Luke 2: Shepherds

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0:00 I was thinking about these four, lighting these four advent candles. And we started a couple of weeks ago recording these little conversations with Carol and Brian Carlson and asking them questions about the scriptures. And last week we did one for each of the themes of advent. And we have a little podcast channel. If you didn't know that, Bob and Albert are the most faithful duo, Tech Duo on the planet and get it up there timely way every week.

0:32 So you can find that and we just put those four conversations for advent up there too. Just they're like four minutes long and they get you thinking. So check those out. But today we wanna talk about the shepherds. And they're in Luke chapter two. If you wanna look there with me. Luke chapter two. You know we gotta go, if we wanna story of Christmas, we gotta either look at Matthew or Luke. It's funny when you think about it, that half of our gospels don't have a birth narrative.

1:05 Which is like really interesting. They go coming to our story this morning a little bit. But Matthew and Luke have one. And we mentioned that Luke's is a little bit more drawn out probably because Luke when interviewed Mary, we think got a lot of stories from her. And so she has this story. She remembers this story. Let's look and see in Luke chapter two. So after she gave birth verse seven and she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped them in swaddling clothes,

1:35 laid them in a manger because there's no room for them in the end. Verse eight. And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flocks at night. It's interesting. You know, normally the flocks, the shepherds wouldn't stay overnight with the flocks. And so people have different ideas about why these shepherds are out with the sheep at night. A lot of people agree that probably it was lambing season. Like these sheeps were having babies.

2:09 And so the shepherds wanted to be there in case the babies went into labor or the sheep went into labor. They didn't want them to die. They wanted to help with delivery. The maybe it was lambing season. Which is also interesting because it helps them date then like when Jesus' birth actually happened. The lambing season is this predictable time of the year, usually in the spring. So it's interesting to think about that, they get clues about what's going on from the context. The shepherds are out in the field. The other one that I researched that it's like really

2:41 an interesting idea. I haven't done a deep enough dive to know how much I believe it. But supposedly in Bethlehem is the area where they raised the sheep that would be sold to use for sacrifices. And so if there were sheep that were being raised for sacrifices, the shepherds would be out there taking care of them, making sure they stayed pure enough to be the sacrificial lambs coming that could be sold in the temple. So it's interesting to think that potentially the shepherds that come to the birth of Jesus

3:14 are the ones that are raising the lambs that can be sacrificed at the temple. Isn't that interesting? So these shepherds were just to say, it's not that it already were getting clues if Mary is remembering, she's remembering, oh man, when we were there, it was crazy. There were these shepherds who were out in the fields and they came to the stables. And they told us they had seen this whole host of angels. And so they came from, straight from the fields, were getting so much context about what's happening just by the fact that we've got shepherds

3:46 who are out in the fields at night. Okay, they were out keeping watch over their flock by night and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, fear not, behold, I bring to you good news of great joy that will be for all people. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were filled with fear.

4:16 Of course, we've talked about this before but when angels show up, people get scared. Angels are scary things. We could try and imagine why, but we probably would guess wrong why they're scary, but it's consistent. Anytime somebody sees an angel, they get afraid. The angels have to start by saying, calm down, I'm not here to take you out or something, right? Like people are afraid immediately. And so the shepherds, like everybody else are afraid

4:47 and they say, fear not, behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is the Messiah of the Christ and the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. So the angel, the encumstities shepherds

5:17 out in the field, a terrifying angel. And he comes to the shepherds in the field and they're afraid and he says, calm down. And then this is interesting for to you. He's not announcing, you know, like when we get the picture of when Jesus returns and the angel blows the trumpet and nobody misses the day, right? When Jesus returns. Everyone will be called to account, the great trumpet will blow, everyone will know it at the same time.

5:48 And the angel then can speak to everyone. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus, when he comes the first time, the angel says unto you, but he's not talking to me and you. He's talking to, I tried to find out how many shepherds there were. It's hard, nobody knows, nobody knows. But it's not a lot. I mean, it's not a hundred even, right?

6:19 And the angel, the terrifying angel, dispatched out of heaven, comes down to a field, outside of a little town of Bethlehem that doesn't even have room for everybody that wants to be there and says, unto you shepherds is born today. The Savior of the world. I mean,

6:49 I don't know, that's crazy. Right? I mean, it's just, it's a crazy way to do it, if it's true. If this actually is the Savior of the world, the trumpet for all to hear and see makes way more sense than an angel to a field where there are some shepherds at night where they're not normally, hey unto you is born today, a Savior.

