Dirty, Smelly, Forgotten

They were shepherds.  They were dirty and smelly and shunned by the rest of the world.  According the commentator William Barclay, they were despised by everyone else – especially the religious Jews – because they were unable to observe all the rules of the faith.  They could not possibly ceremonially wash their hands and keep clean enough to be accepted in services.  Uncleanliness was part of the job.  A job that must be done, though, because an unblemished lamb had to be sacrificed every morning and evening in the temple services (Exodus 29:38-41).  The sacrifice of the lambs each day served as a request for forgiveness for sins and an attempt to meet with God who promised he would speak to the Israelites if these sacrifices were made.  These shepherds did jobs almost no one wanted to do, but everyone wanted done.  They remind me of our sanitation workers or plumbers or even sometimes our military.  Thankless jobs.  Jobs that parents hope their kids don’t choose.  But jobs that we all want someone doing.  Just someone else.

 

But one night, they were God’s chosen.  The ones he picked to see a miracle.  One night, in Bethlehem, where they were watching their flocks, he called them to see a baby.  A baby that would be The Lamb.  The one, last sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world.  Mary had had a baby in a manger, and the God of the universe invited these men to celebrate with him.  He didn’t care that their hands weren’t washed or that they hadn’t followed all the rules that day.  He didn’t care that they were dirty and smelly and forgotten by everyone else.  Their God knew that, more than anyone, they would see the absolute beauty of the offering He was making.

 

William Barclay suggests that these were possibly the shepherds who provided the daily lambs for the Temple offerings considering Bethlehem’s close proximity to Jerusalem (about six miles).  I like that thought.  I like the idea that there are these men doing a job no one else would ever want to do. A job for which no one thanks them.  And then here comes God saying, “I see what you do.  I am so thankful for you and your work.  I don’t care that you are dirty.  Come see what I am sending.  I am giving a lamb, too.  Come look at mine.   Come see the Messiah first.” 

 

There is a verse in Colossians that says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as if working for the Lord.”  It is a beautiful verse, and one that I’ve often posted at work on my computer or desk, but it is a hard verse to live.  All jobs are thankless at times.  In North Carolina, right now, teaching is certainly on the list of thankless jobs.  And on a more personal level, there are plenty of days when I get email after email from parents complaining that their child has a low grade (think a mid B) and don’t I give extra credit or did I realize that they played football last night and could not have possibly had their progress report signed on time? The excuses from 14 year olds are interesting, but the excuses from their 45 year old parents are laughable.  There are plenty of days when I feel like my efforts to teach responsibility and time management go entirely unnoticed.  When my heart for these kids and the adults they will one day become isn’t seen, and the only important thing in the world in the eyes of everyone else is that there is an A on the paper.  In times like that, it is hard to remember for whom I am working. 

 

However, I read Luke 2, and I see these shepherds and the way God met with them at work.  The way he saw them.  And I am encouraged.  Yes, there are plenty of thankless jobs or thankless days.  There are plenty of days when the boss doesn’t see the time put into a project or the teacher doesn’t see the effort it took to write a paper or the customer complaints keep pouring in about every ridiculous issue imaginable.  There are those days for all of us.  But even on those days, God sees us.  He is watching.  He is looking to see if we will serve him faithfully on days like those, especially.  And if we are, we might one day be rewarded with a miracle.  That kid who FINALLY passes English I after months of private conversations and pep talks in the hall that were peppered by profanity on his part.  That thorn-in-my-side child from last year I overhear tell a coworker, “She was my favorite teacher.”  That ornery patient who pulls through.  That boss who finally says “thank you.”  Or the look on a customer’s face who is at last satisfied and pleased. Those moments may seem like coincidences, but really, they are the grace of God.  They are the face of the Lord shining on dirty, smelly, forgotten workers telling us that he has not forgotten, that he sees our hearts, and that he knows we are working for him.