I enjoyed preaching this sermon. The Isaiah passage is a wonderful passage with its historical complexities. I had fun exploring whether the shepherds knew they were waiting. This has been a fun preaching series for Advent, at least for me (can't speak for the listeners!).
“Advent Journeys: In the Fields” SAPC, Denton; December 19, 2021; Advent series 2021; Luke 2: 8; Isaiah
Luke 2: 8
8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Introduction: We continue our Advent journey to Bethlehem with a final week of reflection before we arrive at Bethlehem.
this morning, we stop in the fields with the shepherds as we wait for Christmas, or maybe Christmas Eve when we announce again to the world the good news of the birth of Christ.
A few thoughts on shepherds and waiting this morning.
Move 1: Did the shepherds know they were waiting?
a. Lots of people in the story know about waiting.
1. Zechariah and Elizabeth know they are waiting for something special - Gabriel had told Zechariah.
2. Mary and Joseph also get visits in the night telling them what to expect, so join with Elizabeth and Zechariah in waiting, the growing womb a countdown for Mary and Elizabeth.
3. The wise men were waiting to find something as they followed the star.
5. But what about the shepherds.
4. I am reminded of a story Marj Carpenter told about a Sunday school class in West Texas cattle country.
a teacher was telling the Christmas story, pointing out that in one gospel there were wise men and in another gospel there were shepherds. Someone asked, “could the wise men and the shepherds be the same people?” The son of a cattleman spoke up, “ain’t no way a shepherd could be a wise man.” Marj Carpenter, Presbyterian Outlook, Jan 26/Feb. 2, 2009 (10)
5. Were the shepherds in the fields wondering, “Is this the night the angels will sing from the heavens about the coming of the Messiah?”
Or, were they just in the fields like usual?
6. Shepherds play a significant part in the story of Christ’s birth, but do they even know they are waiting, anticipating the role they will play?
b. Waiting.
1. We talk a lot about waiting during Advent.
2. The oldest roots of the word wait mean “to watch with hostile intent, to be on guard, to defend.” Over time, the word came to mean “to be awake, to sit in expectation.”
3. Waiting has grown in meaning from fear to anticipation.( https://donteatalone.com/america/it-cant-always-be-christmas; “it can’t always be christmas”
Milton Brasher-Cunningham, November 28, 2021)
4. Perhaps that’s why “Do not fear” s heard so often in the Christmas story - waiting has an element of fear in it.
c. do you feel like you are waiting?
1. One of the challenges of Advent is to capture that sense of waiting.
2. Maybe waiting for relatives to arrive for the holidays.
3. Maybe waiting for that Christmas card from a friend to confirm they have made it to another Christmas.
4. maybe waiting for all the covid stuff to end?
4. Maybe waiting for something to change in your life.
3. But, are you waiting for God to arrive?
move 2: We may not know whether the shepherds knew they were waiting, but we know where they were - in the fields.
a. . Everyone else in the world is headed off to be counted at the census, but not the shepherds, who are in the fields doing their jobs. (Michael Bennett, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol. 1, 118).
1. Frederick Buechner describes some of the shepherds like this: “The squint-eyed one who always complained of sore feet. The little sawed-off one who could outswear a Roman. The young one who blushed like a girl.” (https://www.frederickbuechner.com/blog/2020/12/18/weekly-sermon-illustration-the-shepherd?rq=shepherds)
2. Run of the mill shepherds on their normal routine for the night.
3. some of the shepherds were undoubtedly sleeping; some were probably awake guarding the perimeter of the sheep.
4. The news of God’s arrival in the Christ-child will be first heard by the shepherds in the fields, spending the night like they usually do.
c. The God who comes to the shepherds in the fields is the God who comes into our daily lives.
1. Not a God looking for a royal palace.
Not a God looking for the seats of political power.
2. But a God coming into our midst, joining us in the fields, in our homes, in our workplaces, in our joys, in our challenges, in our dreams, in our suffering.
3. God chooses to connect with the shepherds in the fields;
4. God chooses to connect with you in your very real life.
5 . you may not even know what you are waiting for, but God comes to be with you anyway.
Move 3: so we hear the call to live expectantly, looking for God’s presence in our midst.
a. the Isaiah passage we read this morning tells us about King Ahaz and his refusal even to look for God to be at work in his midst.
1. It’s a complicated historical context.
2. The story takes place against the larger backdrop of 8th century BCE international politics.
3. As a reminder, the kingdoms of Judah and Israel are two segments of a formerly unified kingdom which, was divided shortly after Solomon’s death (1 Kings 12).
An alliance is formed between Israel (the northern kingdom) and Aram (a non-Israelite kingdom) to attack Judah, whose capital is Jerusalem. They do this, because Judah apparently refused to participate in a coalition against the northern Mesopotamian power of Assyria, which wanted control over the region (2 Kings 16; 2 Chronicles 28).
4. King Ahaz and Judah find themselves on the dangerous end of two enemy spears.
5. Through Isaiah, God offers a sign to King Ahaz.
“Anything sign you want,” God says, “as deep as Sheol, as high as the heavens.” you name the sign, and I will give it to you.
A sign that I will save you.
6. Ahaz refuses a sign and instead turns to the Assyrian king for help.
6. In frustration, Isaiah tells Ahaz that, despite his refusal to ask for a sign, God is going to give him one anyway.
The “young woman” shall bear a son, “Immanuel” (“God is with us”) (verse 14).
flipside, however, is that God will bring against Ahaz and Judah the violent power of “the king of Assyria” (see Isaiah 8:5-8 for a continuation of this threat).
( Michael J. Chan, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., https://www.workingpreacher.org/authors/michael-j-chan)
b. Ahaz would not ask for a sign from God.
1. Perhaps he trusted worldly powers more than God.
2. Maybe it was inconceivable to him that God would send a sign.
Inconceivable that God would care enough to save Judah.
3. But it was not inconceivable to God.
b. that is the story the shepherds will tell.
1. their story is about a God who shows up in their lives.
2. A story of the God who changes their lives.
3. The story of the God whose love is so great ti cannot stop God from showing up to save them.
conclusion: the God who comes to us in the fields is on the way with hope and promise.
Are you ready?
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