Shepherds. The first people to witness God incarnate were a group of lowly shepherds. God could have sent His angels to anyone. The angels could have spoken to kings; the choir could have sang their heavenly song at the court of Herod. God could have sent His angels to the rich or to the most educated. And we would assume that God should have sent His Son to the priests or the religious leaders. But not; shepherds.
To be a shepherd would be akin to a line cook, or a janitor, or a garbage man, or a sewer surveyor: not a particular glamorous job, but totally necessary. Shepherds were the commoners, the under-educated hard-workers that worked 24/7 to watch over flocks of sheep. Add to this that most shepherds did not even own the sheep they watched over; they were the the utmost steward and servant.
Yet despite or more likely because of the shepherds' humble status, God spoke to them and, what's more, it was shepherds that were the first to witness Jesus and to proclaim the glory of the Almighty Lord. This is profound. But it speaks volumes to the nature of God; God who is not concerned with human concepts of status or of rank or of importance. God wants worshipers, people who will listen to Him and will trust what He says. Let us all strive to be as faithful as the shepherds of Christmas.
See Luke 2:8-20.
No comments:
Post a Comment