Reflections on Advent Part 13

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. 

For unto you is born this day in the city of David 

a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  Luke 2:10-11

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and 
praising God for all they had heard and seen, 
as it had been told them.  Luke 2:20

I sometimes get a sense of weariness because of the circumstances and environment in which I reside.  I sometimes wonder how the shepherds were feeling before the angel appeared to them that lonely night.  Were they far enough away from the political upheavals of Jerusalem to be insulated from choke-hold decisions made by the government ruling over them?  Or were they caught in the bad news of the day on their way to deliver lambs to the temple?  Certainly they were aware of the oppression all around them, perhaps even caught in it.  Were they wondering if, perhaps, their jobs were pointless?  Were their lives pointless?

I have a suspicion that all too many of us choose to live as though ours are pointless lives.  The things we choose to engage with don't have any lasting impact on either our lives or the lives of those around us.  As a teenager I sang in a rather large youth group from Bethany Evangelical Free Church in La Crosse, WI called the Enthusiastics.  We sang more songs than I can remember.  There is a line in one of the songs we sang (I found out from a fellow conspirator that it was "Only One Life" by Merrill Dunlop), "...only what's done for Christ will last."  I won't ever forget that line, I believe.  Here's why.  It's not what others do for me which bring me great happiness and joy but rather the life that I give away for Christ.  

But in order to give anything away, I need to have something to give in the first place.  The angel has a message of substance, a weighty Substance that outweighs all other substance. The angel's message gives us a hope of place and purpose.  It brings meaning to an otherwise drab and dull existence.    The message to the shepherds that dark evening was that hope had come... a hope found in a Person!

The Jewish world with its proselytes had been waiting for this news!  Perhaps that's why the shepherds took off after this Savior with such haste and zeal.  What happened after they saw the Child?  Did they give up their profession for full time evangelistic ministry?  No.  They returned to their given profession, but with new heart passion, "glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them."  (Luke 2:20)   As they brought the Christ-child with them in their hearts, their occupation became a place of worship.

Where has God called you to be?  What do you do with your time?  Where do you spend your waking hours?  The answers themselves are of little consequence.  What brings meaning to the answers to these questions is how they reflect Jesus in our lives, how they worship the Christ-child, now King.  I don't know that I've seriously thought of a "secular" job as a place of worship.  Yet Paul, in his letter to the believers at Corinth says "Whatever (emphasis mine) you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men."  (1 Corinthians 3:23)  He follows that with "You are serving the Lord Christ." (1 Corinthians 3:24b)  And here's the kicker...just like the shepherds who returned to their fields with great joy yielding great worship, we can do the same.  An encounter with Jesus brings great joy, but if that joy is kept to ourselves it soon withers.  Worship brings it out into the open, ready for others to share.  This Christmas if you have found the joy that belongs only in Jesus, give it away.  Take the passion of it with you wherever you go and whatever you do.  Let it live in your heart year round.  May we respond as Ebenezer Scrooge, Charles Dickens "beloved" character from A Christmas Carol, responds after his encounter with the spirits:

I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. 

Only, let's bring Christ front and center!!!