"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased. 15 And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us."
OK, if your anything like me then before Christmas ever gets here your already tired of hearing the same songs being played over and over on the radio. Don't get me wrong, love the season and the songs but it's like overkill from the end of november until New Years Day. There is one song however that never gets old. This is the song the angels sang on the night that Christ was born.
The birth of Jesus changes everything! I was re-reading the story again when this time the song of the angels really stuck out to me, a song of peace and goodwill to all men because of the new born Christ. This song of peace and restoration that broke the silence of that starry night and broke into broken humanity wasn't sang to Caesar, the self righteous Pharisees or any other great leader of the day. This angelic song that reveals heavens heart and the messiahs mission was sang to shepherds.
So who were the shepherds?
They were Social Outcasts. They were poor, uneducated, uncultured, and uncouth. If you were with your family walking through town you would go to the other side of the street to avoid them. They were the rough characters in the small town on the fringe of society, so much so that their testimony was not even admissible in court.
They were Religious Outsiders. Because their work was considered ceremonially unclean, they were not allowed into the temple courts or to be an active part of temple worship. Religious leaders often considered them on the same level as prostitutes, so when it came to the religion of the day they were always on the outside looking in.
Here then, God is inviting a group of guys who have been on the outside looking in the entirety of their lives and putting them at the top of the invite list for the most important birthday of all time. This is a theme we will see continue throughout the story of Jesus’ life. Not only does he consistently seek out those on the outside or fringe, He invites them to be at the center of His mission. As an adult, Jesus chose an inner circle comprised of uneducated fishermen, a former tax collector who has robbed and cheated his countrymen, women (who had few or no rights at the time), and even a former prostitute. Those who have been relegated to the outside are not only a focus of His rescue mission—they become the leaders of God’s rescue mission for humanity.
Even after the resurrection, the song, the mission continues, the invitation to all outcasts still stands. In Acts chapter 8 we read a very powerful conversion story. Phillip who is evangelizing in Samaria and being very successful is called by The Lord to leave and head to an area where no one lived. On the way to nowhere he ran into an eunuch who was reading from the Prophet Isaiah.
At normal glance this too would seem like just another cool conversion but this man was not only a foreigner, he was also a eunuch. A eunuch was someone who had been castrated. This man was in the service of the Queen and this was something that had to be done in order to work with royalty. This help to ensure protection and eliminate trouble in the palace. Often eunuchs picked up feminine traits and acted a little odd because of very low testosterone. These guys freaked regular people out and according to Deuteronomy 26 were not even allowed in the assembly of believers. God however sent Phillip to a man the bible banned, this outcast would become one of the greatest evangelists Ethiopia would ever know. Notice that when he wanted to be baptized Phillip didn't pray for a creative miracle if you know what I mean. Without rules or stipulations Phillip obeyed and although not embraced by religion He was added to the Kingdom and was a catalyst of Kingdom expansion.
From birth, in life and even after death Jesus breaks the boundaries of religion and His love goes after the outcast. This season (one of the greatest time to missional I might add) lets listen to the song of the season, the heart of heaven and go after and love the outcast and maybe even have our boundaries pushed a little.
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