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Wayside_Wisdom Heard Along the Way
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SHEPHERDS, ARISE ... Once again the season for celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ has come and gone. And once again this year we have silently tolerated a great injustice that has been perpetuated down through the ages! As you pack up your nativity scene in preparation for another year’s storage, look at it carefully. How many Kings are represented in that scene in Bethlehem’s stable? How many shepherds are there to worship the baby God-with-us? Usually one to three Magi are present. But rarely are there more than one or two shepherds, and perhaps a sheep or lamb. For two centuries, shepherds in Nativity scenes have gotten cheated out of their due space by the three Kings! We don’t even know for sure that there were three Kings! In the Bible story about them (Matthew 2:1- 12) Matthew only says that they brought three gifts. But there could have been five Magi, or only two. We don’t know for sure that there were "three Kings from Orient." And they most certainly did not worship the Baby Jesus in the Bethlehem stable! Matthew’s story says they presented their gifts to the child in "the house" where he was. And it may have been several years after Jesus was born. Herod, in his rage at being tricked by the Magi, ordered the killing of all male children "two years old." So what are the Kings – let alone three of them! – doing in the stable of the Nativity scene anyway? The shepherds, on the other hand, belong there, front and center. Their story, told by Luke (chapter 2:1-20), makes it clear that they were there. And their conversation after the angels’ visit wasn’t a monologue! There were definitely more than just one shepherd who "went to Bethlehem to see this thing that has happened." So, shepherds, arise, protest this injustice, and claim your King! You deserve more representation in Nativity scenes! Wealth and royalty has always had its privileges. But, in our age of political correctness and equal representation, this injustice to the shepherds – common working persons – ought no longer be tolerated! The Magi – the rich and famous – have no right to buy their space at Bethlehem’s manger with their rich gifts and exotic appeal! But more than economic injustice is hiding in your Nativity scene! There is blasphemy in the image of the infant God surrounded by the wealthy to the exclusion of the common and poor! This Shepherd of Souls came without wealth or privilege, the son of poor parents, to save the poor – and the rich. So, shepherds, arise; claim your space and your King! (And crowd out a Wise Man along the way!) 12/26/05 – mshr |