7:22 The Messiah, the Lord, right? And then that's not like, that is like, what's it like? It's like a weird extravagance. Like if you wanna get shepherds to show up somewhere, you don't need to dispatch an angel from the throne room of God to tell them, right? You'd be like, there's food over here. Like the shepherds are like migrant work,

7:53 like they're dirty, they're smelly, it's not a prestigious position, they don't make a lot of money, you'd rather not, shepherds were not to be trusted in some of the rabbinical law, it's like don't buy stuff from shepherds because they're like gonna breed some on the side and keep, they're gonna steal, they're not usually taking care of their own sheep, they're managing somebody else's, they're not like reputable, honorable people. They can't get another job, they'd like to be by themselves, they don't mind being stinky, they're out on the side,

8:25 they're pushed aside, right? And during the great census, they're just out in the fields at night, right? And so you don't need to dispatch an angel, it's already extravagant that God would dispatch an angel, carrying still his glory in a way that it's terrifying out to the however many shepherds, a dozen shepherds in the field, right? And announce to them uniquely the Messiah has been born.

8:58 Right, we'll talk about in a couple of weeks, the Magi, the stargazers from the East come all the way to Jerusalem to find the king and they go to the appropriate people who should be notified if a new Jewish king is born, Herod and his wise men and they know nothing about it, right? If they'd have gone to the marginalized and the kicked out, they would have found everybody was kind of scuttlebudding about it, but the God is already being extravagant

9:29 and then he like doubles down on his extravagance. This is now an absurd display actually, if we had been there, right? And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord surrounded and he said, I bring you good, okay, verse 12, okay, verse 12, and this will be assigned right, because they wanna know that they found the right baby, if they're going in there, they go to Bethlehem, they don't know, unto you a savior's been born, which one is it, the one in swaddling clothes in a manger? Got it?

10:00 So now they're going to where the animals are to look for a baby. And then suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host. Host, it's not a word we use, but it's a military term. They're organized and a lot of them. And they appear. I love that. And the other thing that's interesting is like, we always imagine or show the shepherds,

10:34 like huddled and like a nice grassy hill and then the angel is up in the sky and then there's a whole group of angels up in the sky. But this is like a, it doesn't say they're like floating and disembodied, right? It says an angel of the Lord appeared. Remember when they use the angel of the Lord and Joshua appears and he's afraid and the guys got a sword and it's like, are you with me or against me? Like, and so this, the angel of the Lord comes and appears to them. You get the feeling he walks right up to them.

11:07 And then once he's done saying we've got to say a host, a military course of them appears behind him. I imagine that this is a terrifying group standing right behind him. Like this is an, they outnumber the shepherds by now significantly. And each of them carrying the glory of the Lord around them. I'm saying this is a ridiculous display. This is like an absurd demonstration

11:40 of value, of worth, of worth, of worth, of importance, for a dozen little shepherds out in the field that night. He leaves, we talked last week, he leaves Herod alone. He leaves Caesar alone. He leaves Querinius alone.

12:12 He doesn't even clue in the innkeeper, man. That guy's got a house. But he gets the shepherds with a ridiculous display of value. I think it's compelling. And so, and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. And when the angels went away from them into heaven,

12:43 the shepherds said to one another, let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they didn't have to, they could have gone, that was nuts. Let's go back to sleep. But something happened that it was compelling. The ridiculous display was like, this, let's go find out if this thing is real. And thank God they did because if you think about it, God's doing this thing out in the field for this marginalized people. And if they hadn't gone in, you and I would never have known he did it.

13:16 Isn't that funny? Like the scriptures are not a third person omniscient story being told. It's not like there's just somebody sitting up behind recording everything and telling us. Like here, we find out why we here, okay. So then let us go to Bethlehem and they went and Hays and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at this,

13:47 what the shepherds had told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned glorifying God, praising God for all they had heard and seen and all that had been told to them. So this is the kicker. When you get these shepherds, they have this like extravagant demonstration of God. The host of angels in the field. They get to be at the birth of Jesus. And then what? I mean, I guess they just go back to being shepherds.

