“Jesus Reconciles” Luke 2: 8-20

It is so good to have each and every one of you at our mid-week advent services as we prepare to welcome again the birth of Christ and to listen in our hearts to where Christ is sending us to share our faith. Advent is a particularly “church-y” word because it describes a season in our Christian journey. Does anyone know what the word Advent means? Arrival or coming. The early church mothers and fathers set aside this particular four week time frame leading up the celebration of Christmas to prepare anew for the arrival or coming of the Christ child. They did so, recognizing that the birth of Christ was not a one-time event in history. Instead, each of us has the opportunity to have Christ born anew in us - both during this season of Advent and each day of the year. Where in your life do you need Christ to be born anew in you?

There are generally two ways that folks answer that particular question about needing Christ to be born anew in them? Perhaps the most common is to say that they already accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior so there is no need to be born “anew”. To this particular group, one of our United Methodist Bishops poses a second question - what has God done in your life in the last month? If you can’t think of anything, maybe you need to pray during this season for Christ to be born anew in your sense of recognition or wonder. 

The second group of folks answer this question of where Christ needs to be born anew in their lives with a laundry list - all of the places that they feel they are coming up short and need Christ’s help. However, sometimes laundry lists become crutches - things that prevent us from moving forward in sharing the good news we hear about in this evenings passage because we feel that we are not yet good enough to do so.

This evening’s particular passage is one that is usually read on Christmas Eve - and for my folks you will be hearing it again on Christmas Eve - about the Shepherds receiving the good news of Jesus Christ in their lives for the first time. If anyone would have felt that they were not good enough to be the bearers of the good news, it would have been the shepherds. They were looked down upon as one of the lowest occupations in ancient times. Not good enough to have a well paying job, or even a job that took place during the safety of daylight. Instead, they had to protect their flocks every moment of every day. Against other people who wished to steal them and against wild animals that sought the devour them. They were out in the elements - blazing sun or pouring down rain. They were considered undesirable people to be around and other people told them that they were not good enough. In fact, according to Pastor Jacob Armstrong, “we miss some of the Christmas story’s power if we neglect to see that the shepherds were unsuspecting, unqualified, and undeserving to be included. And God picked them anyway.”

Yet, it was exactly the shepherds, those those that others deemed to be not good enough and who were looked down upon who heard the good news first that fateful evening. Angels came to them and the glory of God shone around them. And they were the first to hear the good news for all people. Including them. Especially them. The shepherds were simply doing that evening what they did every evening - protecting their flocks when their “normal” was interrupted by God. 

Brothers and sisters, the season of Advent is our interruption to life as “normal”. During these particular days we are called to step outside of what is normal in order to see the glory of God in new ways. To have our hearts tuned into the glory of God. Now that doesn’t mean that we stop doing what we need to do - we still need to show up for work and make sure the family is fed and that things are taken care of. But it does mean that we are intentionally seeking out the glory of God. Intentionally seeking to have Christ born a new in us. For when we start to have our eyes and hearts open to the movement of God, we tend to see God’s glory more readily. We can not only see what God has done in our lives in the past month, but we can see what God does amongst us every single day!

When the angels showed up in the darkness to proclaim the good news, notice what they say to the shepherds. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. This was good news for the shepherds that could not be contained. It was both personal for them and universal for the world. And if the good news of this Jesus was good news for them, good news for all, it is good news today for each of us, including you. And this good news cannot be contained just to us. We are sent by God into the lives of the world so that others may come to know the good news of Jesus Christ. It is good news for you, but not just for you. 

Its good news for the people working hard just to make ends meat. It good news for the workers on the third shift, who like the shepherds are all too often overlooked and not thanked. Its good news for the single moms and dads. For the people carrying around the weight of the world. For the widowers. For those who have been Christian as long as they can remember and those who are new to the faith. Its good news for the youngest among us and the oldest. Its good news because Jesus Christ reconciles us - restores us and reconsecrates us - every moment of every day for the sake of the Kingdom of God - if only we take time to notice and respond. 

Our hearts are made to long for Christ’s restoration of us. Folks around the world state that there is just something about this season of preparing for Christmas, whether they call it Advent or not, that seems to make their hearts wake up to something greater than themselves. Even in its busyness. Even in the midst of to-do lists that seem to endlessly go on. Whether people realize it or not, our hearts are made to long for the coming Messiah. Are you willing to share that good news that cannot be contained with others this Advent season so that their hearts have a chance to respond?

A closing thought about being sent to share our faith this Advent season - its scary. It seems like hard work and we are often afraid of it - which is why we make excuses as to why we aren’t the ones who are called. We will simply leave that work to the super-religious or the pastors. But brothers and sisters you are called, by virtue of your faith, to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. To bring hope by sharing how Jesus has changed your life and can change the lives of others. What would have happened if the shepherds would have let fear limit the call of God on their lives? And what will happen if we let our fears limit the call of God on our lives? For Christ doesn’t just reconcile us for our sake alone, but for the sake of all. 

So go about your lives this Advent season but have the eyes of your heart open to the movement of Christ in and amongst you. Go about your lives, but look for opportunities given to you by God to share the good news. Go about your lives, letting your heart long to be reconciled to the lover of your soul, the one who is the Good News, Jesus Christ. Amen.