Who Best?

Who best?

If you had an important message to share that was designed for all people, who would you share it with who might best represent all people?  Perhaps it could one of the following:

The political leaders;

The religious leaders;

The rich;

The powerful;

The social elites;

The influential.

 

But it seems to me that those listed above only represent certain segments of society.  In some ways those segments also represent the top echelons of the population.  Typically, access to such is severely limited.

In the realm of mathematics, there is a term called the “common denominator”.  It is defined as a feature shared by all members of a group.  In some non-mathematical settings, it is something that is the same for all the members of a group that might bring them together.

When we look at those top echelons of the population, they actually represent the “lowest common denominators”, that is, the level of the least or fewest shared features.  Such is likely not particularly helpful in receiving and communicating a message that was to be for all people.  Ah, the message:

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”  (Luke 2:10)

The “them” was a bunch of shepherds.  At that time, shepherds were on the low end of the socio-economic spectrum.  In addition, they typically spent most of their time with animals and not people.  Yet, these are the very ones to whom the message of the arrival of a Savior was first shared. 

Could it be that they represent all people?  It could be argued that they represented a common denominator for all people.  We do a share a lot in common with the shepherds.  We are poor (whether financially or spiritually).  We are marginalized (whether culturally or spiritually).  We are unnoticed (whether physically or spiritually).  

The shepherds were God’s choice to be the first to hear and verify the message that is for all people.  Perhaps God’s choice also reflected that He knew how they would respond and respond favorably they did:

“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” (Luke 2:16-20)