Let’s remember the story together.

It was a quiet night. We leaned our backs against the tree and tried to relax our aching muscles. It had been another busy day. We started the morning up on the hillside where the grass was deep, but as afternoon came and it got hotter, we led the sheep down into the valley where it was cooler and they could drink from the stream. That’s when the young one got caught in the current and we had to pull it out with our shepherd’s crook. Again. As the sun started to set, we led them back to the sheepfold, and we stood by the gate as they walked in. We stopped each of our sheep as it got to the gate and we examined it closely for any cuts or scrapes, especially on their soft noses. Some of the stones on the hillside were pretty sharp. Once all of the sheep were safely inside, we walked around the stone wall of the sheepfold to make sure none of the stones had fallen and left a hole where a sheep might escape or something else might get in to harm them. We cut a few new branches from a thorn bush and put them on top of the wall where the old pieces had blown off. That would keep anything from trying to crawl over the wall to get in. But now it was quiet, and we watched the sheep settled safely inside the sheepfold and felt the cool night breeze begin to blow through the valley.

And then, “POW!” The sky lit up. Angels appeared. Sheep started bleating. It all happened so quickly that our first reaction was to curl up on the ground and cover our heads. But we didn’t even have time to do it before we heard, ”Don’t be afraid, we come to bring you good news.”

When it was over and the sky was dark again, we went around and calmed our sheep, and then we all got together under a tree and all started talking at once. “Did you see that? What do you think it meant?” Finally, we drew lots and selected those who stayed to watch the sheep while the rest of us went into town to find the baby the angel had talked about. We were so excited that we told everyone we saw about what had happened. We found the baby and told them what we saw and heard too. And then, we went back to work.

Here is my question for you:

Out of everyone available, why did God pick those guys to tell about the birth of Jesus? Why did the whole thing begin with God announcing it to a bunch of shepherds? Now, there is nothing wrong with shepherds, don’t get me wrong. Shepherds are hardworking people. They are honest and trustworthy and spend their time taking care of other people’s sheep. But they aren’t the kind of people you might expect to be picked for a major announcement from God. They were great with sheep, but they usually weren’t all that good with their people-skills. And they spend most of their lives living out somewhere in the hills with animals. You might even remember the old joke that says you can hear most people coming to see you, but you can smell the shepherds coming.

Sometimes I wonder what Mary and Joseph thought when they saw a bunch of shepherds show up? I wonder if Joseph tried to keep them out? I wonder if Mary thought, “Good grief, what next? A bunch of foreigners?”

Those shepherds were honest, trustworthy, hardworking people, but it all comes down to a key question: “Who would ever listen to a shepherd?”

It’s Marketing 101. When you have a major announcement to make, you make that announcement where the audience is most likely to see and hear it, and have it made by someone who the audience will pay attention to.

Now, a priest, of course. Or, maybe a Pharisee, or a Sadducee. Maybe even a rabbi if they were from a decent size synagogue in a well-known city like Jerusalem, and as long as he taught the proper things. A strong, well-known religious leader would seem to be the ideal person to make this type of announcement from God. Maybe even someone in government leadership? Those are people who can pull an audience and have their message be heard. If one of those people said that God had talked to them, it would certainly get people’s attention. But shepherds?

Once again, it is one of God’s surprises!

I have been thinking about why God chose shepherds.

What would have happened if the angels had appeared to the Pharisees, or the temple priests, or a government leader? Their immediate response might have been the same shock and surprise the shepherds felt, but it would have soon changed to their asking, “Is this something we can use, or is this a threat to us?” They would have made the trip to Bethlehem, but it would have been an intelligence-gathering mission rather than an act of worship. They most certainly would have told people about what they had heard and seen, but you wonder how they would have spun it to make it say what they wanted it to say to support their positions. They would have been heard for sure, but the chances are good that what God had actually done is not what would have been heard.

But look at what the shepherds did. They heard the news and were humble about it. They made the trip to town to see it and tell people about it. They didn’t say, “You need to listen to us because God talked to us instead of anyone else.” They said, “We were just sitting out there when, “POW”, the sky lit-up, and a bunch of angels flew down and told us to go into town and see a baby because God sent it to be the Lord.” And then they went back to work.

People might have been surprised to hear it from shepherds, or honestly, to hear anything at all from shepherds, but what they heard from them was what God had done, not what the shepherds wanted people to think had been done. They had been put in a situation most people believed was over the shepherd’s heads, but they did what they knew how to do. They did what God asked them to do.

Every once in a while, we have an experience that feels like God is speaking directly to us. It might be during a conversation with someone who is hurting. It might be when we are struggling with a decision that needs to be made. How are we going to respond? Do we say, “Hey! God talked to me! You all need to follow me, or buy my book, or do whatever I tell you to do. God talked to me and that means I am special.” Or, are we just going to do what God asks?

Let me give you an example. I am talking with some people at the coffee shop and someone mentions a friend of ours who has a very sick child. When I hear it, it feels like God speaks directly to me and tells me that I should go to that friend and let them know that they are cared about. Now, I have a choice.

I might go to that friend’s house and say, “Bob, God spoke to me. God told me to come here and visit with you. God called me, Bob, to come here to let you know that God cares about you and your family.” Or do I go there and say, “Hi Bob, I just heard about your son, I am so sorry. Is there anything at all I can do to help: run to the store for you, take care of the yard, or just buy you a cup of coffee?”

We do not need to be someone special to have God speak to us. We do not need to have some special role, or position, or training for God to be able to use us. When God speaks, all we have to do is be ourselves and do what God asks us to do. Not try to convince anyone that God did speak to us. Not try to make ourselves look important. Not even try to convince other people to believe in God. We do what God asks us to do because God asks us to do it.

And why us? Because we were the one that God asked.

Maybe the shepherds weren’t the kind of people anyone would have picked to do God’s work, especially for something as big as this. But you know, God never has agreed all that much with what we think about other people. Just look around. Most of the people God has picked to bring about major changes were never people who would have even made our first long list of possible names we would have then whittled-down to the cream of the crop.

There is something about us that makes us want to define other people. We have our categories and labels we use to define them:

How they look. 

What they wear. 

Where they are from. 

Where they live now. 

What they do.

Do they have a job?

Do they have the “right kind” of job?

Do they make enough money to take care of themselves?

Just how much money do they have?

Do they believe what we believe?

There are more, and the reality is that those shepherds would have never been selected based on our categories. But the good news is that God doesn’t care about our categories. God doesn’t care about how we might label people or about how other people might label us.

God calls who God calls because those people will do what they are asked to do.

If and when God speaks to us, our task is not to try and figure out “Why me?” or look for ways to use that as an opportunity. Our task is to simply do what we have been asked to do.

While the usual focus of the Christmas story is on the baby Jesus and the birth of the Son of God, one of the most amazing parts of the Christmas story for me is that God selected those shepherds to receive the good news. One of the greatest moments in history was not announced by powerful religious leaders, powerful politicians, or by anyone else in a role that you would expect to speak for God.

It was quite a surprise. And sometimes, even more surprising and against all odds and human logic, “POW”, sometimes God selects us.

Merry Christmas to the shepherds, and to all of us. Amen.