Are You Lonesome Tonight?
As we move into short days and long nights, it becomes easier to feel discouraged. If we are increasingly secluded (by weather and, this year, by governmental edict), we can experience genuine loneliness. I enjoy being alone, but I have a choice in the matter; others do not. Solitude occurs when we want to be alone; loneliness happens when friends and family are taken from us. Solitude soothes, whereas loneliness looms. Because God knows all about us, His Word speaks to us about the painful subject of loneliness. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
High on the list of the loneliest of people at the first Christmas were the shepherds of Luke 2:8-20. The very nature of the profession entailed many hours alone. We tend to romanticize the shepherd’s life, but it was (and still is) challenging; protecting sheep from predators, dangerous places such as outcroppings, deadly diseases, poisonous plants, and pernicious parasites, all in all kinds of weather. Imagine a flock of toddlers, and you have a glimpse at the vocational life of an average shepherd. In Israel, a shepherd’s life was also culturally curtailed. Because shepherds were considered to be ceremonially unclean, they could not worship with other Israelites. For the shepherds around Bethlehem, though, their loneliness was lifted in a moment. An aggregation of angels joined them in their lonely pastures, giving them the good news of the birth of their Messiah. Bethlehem was crowded with people; some of them were well-known and wealthy. Yet, while these folks slept, God reached out to what was considered by the elites to be the lowest class of people. Yes, the shepherds went back to their solitary lives, but they returned with the certain knowledge that God knew them, cared about them, and had spoken to them about the birth of the Savior and even had shown Him to them. Later, this Messiah would call Himself the “Good Shepherd” (John 10:11, 14), gathering all of His sheep and giving His life for them. The Bethlehem shepherds were among the first to grasp this glorious Gospel.