Luke 2:8-20
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.¹¹ Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.¹⁷ When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”

It’s so interesting to me that for the greatest birth announcement of all time the only invitation from God to visit His newborn Son, and the only announcement for anyone to come visit Mary and Joseph and the infant Jesus goes to  a group of untrusted, religious outcasts, a bunch of shepherds. Let me tell you a bit about shepherds. They were the last people you’d expect God to take notice of.

1. First of all, they were religious outcasts. According to Jewish religious law, these men were unclean. Their line of work prevented them from participating in the feasts and holy days that made up the Jewish religious calendar. Why? Well, somebody had to watch the sheep. It wasn’t really their fault. But they were looked down upon, from a religious point of view. Whatever might have been in their hearts, they weren’t able to participate fully in the religious life of the community.

2. Not only that, but shepherds were borderline social outcasts. Since they were constantly on the move to find new pasture for their flocks, they were looked on with suspicion. They were often accused of being thieves. If something came up missing – it must have been those shepherds.

3. They were not permitted to give testimony in a legal proceeding, because their word wasn’t considered trustworthy.

4. They were antisocial. They didn’t really didn’t have much contact with humans. Most of the time, they were “living out in the fields” (v. 8). This was not a 40-hour a week job. They were with the sheep 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Now, step back for a moment. Imagine you’re God (which is kind of impossible but let’s try) and you want to announce the most amazing, incredible, biggest news ever; an event which will literally change the course of human history – the birth of your only Son, Jesus Christ. This is the birth of the One who will be the Saviour of the whole world. This is the One for whom the nation of Israel has been waiting and hoping and praying for thousands of years. Finally, He has come! To whom do you announce it? Who do you tell? Who do you invite to come and see.

When a child is born to a member of British royalty; for instance, when Prince William and Kate’s children were born, they didn’t send a messenger down to the docks to first break the news to the fishermen. They didn’t issue personal invitations to the cab drivers of London to come visit Kate and her new baby in the castle. I’m guessing that if any announcements or invitations were sent out, they were printed in gold leaf and hand delivered to political leaders and foreign heads of state.

The point is that you would expect an event like the birth of Christ to be announced to the most important people in the nation. Political leaders – kings, governors, magistrates, leaders – Priests, rabbis, synagogue officials, the head of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin – they would all be invited to worship their Messiah. Maybe invites would go to military leaders, wealthy merchants. men and women of distinction. The news media. But none of them got the word. None of them were invited. The Magi found out about it by following the star of Bethlehem, and they informed Herod. But they didn’t get an angelic messenger, or angel choir or invitation. Only these few, poor shepherds, these social and religious outcasts, received the announcement.

So why? Why did God do this? From the very beginning God was making a statement. Most of us realize that there are higher paid jobs, but if you love Jesus, you know that all people of are of equal value – none of us are more important than someone else. But in the Jewish culture – there were lower class people who were looked down upon. So why did He send His angels to announce the birth of Christ to these shepherds, to invite them, and them only, to come and see the child? There is nothing to indicate they were more spiritual than anyone else.

So why did God first send the angels to the shepherds?

God wanted to make a statement – first of all, He sent Jesus to become human (which in an of itself is unbelievable) – and then He gets born in a barn with animals. Amazing! What kind of God does this? Our God! He stoops down to the lowest position Himself.  Philippians 2. 5-11 tells us all about it. Why did He do this?

1. To show that His love does not discriminate on the basis of class, or wealth, or social standing.

2. He does not respect kings and princes more than hourly labourers, God does not show favouritism.

3. He does not give preferential treatment to one group of people over another.

4. His love is available to all on the same basis.

Amazing – this is our Jesus. Jesus didn’t raise Himself up (Jesus understood dying to self). In fact, He identified with Shepherds. In John 10:11 He said this, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He was making a statement. In His humble birth, even down to the announcement, God was making a loud statement. He is saying, ‘I don’t value what you value the heavenly kingdom is opposite to the earthly one.’

So in this strange yet powerful Christmas story – the Incarnation – God becoming man – God is saying with a megaphone, ‘I  LOVE YOU – can you hear me – I LOVE YOU.’ Every. Single. Person.

“I left it all – for you – I took on the lowest status – and proved My love throughout My life and then  proved it ultimately in My death – I even took your nasty sin and pride and selfishness on Myself so you can be with Me forever and so you can come fully alive.”

He knew it was the sick who needed a doctor. He came for the broken, the confused, the messed up, the one who looks like they have it all together, the educated and the uneducated and He made himself nothing so we can become something. Saved, free and whole.

That is what Christmas is all about.