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Wednesday, December 22, 2004
I've always been drawn to the underdogs in life.
I loved Rocky Balboa in the movie "Rocky" as he overcame huge odds to beat Apollo Creed.
I always pick the team that isn't supposed to win to pull for if I'm watching a game that doesn't involve my favorite team.
I preferred the Hopi tribe, the small tribe surrounded by the huge Navajo nation, and their cramped, but loving "family."
I really enjoy it when an independent film makes a lot more money than a Hollywood Blockbuster.
I like "mom & pop" stores over huge retail chains.
I like Elisha and his quiet ministry over Elijah and his public one.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
I'm not sure why this is, exactly. But I can't help it. I like the downtrodden and outcasts when they have their moment in the sun. I'm drawn to the downtrodden and outcasts anyway.
And that's why I think I'm especially drawn to the shepherds in Luke 2...especially after I did some homework on them.
See, generally, shepherds in the first century were young. Teenagers most likely. Teenagers with their first job. They sat out on a hillside, away from the family house for days and weeks at a time, tending to the family sheep. Can you imagine? A bunch of teenage guys hanging out on a hillside pretty much unsupervised? Unsupervised, and responsible for the well-being of the sheep. This would include killing attacking animals, like wolves or an occasional bear. Maybe snakes. They were young and rough-hewn.
Because they were in constant contact with sheep and other animals, they were, in Jewish eyes, virtually in a continual state of being "unclean" to go into the Temple.
They were generally in "bands." You know, they would hang out together...and you know how society views teenagers who hang out in groups. The eyebrows of society were continually raised at them. They were often viewed as theives due to their propensity to do whatever it took to keep the sheep fed, watered or protected.
Ragamuffins. Bohemians. Ruffians. Thugs. Hoods. Punks. Pick your name. It applies. They were a despised class of humans.
And this rag-tag bunch will be the first people to get the Good News. The best of all possible news.
And isn't it cool how so many people in the early parts of the Christmas story in Luke 1 & 2 are people society would raise their eyebrows at?
A barren old woman...scorned by society due to her lack of children.
An old priest who got his day in the sun late in life, and even then had to learn a lesson.
A poor, teenage peasant girl.
A carpenter from the wrong side of the tracks, who was probably viewed as an underachiever since he came from the priviliged line of David.
And now, a bunch of thugs become key players.
And I love it when the humble Peanuts character Linus quotes Luke 2: 8--20 when Charlie Brown, another outcast, screams "Can't anyone tell me the true meaning of Christmas?"
And it's the shepherds playing the key role.
Shepherds, being normal. Being real. Simply staying out in their fields on a cold winter night in late 5 or early
Brent 4:00 AM
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