When Life Makes You An Expert {Advent Lessons from the Shepherds}

“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep … And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” (Luke 8:8, 12)

Shepherding was a dirty job. Sheep are oily, dirty and they stink. Shepherds lived with their sheep and that rendered them ceremonially unclean. They were unable to participate in worship in the Temple. They were shunned by their communities.

Somewhere along the way, shepherds gained a very unsavory reputation of being dishonest. They were not allowed to participate in the judicial system and were deemed unreliable witnesses.

So it is to this ragamuffin, fringe of society, group of people who God chooses to make His history-altering announcement: the Messiah is born!

Do you ever wonder why God chose this group of shepherds? Does it strike you as at all odd that the sign the angels gave the shepherds was to look for a baby wrapped in swaddling – or strips – of cloth and lying in a manger?

Those seem to be random signs. Swaddling babies isn’t unusual. Why did God choose those shepherds and why did He give them those signs? Why is it important to know the “strips of cloth detail?”

These particular shepherds hung out in the fields surrounding Bethlehem with their sheep. Bethlehem was only about 6 miles from Jerusalem, where the Temple was and the Temple sacrifices were made. They had the important task of tending to the sheep – the unblemished, perfect, without defect sheep – that were raised for sacrifices in the Temple.

These shepherds were trained in how to care for those sheep in order to keep them perfect and unblemished.

Unlike other shepherds who brought their flock into a sheepfold for the night and went to sleep, these shepherds kept vigilant watch 24/7.

Unlike other flocks whose lambs were born in the fields, these shepherds carefully watched for ewes ready to give birth and brought them in to a sheltered place. As the ewe gave birth, the shepherd caught the lamb in their arms, holding it tight.

Then he took strips of cloth – swaddling cloths – and bound the lamb’s limbs in order to protect it from injuring itself. Then he laid that lamb in a manger.

These chosen shepherds were given signs they were experts at recognizing.

A baby wrapped in swaddling cloths – just like the sacrificial lambs they wrapped.

A baby laid in a manger. Just like the sacrificial lambs they laid in mangers.

They weren’t experts because they had studied a lot or gone to Pharisee school. They were experts because their daily life routines made them experts.

It is ironic that the people society deemed unreliable witnesses were the very ones God chose to be the very credible witnesses to the foreshadowing circumstances of Jesus’ birth.

Luke gives us this story because we are the shepherds. Not because we are “the least”. But because we are intentionally chosen to be witnesses from within our daily routines.

I think our challenge so often is that we think we have no purpose. We wonder – how can God possibly choose me? I don’t have any special training or special skills to teach or preach or counsel. I don’t have a grand conversion testimony. I just get up, make the kids breakfast, go to work, have coffee, make dinner, check homework, watch TV, pay the bills, or call my mom. What’s so special about that?

We expect our assignment will be a big departure from what we do on a regular basis.

The shepherds weren’t looking to be grandiose. They definitely didn’t think they were special. They were just doing what they did every day. Tending the sheep. It was from within their daily routines that God chose them to be the perfect witnesses.

I don’t know what your daily life entails. Maybe you have a lot of experience breaking up fights between your rams – oops kids . God may choose you to be the one to speak encouragement into another woman’s life who has overly rambunctious boys.

Maybe your perfect testimony comes out of hard times in your life: death, divorce, finances. Maybe your perfect witness is born out of illness or victory over addictions. Maybe your testimony comes from the everyday tasks of life.

Do not discount your experiences. Life makes you an expert. Will you let God call you as a witness?

Blessings,

Denise

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