Driving up I-5 here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, one might be put in the mood of the Christmas story simply by seeing all the sheep grazing in fields on either side of the highway. I’ve no idea what the scope of the sheep industry is here, but there are plenty of fuzzy four-legged creatures, including some pretty cute little lambs.
Somebody must be taking care of all those Oregon sheep, but I seldom see anybody like our biblical image of shepherd out there with them. They graze in fenced fields and presumably are rounded up by guys in pickup trucks or perhaps on horseback. Sheep dogs may also play a part but, like I said, I’m pretty clueless about contemporary sheep herding in our state.
Be all that as it may–my ignorance and the radical differences between modern sheep care and the work of ancient shepherds–the animals and the land must remain much the same as what was found around Bethlehem in 4 B.C. Sheep still need to graze, and they still need protection and care so they don’t wander off, get injured or get attacked by predators.
Our psalm for this Sunday, Psalm 80:1-7, opens by addressing God as “Shepherd of Israel.” The picture of God, and especially Jesus the Son, as Shepherd is so familiar to us as Christians that it may be hard to glean much that is fresh from it. My aim in preaching on this text is simply to remind us that just as sheep remain in need of care, whatever form that takes in modern agriculture, we remain in need of our Lord’s shepherding.
Moreover, the tangible reality of today’s sheep, even seen through a speeding car window, helps us grasp the reality of the Christmas story and the actual presence of those who cared for sheep, shepherds, there at the manger. It might even help to imagine those ancient men as modern immigrant Basques or South Americans wearing jeans, smoking cigarettes and driving pickups. The scene around Mary and Joseph was as real as those figures are today.
Which is all to say, simply, that it was true and still is true that God is with us in Christ Jesus. The baby the shepherds were told to visit became the Man who died and rose again so that He could be with us yet as our own Great Shepherd. May we gladly, willingly shelter in His green pastures.
i had a friend in Myrtle Point who raised sheep. when it came time to sheer the sheep he and his sons really worked hard. he was a wrestler at OSU, and his work definitely kept him in shape.
i have been reading Rene Girard lately. a completely new thinker i never heard of, though he was apparently world famous when he died in ’15. Scapegoat, and a book of conversations Things Hidden Since the Beginning of the World are full of truly original bible studies. he is the first xtian (catholic) i have read that sees the cross and the kingdom the way my father did. is he a familiar person to you and Beth?