TENDING TO THE FLOCK

That night began like any other of a thousand nights…the blazing sun sinking majestically behind the rolling Judean hills. The air became thicker, so we built a big fire and began to huddle the sheep in circles of ten. A glance to the south revealed the flicker of lights as, one by one, families began their evening prayers and gathered round the table to break bread and share the events of the day. It is a lonely and very thankless job…being a shepherd… having all who know you look down on you and your filthy occupation. But, someone had to care for the sheep; to tend to these tender lambs, so there might be meat in the village and spotless lambs for our sacrificial offerings. Besides, I was simply following in my father’s and his father’s footsteps…I had little choice in what I had become….despised by the religious rulers and tolerated by the villagers.

I was patrolling the northern perimeter of the encampment as the wind whipped around me, chilling me to the bone; I listened intently for the sound of movement through the brush… the sounds of predators on the prowl. I cinched my belt tighter and drew my cloak around me, hoping to stave off the winter night’s chill.

And then, IT HAPPENED!!! The sky was like midday as a bright light inflamed the blackness of the night …for there hovering above us all was an angel. I fell to the ground, shaking, not from the cold but from fear…who was this and what did he want with us. He spoke quietly; softly, as he told us not to be afraid, for he came bearing Good News that was for all mankind. A savior was born and just miles away in the sleepy, little town of Bethlehem, we would find him…wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Then, to our utter amazement, the entire heavens were filled with an angelic host who sang and proclaimed the Glory of God and his desire for peace on earth.

And as suddenly as they had appeared, they vanished ….gone in an instant. At first, we were all too stunned to even speak…but as we regained our wits, we knew what we had to do…WE HAD TO SEE THIS FOR OURSELVES. So gathering our staffs and entrusting the sheep to two of our own, we quickly set out for the stable of Bethlehem.

We arrived to find everything just as the angel had described…mother Mary, her husband Joseph and their little baby, Jesus. We could not contain our joy as we told them all that had just happened to us …out in the fields, tending our flocks, doing what we were called to do.

And yet, I could not help but ponder, why us, O God? Why come to the lowliest of mankind with the greatest, most wonderful news …EVER? Why entrust us to tell others this Good News….that a Savior was born who is Christ the Lord! I could not answer that question, but neither could I constrain myself….so I did the only thing I could think to do….I set out to tell others!

Before I returned to the flock that night, I knocked on EVERY door in Bethlehem and told them the exciting news; in fact, we all did. Traveling in what could only be described as an uproarious caravan, we told everyone we knew that in a stable, just yards away, lay the Christ child…the Savior come to earth. Some believed what was told to them, though many just slammed the door, cursing that they had been disturbed by a drunken mob of shepherds. But, it did not matter to us….WE KNEW WHAT WE HAD SEEN AND WHAT WE HAD BEEN TOLD….and we glorified God for including us in telling others of what He had done that night ….that GLORIOUS night in Bethlehem.

Are you a shepherd this Christmas…busy tending to the affairs of family, friends, jobs, careers, even life itself? Are you out in the fields without a clue of what God has in store for you this Christmas? Maybe, He wants to shake-up your world…like He shook the world of those shepherds that first Christmas. Maybe, He wants you to know the excitement of the Good News that a Savior has been born; but, more importantly…..

He wants you to know the Savior; personally, intimately and without reservation.

Then, just like the shepherds, the excitement of that Good News will permeate everything you do as you knock on the doors of others to share what God did that very first Christmas night ….for a band of shepherds tending to their flocks in the hills near Bethlehem.


Oh, to be a shepherd this Christmas and share the wonder of it all…..

WPQ

Poem of the Day:

While shepherds in the fields kept watch,
The sleeping town stood still;
Until the Heavenly Host came down
And glory filled the hills.

The angels sang hosannas
Of peace to all the earth;
And heralded their good tidings
Of a Savior’s lowly birth.

So quickly went the shepherds
Into that sleeping town
And gladly told everyone they met;
The Messiah had come down.

So be a lowly shepherd
And tell this great Good News…
The Savior born in Bethlehem
Is the one who died for you!

W. Patrick Queen December ‘09