to us” (Luke 2:15b).
They shepherds immediately
recognized that what the angels were telling them was the Word of God
Himself. Even in their low station, they
knew the Word of God well enough that when it was spoken; they knew it was none
other than the Word of God Himself.
Do we recognize the Word of
God? Do we recognize when something has
been read or preached from the Bible? Do
we know that it is the Word of the One Holy God, Who cannot change; the Only
One Who can make us right with God and save us from His Wrath? Or do we debate it? Do we argue that these are modern times and
we can’t believe God’s Word? Do we argue
that the Word of God must change for changing times? Do we have more faith in Social Security than
in the Word of God?
Third, the shepherds received the
Word of God by faith and went quickly: “And
they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger”
(Luke 2:16, ESV).
They shepherds heard the Word of God
and received it by faith and they left immediately and they went quickly! They ran to the stable door. They were so excited that the Savior had come
that they ran and burst in to see – they had to see! God has come to earth!
The holidays can be a great time –
having family around, but not everyone believes, and some families are
fractured. Presents are nice –
especially books – but they don’t last eternity. There’s a lot of traffic this time of year –
what are we running to? Have we found
Something – like the shepherds – that is Eternal – exciting to the point of
everlasting joy? Are we afraid to say,
“Merry Christmas!”? Is He enough for us
to run to?
Fourth, the shepherds received the
Word of God by faith and they testified to what had happened. “And when they saw it, they made known the
saying that had been told them concerning this child” (Luke 2:17, ESV).
Can we imagine the scene? Mary has given birth. Joseph is with her, comforting her, and
rejoicing in the birth of their Son, the One Who is called, “God with us.” All of a sudden, the door flies open and
these shepherds – these dirty, sheep-smelling guys, burst into the room – we
have no idea how many there were.
“This is Him! This is the One the angels told us about! We were in the fields, watching over our
flocks – protecting them – and suddenly, the sky burst open, and the Glory of
the Lord God shown down on us – we fell to the ground in fear – God had come
into the presence of we humble shepherds!
But then, an angel told us not to be afraid – God was not coming to
strike us down, but to reveal the arrival of the Savior to us, of all
people. He told us that the Baby had
been born – God had come to earth in the person of a baby – your Son – the joy
of all peoples. He told us that the
Savior had been born in Bethlehem – the Savior, the Christ, the Lord – our God
– and he gave us the sign that He would be here – in a manger – in swaddling
cloths. Look! The Savior has been born! And we dropped everything and ran here,
because we had to see – the Savior – the Savior – and the angel was joined with
a great multitude, praising God for His Gift of the Savior. And here we are.”
The shepherds must have been about
to burst – have you experienced that immense joy – where you could do nothing
less than tell someone? Have you ever
just had to tell someone that Jesus has come – the Savior has come – there is
hope for all those who believe in Jesus!?
I fear that we don’t think we have
the right words to say – that we won’t be convincing enough – that we’ll get
ourselves into a conversation we won’t know all the answers to. Perhaps you feel like a first century
shepherd. You know, those guys who ran
to the manger and told what they had heard to Mary and Joseph. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will bring
to our remembrance the Word that we have heard – that we would tell what we
know and have heard.
Fifth, the shepherds received the
Word of God by faith and they were believed by the people they told. “And all who heard it wondered at what the
shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in
her heart” (Luke 2:18-19, ESV).
The shepherds told Mary and Joseph –
and they told everybody else. We’re not
told who the people are that they told, but we can imagine that with such great
news, they told everyone they came in contact with – certainly on the way back
from Bethlehem and from that day forth.
What they heard and believed by faith had a life-changing impact on them
– as it does on all believers – does it not?
We’re told that all those who heard
the shepherds’ story “wondered.” Did you
ever wonder what that means? Did the
people hear the story and wonder what the shepherds had been drinking? Did the people hear the story and wonder if
the shepherds had been out in the fields too long? The word means that they were amazed – they
were filled with awe – the people who heard the Word of God related by the shepherds
received it and were filled with awe – they couldn’t believe it – the Promise
had come – salvation was being made for all those who would believe – the Evangel
had come – the Good News had come – the Savior had come. Amazing – worthy is our God to be worshipped!
A willing heart that hears the Good
News of Jesus Christ will be filled with awe – it will be led to worship. Let’s not close our mouths when someone rolls
their eyes or looks at us like we have finally gone over the edge. Have you ever had the privilege of talking
with someone about Jesus and seeing the Glory of God in their eyes as their
heart receives Him by faith and rejoices?
