Several years ago there was a game show called, Name That Tune in which contestants competed for cash and prizes by trying to name songs in as few notes as possible. The famous line being of course, I can name that song in one note!
This morning, we are going to briefly play “Name That Person” only there is no cash or prizes to be given away, only the satisfaction of knowing the names of these people. Ready? Here goes.
1. What is the name of the NBA player who recently came out of retirement to play for the Washington Wizards? Michael Jordan
2. What is the name of the recently fired Notre Dame head football coach? Bob Davie
3. What is the name of the primary weather forecaster on channel 15? Sandi Thompson
4. What is the name of the Kendallville Fire Chief? Jim Ebert
5. What is the name of the chief justice of the US Supreme Court? William Rehnquest
6. What were the names of the three wise men that visited Jesus?
7. What were the names of the shepherds visited by the angels the night Jesus was born?
8. What is the name of the janitor at your school, office, or factory?
Several years ago, I received an e-mail entitled, Five Great Lessons. The first of the five lessons learned was this one:
“During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank.
Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.
"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say ’hello’." "I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.”
Our advent series is entitled The Christmas Touch (overhead up) (courtesy of Paul Newell of Lakeport, California) of and this morning we are traveling away from busy and cramped Bethlehem to its surrounding countryside to pay a visit to the shepherds tending their flocks and study the story of their encounter with angels who announce a long expected event – the birth of the Messiah, the chosen one of God. As we review this story I want us to do so with the following thought in mind: One of the ways that we can make meaningful connections this holiday season in Christ’s name is by connecting with people who are often overlooked.
This story in Luke 2 is familiar and we will hear it several times this month. But, I want to point out verse 18 “All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished.” Have you ever wondered why the hearers of the shepherd’s story were astonished? Was it only because of the story they told? Or was it because of who told the story of the Messiah’s birth?
Shepherds were considered not reliable. Their testimony, according to one Bible commentator, was not accepted in the courts of that day. It was considered unreliable. Shepherds were considered by the societies of that day as lower class and lacking social correctness. But, God didn’t consider them that way at all.
No, on that night as we have heard once again, God sent the Angels to tell the shepherds the good news, the great news that “The Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David.”
Why did God bypass the local news media? Why did he bypass the radio talk show hosts? Why did he bypass the local university? Why did God go outside Bethlehem to the countryside and announce Jesus’ coming? Maybe it was because the shepherds were more open to God than the elite of Bethlehem. Maybe they were more open to God out in the relative quietness of the country instead of the hustle and bustle of the town that we considered last week.
Maybe it was because God knew how much the shepherds cared. They were in a caring profession. If they did not care about their sheep they would not have work. Their job was to care for the sheep.
There is a Christmas song that is played through the holiday season that says something like “Christmas is sharing.” Christmas is also about caring. And speaking of caring, where would you send someone to learn how to care? Some people on the streets of Chicago were asked that question and here is what they said. (Play video segment of Mainstay’s advent videotape).
Where would you send some one to learn how to care?
Here is another Name That Person opportunity: What is the name of the San Francisco middle school teacher who eats with his students to give them the opportunity to talk about their problems? Jack Martens.
Jack Martens is a fifty-six year old teacher who has spent 33 years teaching music at Ben Franklin Middle School in San Francisco. “Over 50 percent of Martens’ students are from broken homes. The same number are on welfare. Nearly that many come from families where English is not the primary language. To that score, add the reality factor that funding for the arts has been all but cut off in Jack’s school district.”
[H] e sees himself as Father Christmas bringing joy to girls and boys all year long. Jack’s ultimate desire is to help kids in his band see God’s love. Although Martens keeps a Bible and other Christian symbols on his desk, "it is his interaction with the kids that gives his witness a melody line.”
He eats lunch with them to give them a chance to talk through their problems at home with somebody. He stays after school to help with difficult fingerings with their instruments and difficult passages in life. Through the mechanics of music, he is able to communicate with disadvantaged and academically struggling students that they are capable of doing something beautiful with their lives.
Every December as the Band from Ben performs in the Nordstrom Plaza dressed in their nicely pressed white shirts, black slacks and skirts, it’s not only the Christmas shoppers that feel the spirit of the season. The kids in the band (who otherwise might be in a gang or in the juvenile detention center) feel the joy of God’s love incarnated through a man they love and respect.
Jack Martens “is a “minister” who marches to the beat of a different drummer. He is not ordained, has never been to seminary, and doesn’t preach from a pulpit. But he is a pastor nonetheless. Ask the over 10,000 students who have benefited from his ministry on the other side of a music stand.”
It was to a group of nameless (to us, but not to God), shepherds that God announced that the Savior of the world had finally come. God choose an overlooked group of people to be the first group to know that the Messiah was here!
It made a tremendous impact on those shepherds. Can you see them running into Bethlehem? Can’t you see the joy the expectancy on their faces? Can’t you see them flush with excitement as they approached the stable where Jesus was? God’s touch on their life was deep and profound.
We have the same opportunity, not just this holiday season, but also every day of the year, to reach out to someone who is overlooked and in need of a touch of God on his or her life. Who might that be in your life?
As I prepared for this morning, I was reminded of the fact that Jesus twice called Himself the Good Shepherd as John recorded in chapter 10 verses 11- 16:
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will leave the sheep because they aren’t his and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13The hired hand runs away because he is merely hired and has no real concern for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice; and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
Jesus laid down his life for the sheep – that’s you and me. But, He also laid down his life for all of us, not just a select few.
Notice that He says in verse 16, I have other sheep that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also and there will be one flock with one shepherd.” What does He mean?
He is telling the disciples that the flock of God is not just Jewish but also Gentile. Not just healthy people but people sick with leprosy, the AIDS of that day. Not just people born in Jerusalem, but people also born in Samaria. Not just people who are storekeepers, but also people who have to beg to exist.
God’s flock is for every one of us no matter what our economic or racial status is; no matter what we have done or who we are. We are His sheep and He is calling us into His flock. All of us are significant to God.
How then can we share the touch of God on those that we often deem, whether or not we want to admit it, insignificant in our time and place? Here are a couple of suggestions:
1. Be considerate of them. They have dreams, hopes, fears, and goals just like you and I. They deserve consideration and respect.
2. Acknowledge their existence. Say ‘hello.’ Wish them a good day. Let them know that you know they are present. Tell them your name. Ask them their name.
3. During this season if you know them by name, give them a Christmas card and wish them a wonderful holiday.
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked. "Fifty cents," replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. "Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied." The little boy again counted his coins. "I’ll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away.
The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies - You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.
Let’s touch others this season, and everyday of the year, by leaving a tip of respect and grace everywhere we go. Amen.
