Dear Friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Aspiring child actors in southern Minnesota in the 1960’s didn’t have the Children’s Theatre or Chanhassen Dinner Theatre to look to.  They had the annual Sunday School Christmas program where young actors began their careers. Oh, there were certainly strong backstage mothers who convinced the Sunday School superintendent that their son or daughter was perfectly cast as the Angel of the Lord. One year my younger brother was chosen for the break out role of Jospeh. Yes, we all coveted the majestic royal costumes of the three kings and the feathery wings and sparkling halos of the angelic chorus. The largest group of performers, however, were the shepherds. No Christmas Program would be complete without its little band of gunny sacked shepherds, towels over their heads, and cane pole staffs in their hands. If you had an extra child, you could always wrap them up in their father’s’ thread bare robes and call them a shepherd. I was the third shepherd to the right in the third row.  And when the legion of shepherds had finished their part, they left the stage and were hardly given them another thought. Unfortunately, that is how many of us have grown to look upon the shepherds. They’re oh, so ordinary and forgettable.

Perhaps circumstances haven’t changed much. No mother or father in Bethlehem two thousand years ago would dream of their child growing up to be a shepherd either.  Being a shepherd was dangerous, lonely work. Sheep were often prey for wolves and other wild animals.  Shepherds were armed with nothing more than staffs and clubs.  Shepherds had to be on guard, especially at night, when they would have to sleep with one eye open to keep the flock safe.  It was also lonely work with one shepherd to one hundred sheep which left little home for socializing.  They certainly weren’t home for the holidays. At the time of the Caesar  Augustus’s  great census, they were so overlooked and forgotten, that they weren’t even in the Bethlehem to be counted. That’s how unimportant they were.

Surprisingly, for centuries the most popular worship service at Christmas was the mass dedicated to the shepherds. Composers wrote pastoral settings for the church mimicking the    sound of the shepherds and their devotion before the Christ Child in Bethlehem. Musical instruments were added to duplicate the color of peasant bagpipes and horns used by the shepherds in the fields and in the mountains. The shepherds may have been ordinary and forgettable, but they were also the first to hear the message of their Savior’s birth and to proclaim it. This evening, let us meditate on the good news of Christmas and the shepherds who heard and embraced it.

According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, “In early morning he led forth the flock from the fold, marching at its head to the spot where they were to be pastured. Here he watched them all day, taking care that none of the sheep strayed, and if any for a time eluded his watch and wandered away from the rest, seeking diligently till he found and brought it back. At night he brought the flock home to the fold, counting them as they passed under the rod at the door to assure himself that none were missing. Nor did his labors always end with sunset. Often he had to guard the fold through the dark hours from the attack of wild beasts, or the wily attempts of the prowling thief.”  That’s why the shepherds are so woven into the Christmas story, they remind us ourselves in our own darkest hour keeping watching over those we love

While they were keeping watch over their flocks by night,  “The glory of the Lord shown all around them, and they were terrified. no longer alone.” The angel then said, “Do not be afraid. For unto you is born this day is a Savior who is Christ the Lord”  Even at Christmastime, many of carry burdens of fear and anxiety. Martin Luther once wrote, “I fear death, the judgement of the God, the world, hunger and the like.”  (But in this tiny phrase, “Do not be afraid”) the angel announces a Savior who will free us.”  I carry many of the same fears and questions. Am I living the good life for others that God would have me live? Am I wrestling with the Devil and not giving in too quickly. Am I letting Evil commandeer my thoughts and actions?  My friends, when you’re gripped by fear, you often can’t think rationally. You react emotionally, and make unwise decisions, and your vision becomes clouded. The Angel of the Lord understood human nature, even for the lowly shepherds to truly hear and comprehend the wonder of the good news given to them, they needed to cast aside their fears. There is the good news, “A Savior has come to you.”

“And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host.” There may have only been a handful of shepherds in Bethlehem to witness the wonder and mystery of that first Christmas night, but they were certainly overwhelmed by this heavenly light.

There are many wonders in this story. Heaven and earth meet us in obscure places, not in the halls of power nor in the shopping malls, not in the great stages of the capital cities.  God’s light breaks in in the most unexpected places. The shepherds and angels remind us that there is a God who sees us and knows our joys and sorrows even when we are feeling isolated and neglected. Yes, God sends a brilliant, consuming light down upon those dark fields of life, all because he longs, and has always longed, for us to know and love him and to be with us. That God came down earth to dwell with us and to take on earthly, that is wonder enough for Christmas.

But perhaps the greatest wonder of all is that the shepherds believed the word of the angel. The lowliest and most pessimistic of shepherds could have easily convinced the others that this was just a dream.  After all, God doesn’t send heavenly choruses to a mere handful of shepherds.  Certainly, that’s how the congregation in my home town would have felt watching the Christmas Program. Would God really send his entire heavenly choir to this misbegotten band of gunny sacked shepherds?  I don’t think. But scripture tell us that this is true. The promise of the angel guided them to Jesus, “You will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying a manger,” they got up and headed to Bethlehem.  We don’t know if they traveled together with their flock, or whether they left the sheep in the care of a few shepherds out in the fields.  We really don’t know what they thought they would see.  But we do know that they were not disappointed.  Their fool hearty and risky journey was worth it.  In the face of this tiny child, they saw God’s renewing hope. The shepherds left Mary and Joseph and the babe in the manger “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.”

And then, the shepherd returned to their shepherding.  Seeing Christ didn’t change their social status dramatically.  It didn’t get them more friends, or  make their job less dangerous.  It did, however, changed their hearts. Now they knew God.  They might have still felt lowly, neglected and overlooked, but they were able to stand up and put the pieces together well enough to become jubilant. They were promised a Savior, they searched and found a baby, and they trusted that the rest of what they had been promised would come to be true as well.  On that dark night, the angel placed hope within their hearts, and they dared to believe.  They dared to run with haste.  They dared to tell everyone what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

My friends, that is why we are here this Christmas, here in this sanctuary surrounded by friends and family. It is all because someone dared to shepherd you and tell you the wondrous story of God’s love and hope at Christmas.  Yes, some one dared to encourage and invite you to see this Christ Child in the manger and to believe.  That beloved, caring shepherd wanted you to know this Savior Jesus, the light of the world no darkness can overcome, the one who assures you that you are never alone, and that you need not be afraid. You don’t need a gunny sack robe or a cane pole shepherd, but let it be your best performance yet.  May you follow their example and be a good shepherd to those you love- and tell them story of Jesus’ birth. Amen

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.