Christmas Gifts that Don’t Break: The Shepherd’s Joy

A Sermon Preached from the Pulpit of

Tyger River Presbyterian Church

by Rev. Douglas D. Cushing MA; M.Div; D.Min.

Third Sunday of Advent

December 11, 2011

“Joy”

Questions

• As you listen to the monologue from the shepherd ask yourself:

1. What status did shepherds have during the time Jesus was born?
2. Why would the angels appear to shepherds announcing the birth of the Savior?

• Why is the birth of Jesus Christ ‘good news’ for you?
• What about Jesus’ birth are you most joyful?

Scripture

Joel 2:  28-32

²⁸ Then afterwards
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
²⁹ Even on the male and female slaves,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

30 I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. ³²Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

Luke 2:  1-20

2In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
¹⁴ ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!’

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Sermon

You know most people don’t really give a rip about guys like me….and I know it. I admit I got no education. I know I’m never gonna amount to much – certainly never gonna be one of those high fluting Pharisees or one of those hot shot High Priests.

I realize that one day I’ll probably come down with one of them illnesses like Amos and Hosea come down with. I’ll get to caughen and then, one day, I’ll just not get up. I’ll probably die…just like they did…nobody knowing…nobody much caring. Nobody that is except fir them…out there…They’re the only ones that’ll care. Yup, there the ones that’ll miss me.

Yea, they’re my babies. They know me. They know my voice. They know when I’m happy and they can just tell when I’m good and ticked off at em. You know, not a lot of folks believe me when I say this but sometimes, in the dead of night, when it’s bone chilling cold, some of the older sheep ’ll come up and lay right beside me….like they’re tryin to keep me warm….like they know I’m freezen my tail off out here. Yup……they know me.

I hate goin into Bethlehem. You know what it’s like to walk down a side street and actually see parents point at me and tell their kids they’ll end up just like me if they don’t straighten up. You know what it’s like when I’m just minden my own business in the market, pickin up a few loaves of bread and some fruit when I hear some folk tellen another stupid shepherd joke….maken fun of what I do…who I am.

Nope, ain’t nobody much care whether I live or die….nobody but them sheep. Or so I thought.  Had an uncle – a good man – who once told me that Yahwah – that what the folks around here call God – loves everyone and that we all got us an important job ta do on this earth.

Yea, he said something about us being a chosen people by the Almighty himself. But I didn’t pay no mind at all. The way I figured it, my uncle was just tryin to be nice to me. After all he was about the only family I really had.

But I figured I knew better than all that. I thought to myself, “Uncle Josh, save all your talk about God lovin us and choosen us for those respectable folk who dress real fancy like and who live respectable lives and attend the synagogue every week.

To my way of thinkin, if there was a God, the good Lord didn’t give a sheeps wisker about some crude, pathetic, old broken down shepherd like me….HA….or about my buddies.

Did I tell you about my buddies? You need to know them for me to tell you my story. Well, there’s Eli –  By age 16 he had his skull cracked open by the Roman police at least three times. Most folks figured he’d end up doing some hard time in a place like Ceasera or Corinth or some other roach infested prison. But they say he re-ha-bil-itated when he became a shepherd.

Then there’s Daniel. Dan, Dan the crazy man we used to call him. They said he’d a been all right if he had the money to buy the right medicine when he’s a kid. Yup, he found a home out here in the fields.

Oh, and then there’s Aaron. He don’t talk much at all. His folks used to beat him up something fierce. He run away up into these fields and we just kinda adopted him. There’s more guys I could tell you about but what happened to me also happened to Aaron, Dan and Eli. My story is there story as well.

Let me tell you what happened. Ya gotta imagine how things were that night. It was about 11 or so…I know it was before midnight. It was the first clear night we’d had in over a week. We was glad for that because we’d just lost two good sheep to a big cat just the other side of Jaffa Point. The clear night meant it would be easier to spot any animals who threatened our sheep. But it also meant it would be cold…..real cold….bone chilling cold.

That freezing air just cling to us that night. No wind, no clouds, just a million tiny stars to keep you company. I’ll never forget what happened. I was sittin on top of a big hill with my back to a tree, wrapped up in my blanket, looking out on the fields. At first I didn’t think nothin of it. I even told Aaron that the stars seemed ta be shinnen brighter than normal out there.

