Dirty, smelly, illiterate shepherds were the very first to hear about Jesus’ birth. Born in the outbuilding, a stable of a crowded inn, to an unmarried teenager far from home. Who but illiterate shepherds would actually believe such a tale?
And they did believe. They abandoned all their responsibilities to go and see for themselves if the tale was actually true. When they found it was, “They made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed.”
Our all-powerful God, creator of the universe, kept the whole event of God’s coming to earth very , very low key, except for the hosts of angels singing God’s praises on a hill in the dark of night to a bunch of the least – dirty, smelly, illiterate shepherds.
The wonder of it all!
God of Creation, you are full of unexpected news. You show us over and over again, how very important "the least of these" are to you. Open our hearts to "the least of these" in our own communities that we might sing your praises to them in the dark of night, and even in broad daylight. Amen. — SB