Luke 2: 1 – 20

1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room at the inn.
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Saviour—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognise him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men! [Peace to all men and women on earth who please him].” 15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

As we enter another Christmas season I would like to talk about “Good News for Shepherds.”

I believe that the Holy Spirit has shown me something that I had never really thought of before. What if the reason that Jesus was born in a stable is that there is a likelihood that the shepherds wouldn’t have been allowed into the inn. Some snotty-nosed and aggressively belligerent doorman would probably have turned them away because they smelled of sheep. After all, these guys spent a lot of nights under the stars and would possibly have looked a bit like a homeless person.

The kings from the east went knocking on the door of the palace because they assumed that was where a king would be born, and because they themselves were kings they got an audience with King Herod.

But God isn’t looking for more kings.  He is looking for more shepherds.

I also realised as I meditated on this message God actually identifies himself with the occupation of shepherd. In Psalm 23 he reveals that he is YHWH Rohi – the LORD our Shepherd. Surely that must dignify the role of a shepherd as one of the most noble of all occupations.

It is interesting that most of us want to be kings but we were actually created to be shepherds. God said that he would put someone on the throne of David forever. Jesus is called the Son of David and he was born in Bethlehem, the City of David.

Continue reading 'New Wine for New Wineskins December 2018'»