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What was from the beginningSaturday, December 27, 2008
Luke 2:15-18
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
God doesn't always choose the smart ones. The smart ones have trouble following instructions. Simply being obedient is the last thing on their minds. It takes them years to get God's simple words through their gauntlets of question and challenge. Dogs have so much to teach their masters. The shepherds learned from their flocks even as they protected the sheep from death by stupidity. They learned to follow, to listen, to be open to whatever the sky might provide. I learned from the cows we milked, from their habits and style; and though I never knew it then, those lessons may have been the most valuable of my life. In Romans 8 Paul eloquently describes the yearning of "the whole creation" for "the sons of God to be revealed." It can take so long to learn obedience. Whole lifetimes even. How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man? Before he knows himself to be a son of God? How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky? Before he falls on his face and knows God's voice, and knows that is all he needs? O what a gift the shepherds have been given, to be available and ready to do the angels' bidding. And know their savior even in the straw. You have showed me, O Lord, what is good, and what you require of me: to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God. |
It wasn't just a dream. The angels weren't in their imagination. The baby was actually in the barn with his parents, just as the angels said. For once, the shepherd's naivete served them well. And served well the world.