Be Still And Know

Luke 2:8-9 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. Of all the many surprises in the Christmas story, this is one of the greatest. We have long since got used to the fact that the birth of Jesus was announced to shepherds, but they were surely the last people you would have expected to hear about it. Their work forced them to live away from their communities and so they were always last to hear the news. But more than that, shepherds were smelly and ritually unclean because of their work. Yet God gave them the front seats in the Christmas story! If we had been given the responsibility of compiling an appropriate guest list to welcome the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, I would guess that shepherds might not have made an appearance. We might have thought about the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. If Jesus was their Messiah, surely it would be crucia