WORSHIP MATTERS

Dr. Jim Smith

Greetings in the Name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit!

I have been struck this Advent season with the account of the shepherds who were the first to receive the Gospel.  It is the Gospel they receive, for the angel said: “I am bringing good news . . . to you.”  The Greek word translated “I am bringing good news” {euaggelizomai}  is the verbal form of the Greek noun translated “Gospel.”  The verbal form, interestingly, is the root for our word “evangelize.”  Thus, the angel was “evangelizing” the shepherds!  What I have been struck with is not the fact of an angel as an evangelist {as amazing as that is} but with the movement of the Word within the shepherds.  In a nutshell, the shepherds are exemplar recipients of the Word.

Here is the movement:

1) The Word was made known (Luke 2:15) or revealed to the shepherds.  The Word was proclaimed to them.  It is true that this action was done by an angel, but the messenger is never the key: the message and the One who sent the message is.  The fact that an angel was the evangelist guarantees nothing.  Lot and his family heard the Word from angels, and most of his family did not receive it.  Plus, Lot, his wife and his daughters had to be physically dragged out of Sodom by the angels.

2) The shepherds heard, received, and acted upon the Word (Luke 2:15-16).  The Word is never to be heard only; the Word demands obedience and fulfillment (James 1:22).  The Word must be heard for it to be known, but it is never to be known only for knowledge sake.  The shepherds acted upon the Word.

3) They proclaimed the Word which they had received (Luke 2:17).  They could not keep the Gospel to themselves; they had to speak of what they had seen and heard.  This movement is always the movement of the Gospel: after it has been received and acted upon, it drives us to proclaim its Good News.  It also drives us to worship, for such Good News can only elicit praise (Luke 2:20) – as it did with the shepherds.

4) They returned to their task of shepherding (Luke 2:20).  I assume that they had been profoundly transformed through their encounter with Jesus; even so, they returned to their livelihood.  I assume that their “glorifying and praising God” included the “marvel” from the people they evangelized (Luke 2:18); even so, they returned to their task at hand.  I would suggest that this action portrays godly faithfulness: holy transformation in the midst of daily living.

May we be such as these shepherds!

To God alone be the glory,

Dr. Jim