Be Like a Shepherd

“The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God.” Luke 2:20a (NRSV)

Following their encounter with the angel and going to Bethlehem to see for themselves the newborn Savior, Messiah, and Lord, they returned to their fields. They went back to work watching over the sheep. Yet, they were changed.

When you have an experience with the Living Lord, your life will never be the same. The shepherds adopted a new lifestyle of praise. That night altered their attitudes. Being shepherds outside of Bethlehem, they were most likely faithful Jews, who did their best to follow the regulations of the Law and worship in their synagogue and periodically in the Temple in nearby Jerusalem. After meeting Jesus, they were different. They were still shepherds watching sheep outside Bethlehem, they still occupied a relatively low spot on the socioeconomic scheme, but now their lives were marked with praise. They continually gave glory to God.

Do you think of your life as giving glory to God? Do you think that what you do in worship gives glory to God? If someone said to you “Give glory to God,” what would you do?

I think the shepherds did two things to glorify God. First, they told their story. They shared with other people in Bethlehem and on their way back out to the fields, and later with their families, what they had seen and heard: that Jesus the Messiah was born and God was ushering in his new age of renewal and redemption. The second way they glorified God was by praising God, giving God thanks for his goodness, for his redemption, for his love. The first they did as part of their everyday lives and interactions with others, the second came in the context of communal and continual worship. An encounter with Jesus changes your perspective. It helps you see the world as it truly is: the place that God created for us to enjoy a relationship with him. Everything that is exists to glorify God.

This Christmas, as we move through the message series CSI: Bethlehem (Christmas Scene Investigation), let’s have our eyes opened by God’s grace to change us and change the way we give glory to God.