A Savior has Been Born

A Savior has Been Born

Often we read the story of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:8-15 and we read it so serenely, that “there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks.”  We imagine a beautiful, pastoral picture of those who first heard that Jesus had been born.  However, if I were going to give a modern translation of Luke 2:8, it would be, “there were shepherds, those on the bottom of the economic ladder, those who were looked down upon by people because they worked in an unclean occupation, those than when they walked down the sidewalk people crossed over to the other side of the road, living out in the fields nearby, those in the ghettos, the federally assisted apartments,  in run down trailers in the country with no running water, keeping watch over their flock, employed in an occupation frowned upon as unclean, the prostitutes, the drug sellers, at night, they couldn’t even get a day job.  This is a comparison to what people thought of shepherds at the time of Jesus’ birth in the region around Bethlehem.

It is to these shepherds that the angel of the Lord first appears, announcing to them that the Savior has been born.  They are the first to hear.  I believe the reason why they are the first to hear is because they, more than anyone else, have so much to gain at the news.  Even for them, in the city of the king David, a Savior has been born.  Maybe more than anyone else, they are longing to hear of such news, after all, what have they go to lose.

My first two years out of seminary, I worked as a chaplain at a mission for the homeless.  I can remember on Wednesday nights those who came to the worship service.  There were single mothers with children with dirty faces and empty stomachs who came for a filling, warm meal.  There were homeless men with dirty clothing with breath that smelled of strong alcohol.  They would slump over in their pews from drinking too much, but they also came to the chapel service.  That night they would have a warm bed to sleep in, away from the cold night air.  There were those who came who would sit wringing their hands, talking to themselves due to mental disorders.  They could not afford medicine or counseling that could help their conditions.  They were there, too.  Sometimes in the chapel service were people newly released from jail on probation, trying their best to make a new start in life, turning over a new leaf in life.  But it wasn’t easy they would say.  As I would open my Bible, there was in them a longing to hear some bit of good news, any good news that would minister to their souls and their bodies.  They were longing for some promise.  They, too, were waiting to hear that for them a Savior has been born.