Aaron started cutting up about my comment until we both realized it was the middle of the night and we could see our shadows…. and there wasn’t a moon out at all. For about 15 minutes we was just staring up into the stars, watchin as they got brighter and brighter, like we was in a cave or something and someone just kept bringing more candles into the cave. Before we knew it, it got so bright that we were both squinting.

Dan and Eli were sitting on the ridge cross the way. They noticed it too and come over by us. I don’t mind tellin you we was all getting really scared. Nothing like that ever happened before. Then, I swear this, the four of us heard something that sounded like voices….voices….like they was singing but we couldn’t make it out…like they was singing from some place real far away.

Then……then….the most amazing thing of all happened. One particular light got really bright so that we had to shield our eyes. And then we heard it. We heard a voice…not like I’m talkin to you right now but, like a voice in our heads. We didn’t believe it at first accept when Aaron said he was hearing a voice tellin him to go into Bethlehem we all knew he wasn’t crazy because we heard the same message.

It was like an angel come to us and I’ll never forget the message. He said, “I bring you good news of a great joy for all people. To you is born this day in the city of david a savior who is Christ the Lord” Now Dan told me later that the angel said, “you’ll find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger”.

But I didn’t even hear that because I just kept thinking about those words, “good news for all people, good news for all people”. Dan told me that there was something that sounded like the most beautiful choir in the world singing glory to God in heaven. And I guess I remember hearing that….but I just couldn’t get over what I heard, “good news for all people….for all people”.

Well, we dropped everything and took off as fast as we could for Bethlehem. Eli led the way being guided by this bright star. We ran through the sheep gate of the city and down the cobblestone roads until we got to the Inn on the outskirts of town.

We must have been loud and out of breath because the Innkeeper met us out front and told us to pipe down because a new baby had been born just out back in the stable area.

Sweating and out of breath, we walked around the back of the house to the stable area. All the while couldn’t get those words out of my mind, “good news for all people”. A couple of folks were out back looking into the manger.

They turned to us and didn’t say a word, they only put their finger to mouth reminding us to be quiet. Then, nervous and sweaty we peered over the top of the manger and gazed upon such a sight I’ll never forget it.

At first, all I saw was just another couple of kids….Jewish peasants bringing a baby boy into the oppressive and unfair world of the Roman Empire. Nothin special. He was all red and wrinkly and shaking like leaf. If I didn’t know better I’d a put odds on the kid not making it through the night.

His momma could hardly tend to the little fella. She was all worn out from giving birth. But she had this real concerned look in her eyes. Real concerned. She looked scared to death like if something happened to the boy, she’d be responsible. Never took her eyes of the baby, not for a second. Next to her was this guy – I think his name was Joseph. I felt badly for the guy cause he looked so worried and yet so helpless. He looked like someone had told him things were gonna turn out a whole lot differently.

The poor kid couldn’t stop crying. It was a cry that sounded full of fear….full of pain….a cry for food and warmth….a cry for life itself. The kids crying got pitiful that we got choked up. Thought he might not make it ourselves for about an hour. Yea, things were pretty dicey there for a while.

But then Eli walked over to the this young girl…this new mother and her confused and scared husband and Eli told em what happened to us…told em what the angel had said.

And just about the time, Eli was repeating, “A savior who is Christ the Lord”….the Mother quit staring at the boy, looked up at Eli and smiled. And amazingly enough, at that very moment….the baby….quit crying. And there was a silence in that barn…..in that  city…..in that bone chilling, cloudless night and something like a blanket seemed to fall on all of us and on that inn. And there was peace in that stable…..and God was there…..in that manger….in that moment….in that baby.

And I remembered those words, “I bring you good news of great joy for all the people….for all the people….for all the people”. And at that moment I knew that I didn’t need to save that baby boy because he was there to save all of us…..“A savior who is Christ the Lord”…..a savior for all the people…. Even a crude, pathetic, old broken down   shepherd like me.

Christmas Gifts that Don't Break: The Shepherd's Joy [ 19:43 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download