Why Shepherds?

In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and peace on earth to people he favors!

When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. …. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2:8-20)

Surely, I’m not the only one who wonders. Why did God choose shepherds?

You’ve heard that it was to show God’s prophetic power, right? That the shepherds were in the fields that night caring for the lambs who would be sacrificed for the atonement of the people on the night that the Lamb of God was born. That’s powerful. And true. But also complicated. Should it really be that hard to explain why God chose shepherds?

After all, the others are fairly obvious.

Consider the Magi. They had been star-watchers. Not Jews, but their insight had been cultivated by the legacy of Daniel and the Jews in Persia. They were wealthy, wise, and studied. It makes perfect sense they would be the representative gentiles to come looking for the King.

Zachariah and Elizabeth. A priest and his wife. Religious, faithful, and childless. They would know God’s Word and would recognize God’s ways, and they would be primed and ready to participate in a miracle. Makes perfect sense.

And Joseph. No secret there. We are told without hesitation why God picked him. He was righteous and his heritage was in the lineage of David. Perfect choice.

And, of course, Mary. Again, obvious. Again, born in the lineage of King David and the angel declares that she has found favor with God.

And all of these participate physically, even biologically in the birth of Christ. Intimately, individually, and personally they were included in the coming of the King.

And then the shepherds. For them life was a dirty and unpleasant routine. They lived with their sheep, slept with their sheep, and as a result were considered religiously unclean. The very hope they cultivated in the fields they were denied in the temple. Religion was for other people. God had dismissed them as unworthy. At least, that’s what they had been told.

Oh.

So that’s it. They are us. The outcasts, the disconnected, the unworthy. The unreligious, the smelly, the ones who live messy mundane lives of routine and, at times, emptiness, wondering if God has forgotten us and left us out there somewhere while everyone else is blessed.

But then it happened—to the others, one angel came. Gabriel. No small thing because he is God’s messenger angel and comes straight from the throne room.

But to the shepherds, a chorus. A crowd. Cluttering the inky space above them with singing in the starry night. Everyone else got a message. These guys got the party. A boisterous wake-up call to God’s lavish grace.

Could it be that they, like us, sometimes need to be reminded that Christmas is a celebration? God came for us, to us, and saves us when we trust Him.

And when they arrived, they found Him in a stable. A place that smelled familiar. As if to say, see, I am your God, and I know you better than you think I do. And I have not forgotten you. Could it be that God’s plan for the location of Jesus’ birth had the shepherds in mind all along?

Yeah. He came for you. He knows you. He loves you.

So if they are us, let’s be them. “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

Merry Christmas.