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My name is Baruch, which means
‘praise’ in the Hebrew. I’m here tonight to tell you about a night of
praise, the birth of our Savior; The birth of the King; The birth of the
Messiah. Have you ever been out late at night, on one of those nights
that you couldn’t help but be afraid? This was such a night. The sheep
were restless; the dogs were howling and yet it seemed strange, because
it wasn’t a stormy night. It was a beautiful night. The stars gleamed
like so many diamonds in the black vault of heaven. They shown so
beautiful, we were all amazed. And believe me we had spent many nights
out at night. The more we lingered and looked the more we grew afraid.
Then suddenly, from the east, there arose a star. It looked like the
stars had mingled together and formed one. We were even more afraid.
Was this a sign of doom, or was it a sign of hope? We could not be
sure. And then again, suddenly, there was a great light blinding all
the other lights out and a noise like we had never heard before. You
can imagine being out at night in a place perfectly silent, perfectly
dark and, suddenly, there’s light and, suddenly, there’s noise like
solders surrounding a city with a shout when the gate comes down. We
dove for the ground and covered our heads. We couldn’t look; and out of
the noise we heard an even bigger noise, a voice, which said, “Fear
not!” Fear not? Fear not? Light when it was dark. Noon when it was
midnight. Fear not? And then the voice said “Fear not. I bring you
good news of great joy, for all the nations.” His voice somehow calmed
me and I looked up just enough, and believe me I wanted to hide again.
A huge man, but not a man, stood before me, brighter than the sun. As
if he knew what I was thinking, he said, “Fear not, for I do bring you
good news of great joy. Today, in the town of David, is born a Savior.
He is the Savior. He is the King. He is the
Messiah.” And then the voices rose and this time I could hear that they
were singing, thousands upon thousands it seemed, “Glory to God! Glory
to God! Glory to God in the Highest! And peace to whom God is
pleased.” And just like that, he was gone, and it was dark again. It
took a while before we had the courage to get up, but we did. My
brother came to me and said, “Baruch, Baruch, is it true, the Messiah,
Bethlehem? What does he mean?” And I said, “All the old stories tell
us that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, the city of David,
because he will be a descendent of David and he will be a king.” “But
Baruch, you don’t believe those stories, do you?” I was cut to the
heart by my brother’s words because I, Baruch, had become hardened; I
had become cynical. I did not believe the stories. When I looked out
at religion of our times it seemed an empty thing, and as a shepherd we
were not even allowed into that. As a shepherd we were shunned. We
were not even allowed into the synagogue because we were considered
dirty and unclean because we lived with sheep. They thought of us as
thieves because we took our sheep across property lines and things
disappeared. Some even accused us of running the local black market.
And some of this was true. I, Baruch, was a working man and I felt like
I deserved whatever I found on someone’s property. They were rich; they
had property; they didn’t need it; and so what if I earned a few extra
shekels on the side, dealing with goods that may or may not have been
stolen. More than that my heart was hard; I was bitter, and I was lost,
and I knew it. I found myself wondering if the stories were true. I
found myself wondering if what we had just experienced was true. Were
we dreaming? I looked at my brothers around me and knew that we weren’t
dreaming. They had the same sheep and the bright lights look that I
had. Benjamin said, “Why don’t we go find out if what the angel said is
true?” And so we did.
As we walked towards Bethlehem I
found myself wondering why, why did the angel come to us, shepherds? Of
all the people to come to, shepherds; and of all the people to come to,
us. Me. Why shepherds? Perhaps it was because our father Abraham was
a shepherd. He was from Haran, near the Euphrates, and God appeared to
him and told him to leave everything and come to the same land we were
in. And because of his faith God promised he and Sarai, even though
they were old, that they would have a child; and that child, that
through that child, all nations would be blessed. And if indeed what
the angel said is true, this Messiah would be the fulfillment of that
promise, for the promise was for all people. Perhaps he came to
shepherds because David was a shepherd. David had a promise as well.
That one of his descendents would be on the throne forever and if this
Messiah was true, David’s descendents would fulfill that promise. We
walked along and soon we came to Bethlehem and we went around asking
“Have you seen a child? Do you know where a newborn baby is?” No one
could say they had. Finally we went to the inn and the innkeeper took
us, smiling a bit, back a little ways to a cave where he kept his
animals; and there was this child, the very Messiah of God laying in a
manger, a feeding trough for animals and a young woman, a child really,
and a young boy sitting beside her, her husband. I sat and looked at
that child and I wondered at the purpose of God that He would not only
come to shepherds but the Messiah would be born here, of all places.
The more I stood before that child, the more my heart melted. I
realized why indeed God had come to shepherds. Because it is just like
God, to come to the outcast, to come to those who are rejected and, most
of all, to come to those who need Him; and I needed Him. I found my
heart breaking and melting and before I knew it I was on my knees before
this child, asking God to forgive me of my hard-hearted attitude and my
doubt; asking the Lord to help me in my faith; promising love and
allegiance to this, His King. The reason the Lord sent His angels to
shepherds is because the Lord is a shepherd. I found myself reciting
the shepherds’ anthem, David’s psalm; but this time it was different,
because it was more than just words. It was me believing them for the
first time.
The Lord is my shepherd, I
shall not want. He is making me to lie down in green pastures, he is
leading me beside quiet waters; he has restored my soul. He will
lead me in paths of righteousness from now on for His name’s sake. And
even if I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil
for I know that He will be with me; His rod and His staff, they will
comfort me. He will prepare a place for me in the presence of my
enemies. He will lift me up and from now on I know that wherever I go, I
will dwell in His house forever.
Those words became real to me
because I knew that He was my Shepherd.
The question I want to ask for you
tonight, is the Lord your Shepherd? If He isn’t, I’d like the Lord to
come to us, wherever we are; wherever you are tonight. Whether you are
in a dark place or in a light place, whether you are high or low, He
comes and says “I am your shepherd. Come and kneel before the Child,
the Messiah, Jesus, the Savior. He will renew your heart and your mind
and your soul and you will dwell with Him forever.”
And now may the Lord keep you and
bless you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and give you
His peace. Amen.
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