Shepherds – rejected by men, honored by God
Last Sunday we talked about Mary. I tried to remove some of the mystique that surrounds her. She was a woman, albeit a special woman chosen for a special purpose, but still just a woman who yielded herself to the will of God. She experienced the pain and the exhilaration of childbirth just like every mother before and since. And she needed a Saviour just like everybody else.
When we examine the Christmas story we need to take away the tinsel and the halos. As Tim reminded us a couple of Sundays ago, the birth of Jesus was an actual historical event that took place in this very real and very imperfect world where women experience excruciating pain giving birth and where babies cry and where mangers are cold and hard. We set up our nativity scenes and sing our Silent Nights and catch ourselves painting a rosy glow over a scene which was decidedly less than rosy.
Take the word manger for example. It has a nice sound to it. It sounds kind of romantic to talk about laying a baby in a manger. If we would take the time to think about it we’d realize that a manger is actually a feed trough. If our translators would have said “she laid her baby in a trough” we would either have a better idea of what really happened or we would have a much higher opinion of feed troughs than we do. We would have elevated feed troughs to some kind of special sacred status – something to decorate our churches with. I have a feed trough at home. I thought about bringing it here today to illustrate my sermon, but feed troughs don’t belong in church. Feed troughs are rough and dirty. There’s no honor involved in sleeping in a trough. It’s just one step above sleeping on the cold hard ground and you would never put a newborn baby down on the cold hard ground.
And then there are those shepherds. They look so nice on Christmas cards and in children’s picture books. We like shepherds - as long as we don’t have to sit next to them. We like shepherds as long as they’re abiding in the hills around Bethlehem. Think about it. What does it mean to abide in the hills? Do the words “of no fixed address” mean anything to you? Abiding is such a nice clean church word. These guys were not clean-cut, sweet-smelling picture book characters. Think about how you or I might look or smell after a couple of days or weeks of “abiding in the hills” looking after sheep. We might be okay with each other’s company but we wouldn’t be invited onto any maternity wards.
And it wasn’t any less that way in the days when Jesus was born. Of course Jesus wasn’t born in a hospital so the shepherds didn’t have to get past security or a hundred over-protective nurses with their hand sanitizer, but, in the days of Jesus, shepherds were categorically unclean. With their semi-nomadic outdoor lifestyle there was no way they could keep up with the ritual cleansing demands of the Jewish religion. It simply wasn’t practical for them to wash themselves as regularly as the law required so they were constantly in violation of the law. Everything I’ve read about shepherds in first century Judea suggests that they were outcasts and misfits in society. They were unclean and constantly on the move. When they were in the neighborhood and something would go missing or get damaged it would be natural to blame them. They had a bad reputation – sometimes they probably deserved it but probably not always. They were unclean, shiftless and they were looked down upon – kind of like gypsies used to be and maybe still are. But you don’t read about that in the picture books and you can’t paint that into a Christmas card picture. The shepherds were rejects. They were rejected by men, but not by God.
And this was not a new state of affairs. It’s not unusual for shepherds to be rejected. It’s as old as sibling rivalry and it shows up as early as the fourth chapter of the Bible.
Adam and Eve had two sons to begin with – Cain and Abel. Abel was a keeper of flocks – in other words a shepherd. Do you remember what happened to him? His brother killed him. That’s the ultimate form of rejection. But Abel was accepted by God. In fact that’s what got him killed. Jesus called Abel a prophet - the first in a long line of prophets among whom Jesus numbered himself. And the writer of Hebrews tells us Abel is still speaking to us even though he’s long gone. Abel, the first shepherd was rejected by man but accepted by God.
And then there was Moses. He didn’t start out as a shepherd, but he got himself into some trouble and ended up out in the wilderness looking after sheep. In the Egyptian culture shepherds were considered an abomination. Genesis 46 tells us about the time when Joseph was moving his father and the rest of his extended family to Egypt and about how they managed to get their own place to live. Genesis 46:31-34 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me. The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.” So Moses went from being the adopted grandson of Pharaoh in the courtyard of Pharaoh to being a detestable shepherd in the wilderness of Midian. Rejected by men – but not by God. It was while he was herding sheep that he got his call from God. Called by God from herding sheep to leading people.
And he’s not the only one who was called by God while herding sheep. The most famous shepherd of all, the soon to be king David was out looking after his father’s sheep one day when he got word that Samuel was looking for him. You probably remember the story from 1st Samuel 16. Samuel comes to Bethlehem of all places to visit Jesse – David’s father. He invites Jesse and his sons to join him for a sacrifice. Now Jesse has a whole bunch of sons, eight to be exact. That’s two more than my father-in-law had. But for some strange reason only seven of them show up at the celebration. David, the youngest, had to stay with the sheep. Sometimes the youngest in the family is the favourite. In some families the youngest gets spoiled. But it wasn’t that way in David’s family. David always got the short end of the stick. His dad didn’t even think to include him when he called his sons together and his brothers were always picking on him. Remember in the story of Goliath – Jesse gave David a break from herding sheep and sent him to check on his older brothers who were serving in Saul’s army. You’d think they would have welcomed him, especially since he was bringing food, but listen to what they say to him when they find out he’s been asking a few too many questions – 1st Samuel 17:28-29 When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
“Now what have I done?” said David. “Can't I even speak?”
