Pigs and Shepherds

12/17/25 Chris Jones-YBL Small Director

Once upon a time a friend took me to see a delightful little Irish movie called Waking Ned Devine. In it, you are introduced to a charming little town where you meet the beautiful Maggie and her would-be suitor, Finn. I say would-be because Maggie shuts Finn down every time he comes near. You see, Finn is a pig farmer, and pig farmers smell like pigs.  As in, it-doesn’t-matter-how-much-you-bathe-people-cross-the-street-to-avoid-you-because-your-stench-makes-them-vomit.

Shepherds in the Ancient Near East were a lot like pig farmers in 90s Ireland.  They were avoided if people thought of them at all. That’s what makes Luke 2:8-9 so amazing: “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them.”

The God of the universe comes to earth to fully and finally defeat sin and the first people to hear about it are…shepherds? These are the people that get the Angelic Singing Telegram?

Why on earth would God send His personal messenger to a raggedy bunch of shepherds? Because God cares about shepherds. He came to save shepherds.

Is your life less than you thought it would be? Do you find yourself thinking God must have better things to do than be concerned with you? Stop. God cares about you. Wherever you are. When you read these verses, you are reading an invitation to follow a King who weeps over pig farmers, CEOs, shepherds, you, and me. I pray you will take Him up on His invitation this Advent season.