For All the People
I messed up. Too busy traveling and hunting, I guess.
The third candle of Advent is the pink candle like I said, but it’s a symbol for the shepherds, not angels. Oh well, angels and shepherds do come together in the Christmas story, so let’s go with that today as we talk about candle number four.
The Christmas story, as found in Matthew, Luke, and John, is a study in contrasts. Wealthy Persian Maji, a powerful Roman Emperor, a wicked King, a poor peasant girl giving birth in a stable, a newborn lying in a manger, a bright star in the heavens, and an army of angels, appearing to poor, despised shepherds in the fields outside of Bethlehem.
In a very real sense, all of God’s creation is involved in the birth of the one John calls the Word who was “with God in the beginning.”
But the shepherds are, to me, some of the most incredible characters in the Christmas story. They are, in a real sense, God’s way of saying, “My Son is for all people, regardless of race, social status, or class.”
Isn’t that what the angel said to the shepherds - “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”? (Italics mine.) And the implication is clear - even you despised shepherds.
Shepherds, which at one time were held in high esteem during Israel’s nomadic days, had fallen far down the social ladder by the time of Jesus. They were considered unclean and not allowed to take part in synagogue services. They were compared to thieves. They were not accepted as witnesses in a court of law, like women. Some Rabbis even questioned how shepherds were ever respected in Israel. I guess in some ways, David, the shepherd-king, really was the last son of Jesse ever expected to be chosen by God. Remember the story?
But the message to those shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem was that a savior had been born for all people, including them.
I love the sign that accompanies the angel’s announcement to the shepherds - “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Not a gold-laid bassinet with a purple pillow, not fine linens wrapped around the promised king. Nope. This savior was someone they could connect with. Someone with whom they could identify, even as he would identify with him. This was the good shepherd. The one whom Isaiah said had “no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him . . despised and rejected by mankind . . . he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”
As Christians, we honor the name of Jesus above all else. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and he is worthy of our praise. But let’s not lose sight of how our Lord came to us. The prince became a pauper and lived among us. He enjoyed food and drink with tax collectors, prostitutes, fishermen, and even a few religious leaders (let’s just call them pastors) who found the courage to break with the religious hierarchy and follow him.
These are the things I think about when I reflect on the angels and shepherds together in those hallowed fields. Sherri and I will be lighting that purple candle Sunday, and these are some of the things we will be thinking about as we thank God for His Son, a savior for all the people!
In Christ,
Dan
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