Doesn’t that sound like a typical conversation between the oldest and the youngest child? “Who do you think you are you little punk? You talk too much.” “Who do you think you are you big shot? I can talk if I want to!”
And so, David was rejected by his father and his brothers, but not by God because God looks at the heart. Listen to what God says to Samuel when Samuel was prepared to anoint Jesse’s oldest son Eliab: 1st Samuel 16:6-7
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
So David was another shepherd who was rejected by man but not by God. And it was the same way with the shepherds in our Christmas story too. They were outcasts in their society. In a clean world they were filthy and so they were rejected by man. But not by God. Just like God called to Moses from that burning bush while he was out with the sheep and just like He sent Samuel to anoint David while he was busy looking after his sheep God sent angels to these shepherds out herding sheep on some of those same hills David himself would have wandered back in his day. And they had the honor of being the first to proclaim the arrival of the long awaited Saviour.
It’s really quite ironic that these shepherds were outcasts of the Jewish religion because the Jewish religion relied heavily on sheep. Sheep were a very important commodity in the religious affairs of the Jews – especially sheep that were being raised as close to Jerusalem as these ones were. You see Bethlehem was only a few miles from the temple in Jerusalem. It is very likely that these men were tending sheep which would eventually become atoning sacrifices for the sins of the people.
And there’s reason to believe that the coming of the angels to the shepherds to tell them about the arrival of the Messiah might not have been as unexpected as we think. You see, in the days of Jesus there was a tower close to Bethlehem on the road to Jerusalem. The tower was called Migdal Eder, which means “watchtower of the flock.” This is where shepherds watched over the sheep that were destined to be used for worship at the temple. The Jews were convinced that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, but there was also a well established tradition (based at least in part on the prophecy of Micah 4:8) that he would be revealed from Migdal Eder – the watchtower of the flock. And so, God sent his angels to the hills of Bethlehem – quite possibly to Migdal Eder where shepherds would be watching their flocks by night. Jesus himself came to be both shepherd and sacrificial lamb. It seems strangely appropriate that he would be announced first to the shepherds who were charged with the care of the sacrificial lambs on the hills between Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
Everything I read about shepherds around the time of Jesus birth indicates that they were outcasts and rejects. But there’s one thing that doesn’t seem to fit that scenario. As they were leaving town the shepherds were quite vocal about what they had seen and heard and it seems like the townsfolk responded favorably to their declarations – they took them seriously (Luke 2:17-18). When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
I wonder if perhaps it was because of the anticipation that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and the expectation that he would be revealed from Migdal Eder that gave those shepherds credibility. Either that or they were so ecstatic that there was simply no way to dismiss their claims. Maybe it was both.
Whatever the case the shepherds were convinced enough to go check things out for themselves and they were convinced enough by their meeting with the baby Messiah that they couldn’t help spreading the news.
I suspect those angels were pretty convincing. I don’t know if you’ve ever met an angel. They come in different forms, but when they show up in the Bible often as not the first thing they have to do is pick people up off the ground and tell them not to be afraid. And it’s the same way with our Christmas shepherds.
Luke 2:9-15 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a (trough).” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
And so they went. The misfits, who never thought to wonder why a holy God would send his angels to visit unclean and uncouth shepherds, came running into town to worship the good shepherd who was lying in a feed trough in a cold world where the misfits were ready to welcome him but where the spiritual elite would turn up their noses.
That’s right, Jesus was a shepherd too. Not in the conventional sense of the word, everybody knows that he was a carpenter by trade, but he identified with shepherds by calling himself the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. And just like the other shepherds we’ve talked about today he was rejected by men but not by God. Ezekiel (34:12-16) promised a shepherd who would rescue his scattered sheep, a shepherd who would search for the lost and bring back the strays and bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. And Isaiah foretold that he’d be despised and rejected by men.
He is the kind of saviour who shows up in a feed trough and sends angels to visit humble shepherds because he is the good shepherd who gives his life for his sheep. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now if you’ve spent any time at all studying the life of our saviour Jesus that he gravitated toward the people who spent their time at the bottom of the totem pole. The heroes of his stories were the outcasts, the Samaritans, the widows. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.
I talked about that tower close to Bethlehem where the shepherds would watch the sheep. It sounds quite possible that that might have been the place where the angels paid their visit to the shepherds, but we can’t know for sure. There’s a lot of tradition that has become part of the Christmas story but unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, there are a lot of details we can’t verify – even though a lot of people would give their eyeteeth to be able to do so.
