Jesus didn’t announce His coming the way I would have. Definitely not the way most mega-churches would have. They’d have had a multimedia blitz of advertisements months in advance. They would have launched Jesus as the next Christian superstar.

Instead, Jesus chose to arrive via an unwed teenage mother in a barn, announced by lowly shepherds. While it is true that Mary conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit, she wasn’t married to Joseph yet.

I love how a pastor put it: Jesus didn’t come as a Mighty Warrior so we’d step back in awe or as a King that we’d bow down in fear but as a Baby so that we might draw near.

But those shepherds? Who were they? Probably not the romanticized idea we have of them today. They were among the lowest of the low. They probably smelled like sheep, which isn’t a pleasant odor. They weren’t allowed in the temple despite the fact that they raised the sheep used in temple sacrifices. They were nobodies.

I love how the angels announced the good news to them first, of how this Jesus would be FOR all the people. For you. For me.

For all those who’ve ever felt unwanted and ignored in a crowd.

For all those who feel forgotten by friends and family and feel more alone than ever.
For those who can’t ever seem to get their act together or figure out their future.

For those who live daily with the shameful reminders of past failures and consequences of poor decisions.

For those who will never be popular or successful by the standards we normally define popularity and success.

For those who take care of smelly dumb sheep for a living.

For those whose good intentions and promises always end up as broken as they are.

For us. For all of us.