THE FAITH OF THE SHEPHERDS

Luke 2:1-20

Dr. Wm. J. Maxwell

First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI

December 23, 2007

“Shepherd” – it’s an honorable word for many of us who know what the Bible says about shepherds. The Bible mentions shepherds or shepherding over 200 times. We may consider the profession of caring for the sheep – of feeding, leading, and protecting the sheep from harm.

We may think of David, the shepherd-boy, chosen in time by the LORD to be a shepherd-King. We may reflect on the psalm he wrote – Psalm 23 – referring to the LORD as David’s Shepherd. The images given to us in this psalm remain for us a picturesque portrayal of the faithfulness of the LORD to all those who trust in Him.

We may think of how Christ deliberately took the very same image and called Himself “The Good Shepherd,” and how He noted that “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” [i]

In all this and more, we find ourselves appreciative of the calling to be shepherds and recognize the merits that can be attributed to them. But of course, in the time of Jesus in the 1^st century, very few people held shepherds in high esteem. To the contrary, they were a despised and detested class of people. Even though the shepherds outside Bethlehem were tending sheep for Temple sacrifice, such duties kept them from following the ceremonial law. Some of them were thieves as they moved about the land for pasture, and they were all considered to be unreliable witnesses in the courts. No, in 1^st century Israel, there was little regard for shepherds.

That is to say, from an entirely earthly perspective. For from a heavenly one, the shepherds of Bethlehem were an honored lot. As we know, it was first to the shepherds that an angel declared the good news of Jesus’ birth. These rough and hardy men were terrified and frightened by the sight of an angelic messenger, as fearsome as this sight must have been.

But the news of the birth of a Savior, Christ the Lord, became welcome news to this bunch of societal outcasts, including a detailed description of how and where they might find the baby. Then, as if the one angel wasn’t impressive enough, “a great company of the heavenly host” appeared before them, declaring the praises of God and hope for a world shrouded in darkness. The military has recently used the term “shock and awe” in a destructive sense. But this angelic army provided these shepherds with shock and awe in a most positive sense. And because of this Heaven to Earth encounter, a group of simple, societal outsiders showed forth the kind of faith that is truly commendable.

FOR ONE THING,

WE CAN SEE THAT THEIR FAITH

WAS PERSONAL AND RELATIONAL.

As soon as the angels left, the shepherds uniformly decided to go to Bethlehem and visit this Child. “So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.”

Oh, they could’ve stayed in the familiar environs of the Bethlehem fields. They could’ve merely stayed together and talked about what the angel had said, refusing to step out in faith. But that’s not what these shepherds did at all. It seems as if they didn’t talk about it much, but simply said, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” And with that they “hurried off” to discover for themselves the promise and the truth of the angel’s words.

Faith was exercised in this way, as they encountered the Child. Faith was exercised in a way that was personal and relational. That’s the nature of true, biblical faith – it is first and foremost personal and relational. God desires of us a relationship with Him that doesn’t just “happen,” or one that is somehow passed on to us automatically by family generation. It’s a relationship with God that requires our personal involvement, a yearning for relationship and an exercise of trust.

Author Max Lucado writes of his own experience as a child that brings forth this sense of the personal and the relational. When he was nine, he attended his first funeral and was totally unprepared for the reality of death. There he sat with his father, both dressed in the only suits they had, and in a chapel with hard, uncomfortable, wooden pews. The funeral was also attended by other relatives, all somber, serious, and with some ladies, normally talkative, weeping aloud. All eyes looked forward at the casket, containing the body of Uncle Buck, lying there with his meaty hands, a big belly, and a booming voice now silent.

The young Lucado found himself sweating profusely, so uncertain by everyone and everything in that place. He was gripped by fear, confused by flowing emotions and by the lifeless form before him. And in that very moment, Lucado chose to look up to see the face of his father. His father smiled at him softly and then placed his hand on his leg for assurance. Then he heard his father say, “It’s okay, son.”

And in that moment, the young boy knew it was. Oh, the family members were all still very much upset and his Uncle Buck was still quite dead. But in the midst of it all, his father’s reassuring presence and voice were all that he needed. As he tells us, “At that moment I realized something. I could look around and find fear, or look at my father and find faith. I chose my father’s face.” [ii]

There is quite enough in our outer world and our inner world in which we may find ourselves feeling apprehensive or fearful. But we find all fear and apprehension diminish when we choose to make faith personal and relational. Like Lucado, we can choose to look at our “Father’s face,” the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and know that no matter what life may bring, we are in the assurance of His love and in the safety of His presence.

