Advent Week Four: Joy

 

When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. Luke 2:17-18

Who exactly does the “all” in the verse above refer to?  Were Mary and Joseph amazed by what the shepherds said?  To be sure, the shepherd’s story of how a choir of angels suddenly start singing to you, telling you to go search for a baby in a barn laying in a manger, and then that the shepherds were able to find them is pretty amazing.

Or maybe, the shepherds after knocking on other barn doors had congregated a crowd of people with them.  “Come on,” they said, “We are searching for the Savior in a dirty, dusty, drafty barn.”  That would probably convince others to join in, I say with sarcasm in my voice.

No, I think the “all” refers to you and me.  We are amazed by this story each and every time we tell it to others.  We are amazed at the way God works and what God is up to in the world comes in the form of the fierce and faithful Mary and Joseph; comes in the form of shepherds; comes in the form of a grand entrance in a barn.  A barn!  We are amazed that God moves in the lives of those who are on the fringe and fray then and now.  We are amazed by God’s hope, peace, love, and joy that burn brightly before us and within us.  We are amazed of the powerful and powerful pregnant pause shared between Mary and Elizabeth.  We are amazed that God enters the world through an unwed teenager who is the God-bearer.  We are amazed that God invites us to let God’s love loose through our lives in these days.

I invite you today to pause and to ponder the amazement you have sensed around you.  Make a list and litany of the ways hope seem possible with a vaccine now being administered; with worship still happening; with moments your heart is strangely warmed.  Make a list and litany of the way peace has been discovered within and around you when you looked at Christmas lights or make an altar or wrote prayers for yourself in the coming year.  Make a list and litany of the way love has been let loose to you and through you, then thank those whose love makes a difference.  May a list and litany of joy that you feel when you sing along to Christmas Carols and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas special.

Our lives flow on in endless song even here and now.  May that truth surround you and sustain you every single day.

Prayer: Gracious God move in my life with an amazing grace and help me find my voice to name the ways Your presence makes all the difference.  Amen.