Scripture: Luke 2:15-21
Theme: The S of Christmas – The Shepherds
Title: The Shepherds of Christmas
Proposition:
Intro: This is another part of our S Series – The S of Christmas. This time we focus in on the Shepherds – 1. They knew how to Listen and Receive. 2. They knew how to Obey 3. They Knew How to Open their Mouths
Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
This morning, as we continue our journey through the S’s of Christmas, I would like for us to focus on the Shepherds that we find in the Christmas Story.
There is something incredibly peaceful and serene about seeing a picture, a video, or watching firsthand a shepherd at work with a flock of sheep.
There is also something very comforting and encouraging about seeing a picture of Jesus holding a lamb while standing or sitting among a flock of sheep.
Shepherds and sheep have been around for a very long time. In fact, aside from farming and caretaking the job of shepherding is one of the oldest jobs that we find in the Bible.
Listen to these words that we find in Genesis chapter 4:1-2
4 Adam was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.” 2 Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. (HCSB)
We don’t have a lot of information about Abel. What we do have tells us repeatedly that Abel was a person of obedience, faith, and righteousness. He was a person who gave the LORD the best that he had to offer. (Genesis 4:4-5; Matthew 23:35; 1 John 3:12 and Hebrews 11:4).
We also know that many of the “greats” in the Bible spent significant parts of their working lives as shepherds.
+Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and Joseph were all shepherds.
+Rachel, Leah, and Rebekah were shepherdesses.
+Moses and David were shepherds.
+The Prophets Ezekiel (ch.34) and Jeremiah (ch.23) spent a great deal of time writing about shepherds. They wrote about what it meant to be a good shepherd and then how to stay away from a bad shepherd.
+In the New Testament, Jesus the Son of God calls Himself the Good Shepherd.
-The Good Shepherd who will lay down His life for His Sheep.
-The Good Shepherd who came to give abundant life.
-The Good Shepherd whose sheep know His voice and follow Him. (John 10)
The story that we read this morning takes place about 5-7 miles outside of the city of Jerusalem near the city of Bethlehem. You could easily traverse the 25-minute walk to Jerusalem or the 10–15-minute walk to Bethlehem.
It was a region of the country where shepherding was one of the main occupations. The Temple in Jerusalem was always in need of young sheep for sacrificing and one could always sell the meat, the wool, and the milk that the sheep provided.
It is highly possible and even probable that the shepherds that we find in the field that night were in fact employed by the Temple. They would have had to be extra careful with their flocks as only the best sheep could be used at the Temple. The sheep had to be without blemish to be accepted by the priests.
While some over the years have tried to paint these shepherds as poor simpletons, the reality they were neither poor nor simpletons.
They were hard workers. They were highly skilled workers. They knew how to lead a flock of sheep, care for them, provide pastures that were green and growing and they knew how to make sure their sheep were ready to be accepted by the priests at the Temple.
I don’t think any of us would like to think of people like Abraham, Moses or David and seriously suggest that they were simpletons. I don’t think anyone who has read the stories of Rachel or Rebekah and have felt like they were simpletons.
No, if you have ever watched, talked with or done a study on sheep and shepherds what you find are people who have keen minds, able bodies, and the skill to make quick and precise decisions. You find men and women who understand biology, agriculture, and economics.
So, this morning as we think about these shepherds what can we learn from their story that Luke shares with us this morning.
I. They Knew How to Listen and Receive.
Now of course they had to be surprised that night. I mean who wouldn’t be surprised.
You are out there in the field at night watching your flocks of sheep. You have just gotten them settled down. You have made sure that they are safe and sound.
You and your friends are probably sitting around a fire talking and sharing stories about the day. It’s something that you have done thousands of times throughout your life.
Suddenly, the skies open and an angel appears and begins to speak to you and your co-workers.
That had to be quite the sight. To suddenly see this angel appear and give this rather unexpected message. And then to have a multitude of angels show up and lead in a time of praise and worship.
At first, we might think, well what else could they do but to watch, listen and then be receptive. I mean can you even imagine someone being visited by an angel and turning their backs on them.
Well, if you have read the Bible then you can.
On at least two occasions people have been visited by angels, received a message from an angel and have chosen to either disregard it, question it or deny that it was from the Lord God Almighty.
We see that first happening in the book of Genesis with Sarah, the wife of Abraham. In Genesis chapter 17, Abraham and Sarah are visited by some angels who share with them the good news that they will soon be having a boy. And instead of welcoming the news, Sarah refuses to believe it even to the point she laughs at such a ridiculous idea.
How could she, a woman at the age of nearly 90 have a baby. That’s not possible. It’s ridiculous to even entertain such a foolish notion. You may be speaking angel but I not listening nor am I buying what you have to say.
A similar event had just taken place a few months earlier with Zacharias the priest. He too was visited by an angel that told him that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a boy. A boy they would name John and who would be the one that would announce to the world that the Messiah had come.
Zacharias wasn’t at all receptive to the angel. He didn’t want to listen. In fact, he argued with the angel and denied that God would do such a miracle. As a result, Zacharias was not allowed to speak again until his son John was born.
So, when we see what was going on in the field that day we must pause and understand that while these men and women may not have fully understood what was going on they had listening ears and receptive hearts. They knew how to practice what is called active listening.
Active listening requires us to:
+ Listen intently to a speaker. To focus on their words.
+To fully understand and comprehend what they're saying.