14:17 We don't get any of their names. We've talked about it. If they would have given us the name like Nicodemus or Joseph of Aramathia, like if they would have dropped the name, then we would have known they went on to be something in the church that people would know who they were. But these shepherds just like pop in, get the host of angels. The only time a host of angels that shows up in the whole story of scripture, for these got, they're there this sort, and then they leave.

14:47 And then I was thinking like, what a, I mean, I don't wanna say it was a waste, but, I mean, he pulled out a whole host and he did it out in the field for the shepherds. And everyone kind of wondered at it, that was weird, the shepherds all came running in. And then they go back to shepherding and,

15:21 he didn't like do it at Herod's castle or at the temple or, if Mary hadn't been pondering all the things in her heart or if Luke hadn't, you know, we said Jesus' birth narrative is only recorded in two of our core gospels, two of them. And only one of them has the story of the shepherds. We wouldn't have learned about the shepherds if Mary hadn't pondered it in her heart and remembered it.

15:51 And when Luke came and said, tell me the story of how Jesus was born. She, part of what she remembers is, these shepherds were out in the field at night and they said a whole host of angels appeared to them and I remembered what they said because it was crazy. They said one came, said this, then they all came and announced this whole thing and that's why they came running in from the fields, left their sheep out there and came in and saw what was going on. And then they just went back, crazy, huh? Luke was like, yeah, that is crazy, right? Sit down.

16:21 Right? And it's just like I was thinking about, you know, they're in Bethlehem because it's the city of David. And David is very similar thing. God is like, when Samuel, David becomes king and he, when Samuel anoints him, going way back, Saul's a bad guy. He's the first king. Looks like a king, should be a king.

16:53 Big, broad shoulders, strong. And Saul's a king and God's gonna make him a king. He's gonna be a good king for the good people and then he gets the power and the money and he turns bad. He just likes himself better than God. And God's like, we can't go with his family, we're gonna go with a new one. Samuel, I want you to go to Jesse's family and one of his boys is gonna be the next king anoint him the next king. In Samuel brings his first oldest son out there and our Jesse brings the first oldest son out there

17:23 and Samuel looks at him and goes, yeah. This is the guy, he looks like a king. Tall, broad shoulders, smart, good looking, let's take him. God's like, no, not that one. Then they go through seven kids, right? Jesse brings all of them and each one looks a little bit less like a king, you know? Then he's like, I don't know, man. Is this all the kids you have? All the kids you have, Jesse? Is this all the boys you have? And Jesse's like, no, there's one kid, the youngest. He's out, he just watches the sheep for us.

17:54 You know, because if you're gonna inherit by the time you get to the eighth son, there's not much left for him. He's gonna work for the oldest, the rest of his life, right? So he's gotta learn how to take care of the sheep because that's what he's gonna be doing. Because by the time you get down, all of the parents, families, things has been divided too many times, there's not much left for him doing Herod. So just get a good job with your older brother. And they bring the youngest in and Samuel's like, this is the guy. He's young, he's a shepherd, right?

18:25 And he goes, beats glides. And God has this thing, I feel like, in the story of scriptures, where he often, maybe it's not news to you, picks the marginalized, the disenfranchised, the set aside, the pushed aside, the forgotten. Okay, I was thinking about that this morning and like, it's hard for me. It's hard for me to honestly get myself

18:56 in a position where I feel like that describes me. Like, to be honest, like if I'm in Bethlehem, I'm probably not ending up as a shepherd because I would have worked out a better situation for myself in life. So that I don't have to be a shepherd, right? And maybe some of us in the room can empathize with being the pushed aside,

19:27 the marginalized, the poor, the disenfranchised. Maybe we can identify with that. I say in this story, good for you. That's the spot you want to be. God moves with ridiculous extravagance. He moves towards the people on the outside. A host of angels just for them. Until you, shepherds, is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.

19:58 He sends a host of angels to announce to them and seems like, at least in the moment, the Holy Spirit preserved the story so that you and I could get it now, but in the moment, God was not concerned. Who else heard that? Unto you was born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. He just didn't want the shepherds to miss it. He didn't clue in anybody else. Right? Even the magi are come later.

