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NIV Luke 2:15 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.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

A Central Florida Winter is an oxymoron. For those who grew up in northern climates before moving to the state, Christmas always seems a bit out of season. Without cold air and snow to help, families need to construct new holiday rituals to help celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The Russell family always enjoys riding on their bikes around the neighborhoods surrounding their home in order to look at the Christmas lights that most homes illuminate to commemorate the season. It seems as though Floridians make a much more abundant show of Christmas lights than do residents of other states in order to make up for the lack of snow. My daughters love this tradition, and as they have grown, we have attempted to instruct them that displays of holiday lights remind the world that with the birth of Jesus, the true light of the world has come to earth from God. In the early years of the girls’ lives this was not always so easy-It is not always clear how to connect light shows in December with the birth of Jesus. Some homes were explicitly Christian and included pious reconstructions of mangers complete with all of the familiar characters ““ Mary, Joseph, the wise men, shepherds, animals, and of course, the baby Jesus. Our girls loved to see the baby Jesus and resonated with the small child from their earliest years. The trickier occasions to connect the lights to Jesus were those when the Nativity scene was surrounded by Winnie the Pooh dressed like Santa, Santa Claus, Elves, etc. One evening after riding around enjoying the lights, I was worried that our daughters may had lost the true meaning of Christmas in the light of glowing Mickey and Minnie Mouses. As I knelt in our daughter’s bedroom to pray, our eldest, four at the time, asked to offer the nighttime prayer. Her prayer was simple ““ “Jesus, thank you for coming. Amen.” I felt a tear well up in his eye, kissed my daughters, and walked out of the room echoing in my heart, “Jesus, thank you coming.”

From the Flocks to the Manger
The focus of our text is on some of Jesus’ first visitors on the night of his birth. A group of shepherds had been out caring for their flocks when they encountered an angel who announced to them the birth of a long awaited savior. This child was none other than the Christ or Messiah sent from God. It is easy for us moderns to miss the power of this announcement. First, this story is simply too engrained into the collective mind of the church for individuals to hear its message. Second, we are too far removed from first century culture to hear the counter-cultural message in this story. Most of us have no negative images of shepherds. In fact, many of us mentally link the shepherds with the Old Testament figure, David who arose to the throne of Israel from the flocks of his father. Yet, in the first century, shepherds were a marginalized group. They were looked down upon by the wider culture of their day.

Isn’t it astonishing that God selected this group of outsiders to be the recipients of the ultimate insider information? If God could use these men, can he not also deploy us in His service?

Yet even more important than hearing the announcement by the angels is the response of the shepherds. They immediately leave the fields and head to Bethlehem to check out this report for themselves. So the outsiders head to the city of David in response to God’s message to them.

Let us not miss this point. If we wish to embrace the good news about Jesus’ coming, we must become more than hearers of glad tidings. We must become persons who act. As James reminds us:

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. (1:22-24)

The shepherds acted decisively in response to God’s call. So must we.

From the Manger to Mission
Upon arrival in Bethlehem, the shepherds encounter Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus just as the angel had reported. Notice carefully the transformation that occurs in the shepherds. They do not merely come to the baby Jesus and remain at his side indefinitely. Instead, they become witnesses. Let’s reread verses seventeen and eighteen:

When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. (2:17-18)

Lowly shepherds do not merely become witnesses; they become the first witnesses to the Gospel. This is crucial. If God can use outsiders to communicate the message of salvation to others, can He not use us?

To whom did the shepherds speak about the birth of Jesus? Presumably they told Mary and Joseph, but the text implies that many more heard their words. Who is represented by the “all” in Luke 2:18? Our text does not say for certain, but perhaps they announced the words of the angel to all of those present at the inn?

Notice the response by those who heard the message of the shepherds. They were amazed. They were astonished by the good news that the shepherds shared. They were probably also surprised by the messenger.

Friends, even today there are many people within our own spheres of influence who would be amazed by the good news of Jesus’ birth. They are waiting for someone to serve as God’s herald to them.

The Gospel message is not merely something to experience as an end. Encountering Jesus Christ is the beginning of a new life in which those who have received the good news are transformed into Jesus’ ambassadors. This is true for all persons who identify themselves as disciples of Jesus. There are no exceptions. God is a missionary who has reached out in love to the world by sending Jesus to usher in the age of salvation. What will it take for each of us to move from focusing on the manger to focusing on God’s mission in the world today?

From Mission to Worship
Radio commentator Paul Harvey is well known for telling “the rest of the story.” Regarding the shepherds, we don’t have many more details. But there is one more worthy of reflection. Perhaps most profoundly is the reality that the shepherds return home to their flocks. God does not call them to leave their jobs and serve as itinerant speakers. Instead they simply return to their lives as shepherds. Or do they?

They do go home, but they are now people of praise and thanksgiving. Authentic worship flows out of encounter with God and participation in God’s mission. There is no mention of worship in Bethlehem; the shepherds did not lay the foundations for the Church of the Nativity - this would be built much later. Rather they return home and worship God in familiar places - the fields with their flocks. This is a crucial word for us today. Our temptation is to go to a holy place (such as the birth place of Jesus or, closer to home, our local sanctuary) in order to worship God. Yet this text reminds us of the importance of taking news of our relationship with God to the common places in our lives. For the shepherds, this meant a return to the fields. By doing this, the shepherds transformed their fields into new places of worship.

Imagine how we could shape the world if we began to consider every place as a potential worship site. How would this transform the way that we live? The shepherds moved from mission to worship. We need in our day of compartmentalization between the sacred and the secular to allow our relationship with Jesus Christ to impact how we live in all areas of our lives. This is the story of the shepherds. After hearing the angel’s testimony, they went to check it out for themselves. Encountering the baby Jesus transformed the shepherds into persons on mission for God. They then returned to their flocks and worshiped God there.

Conclusion

What about us today? What will our response be to this familiar passage? It is not enough to rest in the comfort that it offers. This text is ultimately a manifesto about mission. Let us this Christmas (Eve) day turn our worship and sense of thanksgiving outward and invite the World to experience truly the good news about Jesus.

Let us pray, “Jesus, thank you for coming” with someone who does not yet grasp the reason for the thanksgiving. Let us live by faith, be known by love, and serve as beacons of hope in our world. Amen.

Tags: Biblical Studies, Community, Luke, Mission, New Testament, Preaching, calling, church, ethos, evangelism, missional reading //