Ps. 23:1  “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Little Boy Blue come blow your horn!

The sheep’s in the meadow,

The cow’s in the corn.

Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?

He’s under the haystack – fast asleep!

Remember that old nursery rhyme?  It first appeared in print in 1744, but undoubtedly originated quite some time before that.  Having young boys look after sheep has been common for many, many centuries and, in fact, can still be seen in many cultures today.  It’s not that looking after sheep is precisely an unskilled job, but much of the time it is within the abilities of a boy, freeing older men for harder labor.  David, of course, tended his father’s sheep for several years.  The job had likely passed down through each of his older brothers in turn.   For little boys, being allowed to watch the sheep would have been a mark of growing up – “Father trusts ME with the sheep now.”  After a few years, though, they probably chafed and looked forward to the day when they graduated from the job – “I’m too old for watching sheep!  I should be doing something more important.”  For David, his time as a shepherd was, of course, preparation for his time as “shepherd” of Israel.  He found in his shepherd duties a deeper, richer meaning than most, and saw in his care for his father’s sheep a parallel to the Lord’s care of himself.  The verses of today’s psalm are some of the most well-known of all Scripture.

When Joseph brought his family to Egypt, he wanted to keep them separate from the Egyptian culture he had grown up in during his days of slavery.  So, when they arrived, he made a big deal of the fact that the Israelites were shepherds.  In Egyptian culture, shepherds were considered dirty and low class, an “abomination”, to quote Joseph.  Oh, the Egyptians certainly made use of the wool, and even sheep’s milk, but their culture was one that placed a high value on cleanliness and refinement, something that those who lived on the land tending sheep… lacked.  When Joseph told Pharaoh that his people were shepherds, Pharaoh told them, “Hey, the land is open to you, live wherever you want!”  Or, in other words, you’re welcome to go live anywhere but HERE.  Joseph took the land of Goshen – the best pastureland – but not the best land for the Egyptian cities.  Being shepherds helped the Israelites keep their identity as a people. 

Even after they settled in the Promised Land, raising sheep was still a major industry, and remained so for century after century.  By the time of Jesus’ birth, however, a major shift had taken place in the social and economic culture of the Israelites.  The influence of Roman wealth, growth in city economies, and a greater emphasis within Judaism on religious elitism by the Pharisees and Sadducees brought about a change in attitude toward those involved in menial, ‘unclean’ pursuits, especially shepherds.  In Jesus’ day, shepherds were occupied one of the bottom rungs of society.  Uneducated, uncouth, and unwashed, they were regarded as generally dishonest, so much so that their testimony was not even regarded as valid in court!

Such was the state of things on the night Christ was born.  Throughout  Jesus’ entire ministry, with but few exceptions, the wealthy, the powerful, the social “in” crowd, the movers and shakers – these weren’t on Jesus’ “A list”.  No, His guest list consisted of the lowly, the outcast, the unwanted, the “unclean”, the despised and rejected.   It was fitting, then, that the first witnesses to tell of His arrival were ones whose testimony most people would reject out of hand.   Luke tells us that all who heard the shepherds’ tale “wondered” at it.  I wonder just what he meant by “wonder”.  I can just hear folks saying, “Ah, it’s just those crazy shepherds.  Angels?  A savior?  In a stable?  Yeah, right.  Their brains are as woolly as their sheep!”  Maybe there were some villagers whose curiosity was piqued and checked it out for themselves, but without the angelic visit to confirm Christ’s identity, what would they see?  Just a mom and new baby.  Nothing unusual about that.  (I don’t expect that Joseph and Mary made a habit of announcing their Son as the Messiah – and who would believe them if they did?) 

But those shepherds would never forget that night.  They would never forget that of all the people those angels could have given the birth announcement to, God had sent the angels to their humble sheep field.  God had graced them with a dignity and a privilege that no other men were given that night.

It’s easy to listen to angels.  Who wouldn’t?  But God may pass on His most important news through lowly shepherds.  Are we willing to listen to those unexpected messengers?