8 Maids A Milking
If I were attempting to herald the news of a saviour born in Bethlehem in the first century, Shepherds would have a lot wracked up for them in the cons list and not much on the pros in terms of potential announce-es. Shepherds had multiple issues; one, about the only education they had consisted of courses on sheep. Two, while several of them probably did have families of their own, being a Shepherd in those days required you to be strong, tough, rough, and not the greatest visitor to a newborn baby's bedside. Then, they most definitely smelled very strongly of sheep which is not nearly as pleasant as the smell of a roast lamb shank on the dinner table, they tended to have plenty of colourful words on their tongues, be rather loud, definitely dirty, and certainly had very little of what we would call a bedside manner.
Why, in all creation, would you send a host of angels to these guys? It's worse than casting pearls before swine.
Yet, God did it. And, the marvelous thing about it all, is that even though the shepherds probably made quite a disturbance that night, rushing madly into town, barging into the stable, probably startling poor Mary and Joseph out of whatever quiet respite they were enjoying after a long journey and a painful delivery, still the one thing we're left with in the gospels is that the shepherds went on their way rejoicing and praising God.
The shepherds, to an extent, understood what Jesus had come to do better than a lot of people would have. Who goes to see a baby wrapped in a manner that indicates his parents are on a budget, lying in an animal feeding trough and thinks, "this baby has come to redeem my people" even if an angel host did just snap into vision scaring everything sensible out of you?
And yet, the shepherds went on their way rejoicing. They believed the angels. These rough, work-hardened, burly men saw the truth more clearly than many wiser men would and still do see it to day. Perhaps that's one of the multiple reasons God chose shepherds. We know he likes to use the fool to confound the wiseman. Also, it happens very often that someone we consider stupid or ignorant often gets something profound that takes us snobs far longer to comprehend.
Most importantly, friends, if God didn't despise shepherds, neither should we. What kind of people do you consider the lowest of the low? Maybe it's the hypocritical salty lady who sits two rows behind you in church who finds fault with everyone who doesn't look like a model Christian. Maybe it's the pastor who talks out of both sides of his mouth. Maybe it's the construction worker who flunked out of highschool at fifteen, and thinks everyone who finished it is the biggest fool there is. Perhaps it's the neighbor who can't think past the next football game, or the homeless man who lives to buy another lottery ticket.
We all have people we despise for various reasons, many of which are good reasons, but, I wonder if God visiting the shepherds first doesn't set an example that while we can despise whatever sin or flaw that makes said person so despicable, we should still love and respect the person.
There are plenty of people out there who are easy to like despite their position in life...what's harder is the people who are difficult to like because of their position.
Even those people are called with the Shepherds to wend their way to Bethlehem and kneel before a baby in a manger who has come to save the lowest of the low. If we are honest we will walk by their sides, knowing that we are no better. If we love Christ we will take their hands and lead them to Bethlehem, urging them to abandon whatever flocks and herds they've accumulated because this is more important.
Because, personally, when it comes down to the Christmas story and who I'd rather be. I wouldn't want to be Joseph and definitely not Mary. I wouldn't want to be a magi, or, heaven forbid, King Herod. I'd rather be sitting with the Shepherds the night Jesus was born, in the cold, the wind, among all the smells and dirt and bad manners. I'd want to be sitting there in time to witness that moment when God rent the heavens and set grown men, who faced death on a daily basis, flat on their faces in fright. I'd want to be one of the throng that thundered into Bethlehem, probably upsetting a guard or two and startling the nice ladies, and I'd want to be able to look at the babe in the manger and see Him for who He was, the Lord of all creation, come to save me from the consequences of my rebellion against Him.
On that particular night there's no where else I'd rather be.
This particular carol needs no explanation. A traditional tune and words whose author was never remembered, reminds us that we must all be the Shepherds, abandoning their flocks to seek a Saviour lying in a feeding trough.
Who will you follow today? What are you willing to leave behind for the sake one who left behind everything for you?
Will you rise up and follow Him to Bethlehem?
~ Christianna
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