We’re told that Mary “pondered” what
the shepherds said. Have you ever
pondered what that might mean? Of course
she did not doubt their message – she had received the Word of God by faith and
believed and humbly received the Work of the Holy Spirit in her that she would
bear the Son of God. Here, what we are
being told is that she preserved what the shepherds said in her mind – she
memorized their account of the angels’ visit and announcement. What an amazing story she had to tell Jesus
as He grew up – the creatures of Heaven announced His Birth and revealed it to shepherds
who came and visited Him as a baby.
Sixth, the shepherds received the
Word of God by faith and gave thanks and praised God. “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and
praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them” (Luke
2:20, ESV).
The shepherds received the Word of
God by faith, they went to see the Baby, they told others about His Birth and
they thanked God for revealing His birth to them – the lowest people of society
– that they would be the first to know that God the Savior had come. They praised God as worthy of all praise for
His faithfulness in keeping His promise to send a Savior for all those who
would believe. They glorified God –
telling all those they came in contact with about God and what He had done –
revealing God for Who He is and praising Him for being God.
And what about us this Christmas
Eve? Are we thanking and praising and
glorifying God for Who He is and what He has done? Are we unafraid to pray and to proclaim that
Christ the Savior has come? God is
faithful. God is merciful. God is gracious. God is good.
God is loving. God is
truthful. God keeps His promises.
But we still haven’t answered the
question, have we? Why did God reveal
the birth of Jesus to shepherds – to people who would have been hard-pressed to
find others that would believe them – especially anyone who mattered? Wouldn’t it have made more sense for God to
tell the kings and priests and prophets and have them come? Wouldn’t the word have spread and been
believed more readily if God had chosen someone important to reveal this Good
News to?
Paul gives us some insight into why
as he writes:
“For the word of the cross is folly
to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of
God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the
discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater
of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in
the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God
through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand
signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block
to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of
God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (I
Corinthians 1:18-25, ESV).
One reason that God revealed this
message to the shepherds is that God wanted to put down the wisdom of
humanity. God wanted to show that
salvation is by the wisdom of God and not by the wisdom of humans. God wanted to reveal Himself in a way that
would make no sense unless it was received by faith.
And, if we’re thinking, “Well,
wasn’t that a bad plan? Wouldn’t God have
achieved more by appealing to the wisdom of humans – by bringing His Son and
Salvation into the world through a way that humans could naturally understand?”
And there we prove Paul’s
point: the Incarnation is not the way
that humans would naturally think would be the best way to make ourselves right
with God, but God knew it was the best way – the only way – that would be
acceptable – possible – in His Sight.
Paul continues with more insight on
this:
“For
consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly
standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose
what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the
world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world,
even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human
being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ
Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and
redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the
Lord’” (I Corinthians 1:26-31, ESV).
Another
reason God revealed the Good News of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds is the
same reason that God uses people like me – and you – God wanted it to be
obvious that the message and the Salvation came from God and not from the shepherds
– or us. God wanted to receive all
praise for the Incarnation and for Salvation, and God accomplishes that by
usually using people that are small in the world’s eyes.
Paul
writes, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing
power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not
crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live
are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus
also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life
in you” (II Corinthians 4:7-12, ESV).
Just
one point here, which we’ve noted before – it’s easier to find a specific
diamond in a litter box than in a box of diamonds. And so God uses people in whom the Gospel
will be easier to see. If the king of
Israel brought the angels’ message to Mary and Joseph, it would have been
obscured by the king being there, but it shown brightly coming from the
shepherds.
So,
if you believe you are inadequate to tell others the Gospel – for whatever
reason – very good! Tell others, and it
will be easier to see.
And
if you have not believed the Gospel because of the sins of the Church or
individual Christians or because you don’t want to be associated with shepherds
and other losers like me – look beyond the messenger to the message. Consider if you are right with God, and if
not, what you might do to be worthy of God’s acceptance. And if you understand that the answer is
nothing – you can do nothing to make yourself right with God, hear the message
again – that on that first Christmas, God began to fulfill His Promise to
provide salvation for all those who will believe through a savior – through
Jesus, the Son of Mary, the Son of God.
As
Calvin wrote, “If then we desire to come to Christ, let us not be ashamed to
follow those whom the Lord, in order to cast down the pride of the world, has
taken, from among the dung of cattle, to be our instructors” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Luke 2:8).
Brothers and sisters, God has sent
His Son, Jesus, to be the Promised Savior.
Receive the Word of God by faith, immediately and quickly come to Him in
your heart, confess that this is the Word of God, and then tell others, and
thank and praise and glorify God.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for the
faith of the shepherds. We thank You for
revealing the birth of Jesus to them. We
ask that we would not be ashamed of them for their low station in society, and
that we would not be ashamed of our natural abilities, but seek to tell others
what we have received – what we have believed – that they, too, might come to
faith in the Only Savior. And may we be
quick to give voice to You in thanks and praise and by glorifying You. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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