Good
News
When thinking of good news in the context of Advent, it’s
difficult to avoid the first thing that pops into your head…the
angel in Luke who tells the shepherds, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing
you good news of great joy for all
the people…” But
it’s what comes next that interests me, the choice of the words “for to you is born….”
 |
This was taken after the Christmas Eve service last Thursday
evening. Light amidst darkness. Hope amidst despair.
|
Maybe because we are so event-oriented in our culture
today, we tend to think of the good news of Christ’s birth as something that
happened two thousand years ago—or that will be realized in some distant future
when Christ comes again to claim us. We’re
really good at focusing on it once a year during Advent, but not quite so good
at living it during the year. We put
away the Nativity Scene in January, and that’s that. Yet this announcement to the shepherds is
radically personal; this is not an arbitrary birth or an arms-distant
relationship, or something to be objectified in art, literature and liturgy;
rather, it is immediate and relational.
The Messiah is ours from the very beginning—not someone who is simply for us and who acts as an indifferent
advocate on our behalf, but someone who comes to us, and is therefore in
us, part of us. I wonder how ready
we really are to embrace that message.
Some days ago, a friend told me a story of a conversation
she overheard between a mother and four-year-old child who were shopping
together. The little girl looked at her
mother and said, “Oh, Mommy, every day is just the very best day!” Now that
is something to think about. No
wonder Jesus liked children and admonished us to be like them. In these few words—from the mouth of a child—the
good news of Advent resonates in all its beauty and simplicity.
Just imagine what it would be like if we could say every
morning, “Today is just the very best day!”
Isn’t that what Christ himself tells us over and over again to believe. “Don’t be afraid. I am with you….I was
born to you.”
If we could truly live the promise of Advent, we would be
incapable of judging others because we would naturally see only the best in
everyone; we would stop worrying about the future because we would know that
Christ is clinging to us in this
moment. Like the child, we would feel the connection
without having to think about it. Sadness
and despair would turn to hope; life’s inevitable challenges would become
opportunities for growth; fear would turn to courage; anxiety and frustration
would turn to commitment; and hesitation and apathy would turn to action and
discipleship.
And that would be
very good news indeed—for us and for the world!
No comments:
Post a Comment