The angels declared the birth of the Savior, and they came first to shepherds – showing that God’s good news is for everyone, especially for nobodies.
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Today we’re answering this question: Q. Does God Care about Nobodies?
- But I want to start with a different question…
- When you’ve got great news, who’s the first person you tell?
- Our parents
- Our siblings
- Our closest friends
- Back then it was pretty simple, low-key
- Today it’s a whole thing…
- Make fun of gender reveal
- Today we’re going to see how God answered that question
- Who was the first person he told about the birth of Jesus?
- You’d expect priests or prophets or kings
- But that’s not at all who he shared with first
- He went to a bunch of nobodies!?
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NLT) 26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
- This is a shocking theme throughout scripture.
- Abraham - a childless, a nomadic herdsman from a pagan family
- Moses - a fugitive, living as a shepherd in the wilderness after killing an Egyptian
- David - the youngest of eight brothers and a shepherd boy, overlooked even by his father
- And now we’ll see the theme again in the Christmas story…
Luke 2:8 (NLT) 8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.
- You know, shepherds are all over the place in the Bible. And so I think we maybe, when we read this, I think we might get the wrong idea about this. Because after all, Abraham was a shepherd. Psalm 23, the most famous Psalm in the Bible says, the Lord is my shepherd. Jesus is called the great shepherd. Pastors are called shepherds. And so I think when we think of the word shepherd, we think of a good thing, right? We think of a positive thing, but the reality is that shepherds were the lowliest people in society.
- In fact, even in Genesis chapter 46, this is Abraham saying, every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
- Here’s the truth about shepherds 2000 years ago:
Shepherds:
- Responsibilities:
- Tended sheep, guided them to food and water, and protected them from predators.
- Dealt with the grime, smells, and dangers of working with livestock.
- Worked tirelessly in mundane and often thankless tasks.
- Social Status:
- Considered lowly and marginalized in...