There are shrines and cathedrals all over the Holy Land built to commemorate people and places and events. There are all kinds of relics in the cathedrals of Israel and Europe that are supposed to have some direct connection with the story of Jesus. In Cologne, Germany there’s a cathedral called the cathedral of the three kings where the supposed remains of the wisemen who came to visit Jesus are kept. I understand why people might be fascinated with these kinds of things. I imagine it would give me a thrill to look at an old tree in the garden of Gethsemane and know that Jesus had knelt at the foot of that tree when he went through his evening of agony before he was arrested. A lot of people visit the Holy Land every year because it helps them to connect with the events described in the Bible. I understand that. But these kinds of things aren’t essential to our faith. We don’t need to know the answers to all the questions of how and when and where. In fact when I read or hear about all these massive buildings built to commemorate some historical detail in the life of Jesus I think I understand why God allowed some of these details to disappear into obscurity. We humans tend to mess these things up with our propensity to make everything religious.
It probably won’t surprise you when I tell you that there’s a cathedral in Bethlehem that was built on the spot where Jesus is supposed to have been born. I don’t know if there’s any reason to believe it’s in the right place and I don’t put a lot of stock in the location, but there’s something about that cathedral that I think is fitting nevertheless – something that matches the story of Jesus’ birth. Apparently behind a high alter in that church is a little cave lit by silver lamps. You can enter the main building and admire the ancient church. You can also enter the quiet cave where a star embedded in the floor recognizes the birth of Jesus. There is one stipulation, however. You have to stoop. The door is so low you can’t go in standing up. And somehow that seems very appropriate. We can’t celebrate the birth of our humble Saviour without humbling ourselves. Christmas is all about humility.
Philippians 2 gives us the Christmas story from heaven’s perspective. In Philippians 2 (3-8) Paul gives a beautiful description of the humility of Jesus:
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Jesus made himself nothing. I love the way John Donne describes it in this little one sentence poem:
Twas much,
that man was
made like God before,
But that God should
be like man
much more.
Jesus made himself nothing and that meant coming as a baby to a world he knew would reject him. In Mark 14 Jesus talked about the fact that even his disciples would desert him in the end. Mar 14:27 “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’”
And so we are his sheep. We follow a shepherd who knew what it was to be rejected and he told us we shouldn’t be surprised if the world treats us the same way. True followers of Jesus can expect to be rejected
(Luke 6:22-23) “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Jesus said. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.”
If you’re a blue collar shepherd in a white collar world take heart (1 Corinthians 1:26-29) Paul assures us that God has chosen …the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; and …the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are…
Jesus said we would be blessed if we were rejected and persecuted. He said that in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before us (Matthew 5:10-12). Prophets like Abel, like Moses, like David, like Jesus.
God has a history of honoring shepherds – shepherds like Abel and Moses and David and he chose to honor those shepherds on the hills around Bethlehem by sending his angels to them. God tends to honor shepherds over kings. He tends to side with tax collectors over the Pharisees, Samaritans over teachers of the law and poor widows and beggars over the rich.
And that’s good news for those of us who find ourselves among the weak and the despised of the world. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart… So even if you’re used to being a loser in the eyes of the world, even if no one has ever accused you of being cool, even if you’ve never been sought after or popular God doesn’t see things the way the world does. He’s not looking for a suave and sophisticated exterior he’s looking for a sincere and humble heart.
I’m afraid the Christian Church hasn’t always done very well at imitating God in this regard. Too often the tendency has been to show a preference for the gifted and the competent and the powerful. All too often prejudice and favoritism characterize the Church just like they do the rest of the world. This should never be.
James is adamant about this in chapter two of the letter that bears his name: (James 2:1-9) My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here's a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Jesus said “Blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek…”
“God has chosen the weak, despised things…” Unfortunately we humans are less inclined to choose shepherds and widows and tax collectors than God is. We gravitate toward the celebrities and the stars – we swallow the devil’s lie that popularity and fame matter. Jesus didn’t swallow that lie. In fact every time he turned around Jesus seemed to be avoiding crowds and resisting the temptation to appeal to the masses and go with the flow. He didn’t curry favor with the rich and influential, he spent his time with and concentrated his efforts on the outcasts and the sinners who were drawn to him. It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick he told the self-righteous.
Isaiah prophesied about Jesus that (Isa 42:2-3) he would bring justice to the nations and that he would not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. That he would not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick.
“Blessed are the merciful,” Jesus said, “For they will be shown mercy.” “As much as you’ve done it to the least of these you’ve done it to me…”
Our Saviour, Jesus, the good shepherd, is the friend of sinners and outcasts and so there is hope for the least of us. And because he has chosen the weak and rejected to shame the strong, we who have been rescued from our own weakness and rejection must follow in his steps and do the same.
Let’s pray: Lord thank you for sending your angels to tell the shepherds about their Saviour and thank you that their Saviour can be ours as well. Thank you for choosing us in our weakness and poverty in a world that despises the weak and the poor. Teach us to respond in humility and to love the outcasts and the disadvantaged the way you do. Amen
