8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished. Luke 2:8-10, 16-18 (NLT)
Shepherds. We might think now that being a shepherd was a great job. Wandering out on the hillsides. Sleeping under the stars. David was a Shepherd. Jesus talks about shepherding his sheep. Shepherding doesn’t sound so bad.
But back then, it wasn’t such a great job. Shepherds were seen as dishonest by the community at large. They were not allowed in courts as witnesses. They were considered unclean. No one was allowed to help them. They were outcasts. The lowest of the low.
Yet, God chose them. He chose them to first announce the arrival of Jesus. It was to them he shared his Good News and revealed his glory. Can you imagine seeing all of those angels praising God? WOW!
I love that the Shepherds took this information, checked it out for themselves and then ran around telling everyone they could find about what they had experienced. They were the first preachers. The first to spread the Good News.
God picked the most unlikely people to be involved in His story. He is still doing that today. We each experience Jesus every single day in our lives. (You do. You just might be missing it because you are looking for it.) We should be like the Shepherds and take those experiences, share them with the people around us and in doing that, share Jesus.
You see, we have no excuse. By choosing the Shepherds God made it clear that all are qualified. Everyone is usable by Him for His purpose. You don’t need an education. You don’t need to be accepted by society. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about you. What matters is that God sees you. He will use you. You just have to be like a Shepherd. Willing.