Day 10 shepherds

 Umm, its been a bit intense the past couple of days. Thank you to those who have shared so vulnerably.  Thats what this is all about.  But for now, back to Christmas. 😊

The other people who were told not to fear in the accounts of the birth of Jesus are the shepherds


 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. (luke 2 8-12)

Terrified.  Properly freaked out. Bone-shakingly, sick-feeling, panic-rising scared.

 Not surprising I suppose. There you are, out with your mates, end of a long day of walking with sheep through rough terrain looking for grazing.  Settled down round a campfire for the night, telling stories about people you know and stuff thats happened.  When all of a sudden, out of nowhere an angel appears.  Its so annoying that we dont know what this angel looked like. Was it a human form in the sky with wings and a halo?  Was it a fire or a mighty wind with a voice and a presence.  Did it have eyes and wheels and whatnot as seen by old testament prophets?  Was there blinding light?  Thunder and lightning?  Music?  Or maybe it was a mightily impressive sword-carrying warrior suddenly standing by the fire?   Whatever it looked like it struck dread into the hearts of the shepherds.

I can only imagine that in the presence of a real life messenger of God sent from the heavenly realms the first things that goes through you is a deep awareness of your own sin. Followed swiftly by that voice of condemnation that tells you that you are now well and truly done for.

Which is probably why the shepherds are told not to be afraid.  They are reassured. ' Hey guys, its OK, dont freak out. Im here to tell you something really amazing.  Dont worry. Its all good'

Sometimes our default mode is to assume the worst.  When someone says ' can I see you in my office?'  our minds instantly say ' What have I done?' even when we know we havent done anything at all.  And what exactly is that?  Its fear.  The first response.  We've all experienced it - and some of us experience it all the time.   The liar whispering to us that we are not good enough, we must have done something wrong, we are in trouble because that's what we deserve.   We DO NOT have to live this way.  Jesus was born and lived and died to liberate us from the tyranny of fear.  To lead us to the place where fear is no longer our default and our first response.

The shepherds didnt have any idea that they were being chosen to be the first witnesses to the birth of the Messiah.  They only really understood that once they had believed (don't panic) and obeyed (go and see)

Lord, today help me to hear you, to believe you and to obey you. May my default position be trust not doubt. Amen




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