+ To respond and reflect on what's being said.
+And finally, to retain the information for later reflection and use.
Active listening takes time and it’s an art.
So, too is being receptive an art. It’s an art that amid our chaotic and ever-changing world is in desperate need of renewal and renaissance.
Repeatedly the Bible tells us that we must have listening ears and obedient hearts. That we are to tune into God’s voice as faithful sheep listen and obey the voice and direction of their Shepherd. That we must do what these shepherds did that night so long ago as they actively listened and were receptive.
II. They Knew How to Obey.
The Hebrew word for “hear” is the word Shema. It is also the word that has at its roots the idea of obedience.
To hear the Shepherd is to obey.
To hear God is to obey.
These men and women that were working in the fields that night not only heard the words of the angels they obeyed their directions.
The angels did not merely announce the Good News of Jesus’ birth for the shepherds to sit back down and talk about it for hours and hours.
No, the gist of the story is that the shepherds were told to go and seek out Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
That they were to get up on their feet and take a 15-minute walk towards Bethlehem and find Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
Remember when your mom or dad or someone in your life ever said these words or something like them – “Did you hear me?” “Did you hear what I said?”
Now, we all know that they were not checking on our hearing. They were not giving us some type of auditory test to make sure that we could in fact hear their words.
What they were really saying is – “Why are you not obeying what I said.” “If you heard me then you should have done what I told you to do.”
Hearing was to result in obeying and obeying was to lead to doing.
Part of the story I think we forget about is while the angels told them about Jesus’s birth and the fact that he was born in a manger they didn’t give the shepherds the street or the house’s address. We don’t read about them saying – when you get to this street take a left and it will be the fourth house on the right. It’s the one that has a red cloth hanging out one of the top windows.
We don’t know how long it took them to find the right house.
Did they ask questions, or did they just walk down the streets waiting to hear a baby crying?
How many people did they wake up before they found the right house.
I think they lived out that verse we read in Matthew 7:7
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
I think it also easy to think that they didn’t come empty handed. I am sure they brought some cheese and perhaps a woolen blanket for the baby. They already knew that the baby had been born in a manger and had been wrapped in cloths and so they knew that he would need some more warmth and comfort on a night like this. They also knew that if the baby had been born in a manger, then that meant that its parents were of modest means. While else would you let your child be born in a manger?
All of this begs some questions:
– How much do we want to hear God or be with God?
- Are we determined to do whatever it takes to hear His voice, to receive His anointings and blessings?
Or do we live with the motto:
- “If we do hear God then we do and if we don’t well that’s okay.”
- After all, most days we are too busy to make the priority of our day to hear from God and then to obey God.
-We’ve got too much on our plate to really sit down and read God’s Word, to be quiet enough to hear God’s voice and then to do what God’s voice tells me to do.
Being active listeners is an excellent thing but to be obedient to what we hear is another step to being closer to God. The same God that is the Good God of all Creation. The same God that so loved us that He died for us so that we might have Abundant Life here and Everlasting Life for ever and ever.
III. They Knew How to Open Their Mouths
I can’t imagine that the shepherds continued to just stand there with their mouths gapping wide open as the angels began a Worship and Praise session.
I think that they joined in the praise.
They were the ones that were raising and taking care of the very sheep that would be used to sacrifice to the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and they were given the chance to join in praise and worship to the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY with a multitude of angels.
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those whom he is pleased.”
Those are not just words of encouragement; they are words of praise and worship.
In verse 15 we read where Luke tells us that the angels returned to heaven. What it doesn’t say is how long those angels stayed out with those shepherds.
I don’t think it was a brief encounter. Usually when angels came to earth or spoke to people it was never a brief visit. With Abraham and Sarah, they shared a meal. With the Children of Israel, the angels led them all the way from Egypt to the wilderness and beyond.
I believe with all my heart that they spent a good deal of time worshiping and praising God. They may have spent some time talking to the shepherds and further answering some questions that they had.
I know I would have had some questions, and I would have been enthralled to hear them as they praised God. I would have enjoyed hearing their voices and would have tried my best to join in.
They also did not keep their mouths shut after they saw Jesus.
After they spent some time with Mary, Joseph and Jesus they went back to working but over the next days, weeks, months and years of their lives they told and retold their encounter with the angels and with the Holy Family.
I am sure that they shared this story with their family and with their friends. I am also sure that they shared it many other times as well.
After all, how many have experienced such a story?
This morning if you hear what the world is saying to the church it of course is saying a lot of things. One of those things is to keep quiet.
+Don’t share your faith.
+Don’t talk about Jesus; especially Jesus being the Son of God.
+Don’t talk about either Heaven or Hell, especially Hell.
+Don’t talk about sin.
+Don’t talk about being Born Again.
But we in the Church are never to keep quiet when it comes to Jesus or to salvation or about everlasting life.
We are called to stand beside the Shepherds and join our voices with theirs and tell others about Jesus. We are to share our story, the encounters that we have had with God with our family, our friends and others. We are to share how God forgave us, redeemed us and how His Holy Spirit is living in us and through us with others.
These shepherds –
+They knew how to listen and be receptive.
+They knew how to obey.
+They knew how to speak out and share the Good News.
This morning, that is our call as well. We too are to be good listeners. To be receptive of God’s call and leading. We are to obey. Simply obey. And we are called to share the Good News; the Good News that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Invitation to Holy Communion
Closing Song of Praise/Blessing
