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And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, \u201cDo not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.\u201d (Luke 2:8-12)

There is another take on the housing crisis in Bethlehem than just the standard \u201cno room in the inn\u201d line. \xa0Actually there are a few, but one of them involves the hospitality of shepherds and is drawn from these verses. \xa0So I\u2019ll tell you that one. \xa0It goes like this\u2026

The reason there was no room for Joseph and Mary had nothing to do with how many rooms were actually available: it was solely about the social scandal that was Mary\u2019s pregnancy. \xa0What self-respecting Jewish family would take in this man with the knocked-up girlfriend? \xa0As Mary began to show it became unavoidably clear: Joseph and Mary were actively living in sin. \xa0And sexual sin at that: the worst kind. \xa0They were obviously unrighteous\u2014unfit for inclusion in the people of God. \xa0So they were excommunicated, shunned. \xa0There would be no guest room available for the likes of them in Bethlehem.

But there are always others shunned from society. \xa0Like the poor. \xa0The homeless and the nomads. \xa0The addicts and the mentally ill. \xa0The immigrants. \xa0The ones who can\u2019t keep it all together. \xa0The ones who are dirty and unclean, like shepherds. \xa0

This is where Joseph and Mary would find refuge: in the hospitality of their fellow outcasts. \xa0

Verse eight gives the reason. \xa0You see, shepherds don\u2019t put their flocks out by night. \xa0That\u2019s when the wolfs and the lions are out. \xa0Predators can pick off weak and defenceless sheep in the dark like berries off a bush. \xa0How are you going to aim your sling if you can\u2019t see the danger? \xa0You might as well give your flock away. \xa0

But what if the shepherds had given up the cave where their sheep were penned this night because they still had the dignity to offer a costly hospitality to a young couple in need? \xa0The towns folk of Bethlehem weren\u2019t willing to risk their reputation on these outcasts, but the reputation-less shepherds risked much more: their very livelihood. \xa0These humble outsiders were willing to humble themselves for the sake of a neighbour in need, and for that reason God exalted them to the highest place on the visit list to see his new baby boy. \xa0Sounds a bit like the reversals of Mary\u2019s song, doesn\u2019t it? \xa0

Out came the angels trumpeting the good news! \xa0And the glory of the Lord lit up the dark fields to reveal flocks still bedded down peacefully that night. \xa0The shepherds knew just where to find this baby wrapped in cloths: he\u2019d be lying in their very own manger. \xa0They who had saved Joseph and Mary from their outcast predicament would be the first to hear the good news of a Saviour come to redeem all the unrighteous outcasts like them. \xa0Great joy indeed. \xa0

Now is that actually how it happened? \xa0Truth is, we don\u2019t really know: Luke doesn\u2019t really flesh it out that clearly. \xa0But it\u2019s worth pondering, I think. \xa0And it brings to mind this verse from the book of Hebrews: \u201cDo not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it\u201d (13:2). \xa0Some perhaps, in showing hospitality to sinners and outcasts, have even shown hospitality to God. \xa0

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