WE CAN ALSO SEE IN THE SHEPHERDS

A FAITH THAT IS TO BE SHARED.

Luke tells us what happened after the shepherds saw the Child: “When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”

The shepherds could’ve easily kept the whole matter to themselves, but they didn’t. They could’ve enjoyed the gift of grace for themselves, intending never to share it, but they didn’t. They could’ve kept it all to themselves, thinking no one would believe them, but they didn’t. No, they “spread the word … and all who heard it were amazed.”

And that is the nature of biblical faith in its truest form. Yes, it is “personal and relational,” but never so much as to hoard the gift of God’s grace for ourselves. The love of God is far too long and wide and high and deep to be contained in the hearts and lives of just a few. All the world needs to hear the simple song of God’s redemptive love in Jesus Christ.

“The Lost Melody” was one of the great legends Norman Vincent Peale loved to tell at Christmas. It is one of my favorites and you may have perhaps heard this legend told before and cherish it as well. It is about the shepherds to whom the angels came, sitting around a fire one night, trying to remember the music and melody they had heard from the angels. You see, in the passing of time, no one could sing or even hum it.

Suddenly, the faint bleating of a lamb in the distance interrupted their conversation. It was clearly in trouble, but none of the men wanted to go, fearing treacherous rocks or fierce wolves. And yet, just as suddenly, the youngest shepherd of them all arose and disappeared into the darkness.

In time, he reappeared, bruised and bleeding, but carrying the little lamb safely in his arms. He then reported to them a most mysterious thing that had happened - music filling his mind on his way back to them with the lamb in his arms. And as he sang that song to them, the shepherds were awestruck – it was the lost melody!

Years went by as Jesus grew to manhood and was known by many to be a great Teacher and Prophet. One day, Jesus’ disciples invited Him to go see and hear a blind man, who often told stories to children and sang to them a melody of great beauty. And Jesus did so. He listened to the man’s song, and then gently healed him of his blindness.

The healed man, enthralled with the recovery of his sight, embraced the Lord and asked Jesus who he was. Jesus smiled and said, “We have met before – long ago. Do you remember when you first heard that melody?” The man told Jesus about the rescue of the lamb. “Yes, it is given to many to hear that refrain from My Father’s choir; but all too few learn to keep it alive, as you have done, with a loving heart and kindly deeds.” [iii]

How true this is! Dear friends, faith always means keeping the melody of God’s grace in Christ alive, and then sharing it with others, “with a loving heart and kindly deeds.”

III

THERE IS ONE MORE LESSON

FROM THE FAITH OF THE SHEPHERDS:

FAITH IS ALWAYS WORSHIPFUL.

Luke tells us that Mary was quite impressed by the visit of the shepherds and by what they’d told her. “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” But that’s not all: we’re also told something more about the shepherds, in that “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

These shepherds, who’d experienced the grace of God, now offered all glory and praise to God in worship. Far from any sanctuary, the outdoors became their sanctuary, as they offered to God their deepest love and highest esteem. And so may it be with us – our faith can and should lead to worship, be it here in this beautiful sanctuary, or far from it.

I find that Jonathan Edwards’ faith was like that of the shepherds – worshipful, and worshipful everywhere. The New England minister known for sermons regarding the just judgment of God also had his sermons on the love and mercy of God. But through them all was a faith distinctly full of worship.

One day, he rode his horse into the woods and then paused for a time in a retired place to pray. No, he wasn’t in the sanctuary of the Congregational Church in Northhampton, MA, but that place of retirement was indeed a sanctuary for him. He tells us what happened there:

I had a view, that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as Mediator between God and man, and his wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love and meek, gentle condescension.

The Person of Christ appeared to him to be so excellent at that time and in that place, “with an excellency, great enough to swallow up all thought and conception,” so much so that Edwards found himself “in a flood of tears.” [iv]

Dear friends, true and authentic faith is never ashamed of such tears as these. Why should we ever be ashamed or embarrassed by a tear shed for the Savior, for after all, such a tear is shed for the Savior, revealing a faith that is truly worship-full!

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” These are the shepherds who teach us so very much about faith!