What are we coming to church for? To many I fear are coming to receive and to take home, to few come to give. I certainly don't mean a tithe or offering, but worship. I would rather be a lowly shepherd coming to worship with my small flock of sheep any day than to be a wise man knowing how the markets operate, or knowing when to buy/ sell/ trade on Wall street. Remember those that come to worship always get their first. Wise men came to see the young child (Matthew 2:9 "When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was." ), that was in a house not in a manger as verse 11 of the same text says ("And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh" ). It was around one to two years later, after the birth. Shepherds came to see the Jesus the same day he was born (Luke 2:11 "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord") and they went and got there to see him on the same day, "And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger"Luke 2:16. I hate to be the one to bust your bubble but the shepherds and wise men were not there on the same day or at the same time.
Shepherds are lowly, no one in the eyes of society, the poorest of the poor....disrespected, unappreciated, yet that is exactly who God chose to come see and worship the Savior first. Wise men brought gifts, shepherds shouts and praise, which will you bring?
