Sarah & I would like to share with you one of our "first" traditions (if we can call it a tradition yet). We decided to get an Advent calendar for our Christmas season! 1. Because I don't remember the last time I ever went through an Advent calendar 2. Because it's cool and we live in Seattle 3. Because it's biblical (thought I should add this one). We are celebrating Advent, because the word means "coming," and reminds Sarah & I of the best "coming" there ever was! The arrival of our Rescuer, Jesus Christ!
December 13th! Day 13!
Sarah and I read from Luke 2:15-20: "When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us... And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them" (v. 15, 20).
Put yourself in the shoes of these shepherds. Did they know about a coming Savior? Did they think about God at all? Were they just shepherds who thought that the night would go on like every other night, quiet and uninterrupted? Imagine an angel appearing, and then a host of angels. The sight and the sounds! And the message! What about this good news? This great joy? What about a Savior being born? What would have been your reaction? What would you have done after all of that?
These shepherds went to see this Savior. And they went quickly! Maybe they left the sheep or left some of the shepherds behind. We don't quite know the details. All we do know is their initial reaction was to go and see. They believed what the angels had said and actively sought for this Savior; and after searching for Him they found Him! A baby, this crying baby in a manger, was the Savior? This was God's Son? Yes, and they believed!
The end of this reading shows what happened to the heart of these shepherds. After all they had heard and seen they were changed! Maybe they had been skeptical, certainly they were afraid. Now they had seen with their eyes and believed! Jesus was coming to bring peace on earth, He was the object of good news! They returned to their sheep with worshiping hearts, glorifying and praising God! That is the power of God. That is what Jesus came to do. He came to turn fearful shepherds into worshiping shepherds.
It reminds me of the words Jesus said when he was all grown up, "Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet still believe" (John 20:29). It reminds me that God's mission is to change hearts and make them worshipers of Him! Worshipers of His Son, Jesus!
"But the hour is coming, and now is here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him." John 4:23
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