20:29 At in Bethlehem there that night, it's Mary, Joseph and the shepherds. He didn't want to miss it. And so I was thinking about, I wouldn't have been the shepherds. So why does this story keep coming for me? Why do I still identify and resonate with the story of Christmas, with the person of Christ? In this little passage in Isaiah came to mind,

21:02 I wrote it down so I could find it. Isaiah 53, it's pretty good if you want to look there with me. I'm going to start at verse two, Isaiah 50. Isaiah 53, verse two. Because not only was humanity in general, not paying attention,

21:46 when Jesus came into the world. Though they had had the story laid out, there's no reason for Herod's scholars to have missed that Bethlehem was the birthplace. If the magi could catch the star, they ought to have. There's no reason they were just not paying attention. And no matter, God came anyway. Unbidden, unannounced, unasked for.

22:17 And it didn't even bother to clue them into the moment because he wasn't doing it to get their attention. And not only is that true, was the world not paying attention. But for most of my frailty and failure, I'm not asking for God's help.

22:47 Most of the time, I'm comfortable in my own solutions and strategies for life. Most of the time, I'm not looking for someone to save me. But he comes anyway. Unbidden, unlooked for, unasked for, unannounced. He comes to save anyway. So if Herod missed him, if the innkeeper missed him,

23:22 I miss him. And look at, this is what got me to this passage from Isaiah chapter 53 verse two, for he grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He's talking about the suffering servant who we interpret as Jesus. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him. If Jesus is born in a manger in Bethlehem on the wrong side of the desert,

23:54 motivate with the marginalized and the disenfranchised as his only audience, if half of our core gospels don't even mention the birth and narrative. He can't even get his birth narrative into half of the gospel material that tell the story of his life. That's how forgettable it is. That's how easily it's overlooked. Why is it the story that endures?

24:27 He came in such a forgettable, missable way. Why does it persist? Okay, no beauty. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

24:58 Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. And upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his stripes we are healed. And we all like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. The story endures because in the story of Jesus

25:33 is healing for my life. You know, I've been doing a Bible study out in Lake Mary and we've been going through Acts. So I've been reading Acts closer than I've ever read it before. And there's a period right towards the end where Paul, he goes back to Jerusalem and he's gonna try and get it back to Jerusalem. And he's gonna try and help the Jewish church catch again

26:06 that the gospel of Jesus is for everyone. And make a long story short, they didn't like it. They try and kill him. And so the Roman governor grabs him before they can kill him. And then he gets put in house arrest in Caesarea. And leading up to that time, the story is written in third person plural. And so we know that Luke who wrote the Acts of the Apostles is with Paul.

26:36 It's on a journey where it's last missionary journey where he goes through Asia Minor, then he makes his way back to Jerusalem. And then Luke is with him when he gets arrested. When he goes to Caesarea, Philippi, to go under house arrest, then it switches back into second person, Luke leaves him. And most people think that's when Luke goes to find Mary to get to figure out what she knew about the story and interview people who knew Jesus, because he's Paul's in house arrest there in Caesarea for a couple of years, he doesn't need to sit around there.

27:08 So he walks around to find the story. And then when Paul gets released from house in Caesarea and goes to Rome, it picks up third person, Luke goes back with him. And then during this period, while they're in Rome, he writes the whole thing down. And what I was thinking about is, Luke was a physician, right? A Greek scientist. And he's following Paul around Asia Minor. And when he gets back and goes to Jerusalem, sees him arrested and protected and goes into Caesarea, he's like, this is it, man. I have seen this story work all over the known world.

27:44 We gotta write it down from the beginning. I'm gonna go find his mom. Oh, Mary, what happened? She's like, Luke, you won't believe it. There were shepherds out in the field. And he wrote it down because he saw it work. I'm not a shepherd. I have different challenges.

28:15 But the story still works for me. When I let it be my place of forgiveness, when I let it root my value and my worth in the world, when I let the story shape my purpose and significance for which I live, it animates my life in a way that is fuller and richer than anything else I try.

28:45 Stuff, power, even friendship are not as substantial as the story of the Christ. And it starts right here at Christmas. So I hope you know and just let me remind you, the story of Jesus can heal, redeem, restore, empower, commission, send you.

29:21 Wherever you come from and wherever you find yourself. Let me pray that it does. Hey, Lord, thank you for the people here this morning. Retail your story to them in a way that forgives or stores or news and resends them again. Like you did for Luke and for Mary and the shepherds, do for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.