Lessons from the Shepherds

The Christmas story is always one of amazement to me. Jesus the Word becoming flesh and living among us is hard to comprehend, not that it is an impossibility but rather the depths to which God would humble Himself amazes me. The plan of salvation formed before the world ever existed is one that demonstrates the tremendous love God has for his creation. God knew that mankind would sin against Him yet He chose to redeem mankind through His sacrificial love in sending His Son Jesus. In doing this He revealed His true nature and character to a fallen world. When we truly understand what God has done in humbling Himself to become a man, willingly giving His life as a sacrifice for the payment for our sins in order to restore our relationship in order to be united with Him now and throughout eternity it is nothing less than a miracle.
Everything God does is for His glory. God loves who He is and He seeks ways to declare His glory to all people. God desires to be glorified by His creation. He created us to bring glory to Himself and through our union with Christ we are able to glorify the Lord. Only redeemed people can bring glory to God and God’s desire is that all men will be redeemed and through Christ he has made this possible.
I find it interesting that the first people to know of the birth of Christ and saw the glory of God at the announcement of his birth were the shepherds. God has a special place in his heart for shepherds because they reflect his character and nature in many ways. Tonight I want to look at the story of the shepherds and the birth of Christ found in Luke 2:8-20.
1. God reveals Himself and works through the humble
The shepherds most likely were not aware of all that had happened with Mary and Joseph in the preceding 9 months. They went about their daily lives caring for the sheep, fulfilling their responsibilities doing what was considered a very lowly occupation. The shepherds were not sought after by others. They were not regarded as important people. They spent most of their time away from the masses constantly moving the sheep from one grazing area to another. Perhaps they were forgotten people most of the time, overlooked by the majority of people, isolated from the mainstream of life. Yet God chose to announce the birth of the Great Shepherd first to these shepherds. It really seems fitting that they would be the ones whom the humble God would seek out and be the first to receive the news from the angel.
I think there is a principle we can draw from this part of the story. God honors those with a humble heart. He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Even as God demonstrated his humility by becoming a man he looks for those of a humble heart to reveal Himself to each day. A truly humble person sees himself as he really is, one who needs God and desires God to intervene in his life.
 
2. The Suddenlies of Life
The appearance of the angel and the brightness of God’s glory startled them. It was an unusual event that would cause fear in anyone who was not used to seeing beyond sheep and maybe some other shepherds. It came suddenly and that is probably another reason it was so startling to them. It was not like the angel had appeared in the distance and was slowing moving toward them, it was sudden and immediate appearance that sent chills up their spine. All of us have experienced shocking situations where something happens that we did not expect and we are taken aback. I remember one time when I hid in a box by the front door of the house. When my daughter came home and opened the door I popped out of the box about a foot in front of her. It was one of those Kodak moments or video moments for me but certainly not for her. I think you get the picture of what it was like for the shepherds to suddenly see the angel and the glory of God burst upon the scene. Their reaction was like my daughters. So the angel had to calm them with words of assurance and a statement of purpose.
Another thing from this part of the story is how quickly God can come into a situation and totally change our perspective and our lives. God wants to reveal Himself to us and often times it is in the suddenlies of life that He comes to us perhaps not with an angel to deliver a message but through many ways He gets our attention and speaks to us. At times God will use each of us to deliver His message to someone in need who perhaps does not expect you to be there. When we were in San Pedro, Belize at the city park I had the opportunity to talk with a man who had been out of work for 3 months and was very discouraged. I shared testimonies of God’s faithfulness to me and how He promises to meet our needs if we seek His kingdom first. I prayed with the man before leaving and I am sure that he was impacted and I pray he has made some changes in his life. We all need to be open to the suddenlies in life both the opportunities to receive as well as give a message from the Lord.
3. Holy Spirit Guidance to the obedient
The message the angel gave was one of good news that would bring great joy not just for the shepherds but for everyone. The long promised Messiah had come and was born that very night in Bethlehem. The shepherds would find the baby in a place familiar to them, a stable to keep animals. A humble place for a Messiah to be born but that is the way God wanted it in order to show the world how willing He was to humble Himself and reach down to us. Before they left a host of angels, the armies of heaven appeared on the scene and gave praise to God. Another rather shocking scene was etched in their memory along with confirmation of what the first angel had told them as they gave glory to God. The message they sang to the shepherds reflected God’s desire to bring peace on earth to men of good will, those who sought to please the Lord. God’s peace is given to those who seek to please Him.
Once the angels left the shepherds agreed that they should go to Bethlehem to see what they angels had told them. They left quickly with great expectation and perhaps some questions as to what had just happened to them and the message they had received.
The shepherds were not given any more direction than that the Messiah would be in a stable. Bethlehem had more than one stable I am sure so I wonder how the shepherds found their way to the stable? To find the Messiah they had to seek for Him and as they sought for Him I believe the Holy Spirit directed their steps to the right place. This is another principle we learn from this story is that we need to respond quickly in obedience to what God has said to us and seek to find Him. The shepherds did not delay their departure. They did not want to miss out on what God had revealed to them. They did not say, “It is late and I’m tired, let’s go tomorrow.” They left immediately.
Here lies another principle from the story and that is we need to instantly obey the Lord. Many of us have lost opportunities to be blessed and be a blessing when we have not instantly obeyed. Some things in life are one time opportunities and if we miss it they are not repeated. Other things are more open ended but in our delay we lose out on what we could have experienced had we been obedient. God is patient with us and continues to call us but our delay in responding only serves to delay his blessing that he has waiting for us. While in Belize we had opportunity to talk to a group of men who worked in a shop where they made furniture from wood. Some of the men had come to Christ but others were resistant, holding back for various reasons. They are not able to see that they are losing out on the blessings God has for them by delaying their decision to come to Christ the Messiah. They have not experienced the life God has for them and it is hard for them to give up their life that they control to receive a new life that is unfamiliar to them.
As believers we can commit the same error by not responding immediately when God asks us to do something that is unusual, perhaps new or demanding or requires a major change. We may dig in our heels to try to hold our ground and stay where we are and all the while we are missing out on what God has for us in the present. We have to live in the moment and take advantage of what God has for us now. Many people live in the past of the way things were and would rather go backward than move forward in the present. Others live for the future and bypass all the opportunities that are before them. They believe that things will be better in the future but the decisions they make today determine the future. As we walk in obedience to what He has spoken to us, He will guide us to the place and people He wants us to be with. We do not get the complete picture of our life but God is faithful to reveal what we need to know when we need to know it. He promised to guide our steps as we obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We have to learn how to hear the still small voice of the Lord and follow it.
 
