Christmas and Work: Work and Our Identity

When we read about the shepherds in Luke 2, it would be tempting to project onto the story our own experience of Nativity scene shepherds. They are usually clean, quaint, and inspirational. In reality, though, shepherding was hard, gritty work. Shepherds spent their time outside, hanging around animals that were not, in fact, odorless. They had limited access to bathing or other comforts. Shepherds were not well paid. Nor were they highly regarded. In some contexts, shepherds were actually despised and distrusted, though this may not have been true in first-century Jewish culture. In general, though, shepherds found themselves among the lower class, without benefit of honor, privilege, or ease.

Yet, God sent his angels to some shepherds to announce the birth of his Son, the Messiah. God did not send angels to the religious authorities, to the rulers of Judea, to the wealthy, or to those who were highly respected in society. No, God sent his angels to mere shepherds, who became the first human beings, outside of the holy family, to know about the birth of Jesus.

God chose to reveal such stunning good news to people who were relative “nobodies.” Their work, however necessary it may have been, did not earn money, fame, or honor. Yet this didn’t keep God from granting to the shepherds one of the greatest honors of all time. God didn’t choose his audience in terms of their strategic benefit or cultural worthiness. Rather, God chose those whom he knew would respond to the good news of the Savior’s birth. And he chose those who would continually remind us of his values.

For many of us, our identity is tied up in our work. We can easily define ourselves so exclusively in terms of our work that we lose sight of how God values people. The Christmas story, with shepherds playing such a central role, underscores the fact that God values those who respond to him with faith and obedience. God is looking, not for those who are great in achievement, but those who are great in openness to him.