PODCAST
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
December 19th, 2023
Luke 2:9-20
In every children’s pageant of the Christmas story, the shepherds look a little lost. Mary has the baby and Joseph has the lantern, the magi have the gifts, and the angel has the star, but those shepherds wander in with staffs haphazardly fashioned from broomsticks. The story sets us up to expect something from everyone but those humble shepherds. The magi are wise, and the angels proclaim wonderful things. Mary and Joseph are parents. Even Herod gets a word.
We just do not expect much from those shepherds, yet, like David who gets called in from the fields and receives a kingship, so too the shepherds of our Christmas story get a job, a message, a proclamation. “Go and tell.” With giddy glee, Scripture says, “All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them” (v. 18).
God has a way of using the “least of these” to share good news, grace, and love. When we are tempted to brush off our involvement in God’s kingdom because we don’t feel qualified, remember the shepherds.
Author: Teanna Sunberg