4. The Shepherd Evangelists
The shepherds found the Messiah, just as they angels had told them. They were the first to see him, what a privilege and honor it was for them. They did not keep this a secret but they made widely known the sayings told them concerning this Child. These lowly shepherds became the first evangelists spreading the good news about the birth of the Messiah, the Savior of the world. The angel had told them it was good news for everyone and they were eager to share the news with everyone.
We must never hold back from sharing the good news with others. One of the things I have admired about Mark is how eager he is to share the gospel with others. He may not engage in conversation all the time but he almost always carries tracts with him to give to people. He is instant in season and out of season. The shepherds eagerly shared their story with anyone who would listen. It is too great a story to keep to yourself. It is the news everyone needs to hear from someone who has experienced it first hand.
We must also have a sense of urgency in sharing the message. Time is limited for everyone and death can come very quickly. There are no second chances, today is the day of salvation, do not harden your heart.
5. Theoretical versus Experiential Christians
The Word must become flesh in each one of us. Our walk with God on a daily basis is what people want to see because it makes the message of the gospel real to them. The shepherds had a supernatural experience with God that totally transformed their lives. These experiences with God’s revelation and guidance in our daily lives are proof of His reality in our lives. God has given us the Holy Spirit to be not only our teacher but He gives us the power to walk in the supernatural realm and have God encounters. Our knowledge of God must come through the study of His Word and the experiences in which we encounter God in our daily life. Many believers are full of knowledge of the Word but short on encounters with God on a daily basis. Knowledge will make us proud but it really must be accompanied with a God encounter to make it a reality instead of a theory. We can live as theoretical Christians who know all the right doctrine yet never become experiential Christians who walk in the power of God and look for opportunities to see God do the miraculous through them. We walk by faith in a God who rewards faith. We have to step out in faith and believe God to work through us to do the miraculous. When the angels appeared to the Shepherds, heaven was touching earth, the miraculous was made real to them. God’s desire has not changed; He wants to touch the people on earth with his power. We have to expect God to work through us and put us in situations where the miraculous needs to happen. One of our experiences in Belize that was very moving for all of us was praying for an 8 year old girl who had encephalitis. . One of the workers at the YWAM base told me of her situation and asked if we could visit her and her mom. We began to pray for them and looked forward to the opportunity to meet them and pray. We wanted to see her healed as she was suffering and severely malnourished. Her arms and legs were skin and bones and she had developed problems in her lungs. She was unable to eat much because she could not swallow without choking. He diet was mainly liquids and the doctors wanted to place a feeding tube into her stomach. We laid hands on the girl and prayed for healing believing that God would intervene. We did not see any visible change in the girl and it would be easy to get discouraged with the lack of results that we wanted to see. Before we left I asked the mom if she had ever given her life to Christ and she said she hadn’t so we stayed longer and shared the gospel message. She had been visited by the Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses and was confused by the different things that were taught. We stressed to her that God was interested in a personal relationship with her and that He would lead her to the truth as she sought Him through His Word. As I look back on the situation perhaps God wanted to first minister to the mom and then the daughter. But regardless of what happened I believe we did our part in praying for healing and sharing the gospel message. We did not see the healing that we wanted but I do not want to let that keep me back from continuing to pray for the sick. I believe that we have to continue doing what God has asked us to do and we will begin to see Him move in the supernatural as we continue to have faith and take steps of faith to pray for his intervention.
Our lives should be like the shepherds who led people to the Messiah. Everything we do should be a testimony to Christ and draw people to Him. As we celebrate Christmas this year may we remember the lessons we can learn from the shepherds.
God reveals Himself and works through those who are humble.
God works in the “suddenlies” in life and we must recognize and respond quickly to obey Him.
God will guide us to the right place and people as we seek Him and allow the Holy Spirit to direct us.
We are privileged messengers, take advantage of the opportunities with a sense of urgency.
Our knowledge of God must lead us to encounters with Him on a daily basis. Experiential Christians are different than Theoretical Christians.