Monday, January 06, 2014

Christmas Eve's Angel voices



Angel Voices      Christmas Eve                                                                           
It’s a familiar story, and we know it well…..but do we see ourselves in this story, in God’s story?
Teenagers like Mary, innocent and just beginning to explore more grown up relationships, but puzzled about who she might become. Mary, barely a woman, struggling to find herself, finds herself in deep trouble and having to trust God absolutely and completely…and it will change her life too…..
Faithful men like Joseph, very upright and proper, newly engaged, with all the hopes and questions that brings…. Joseph, uncertain but faithful, faces a difficult decision to drop, or continue a relationship….
Hard workers like the shepherds, desperately trying to make ends meet, outsiders often, in the social scheme of things, and unlikely characters to have much to do with God – except maybe one holy night a year….shepherds  busy trying to get by without a thought of deep spiritual matters, are struck suddenly out of the blue with a holy experience…….
To each of the story’s characters, and to each of us, an angel appears, with news—strange, illogical news
it seems so strange and illogical in the 21st century, so  we get a little afraid that this odd life-transforming news might be too hard to take: so we’ll give them a hearing, but just tonight, when we can suspend our logical factual beliefs, but only momentarily…tomorrow the angels will be gone, the manger empty, the hillsides once again full of sheep that need attending, the problems rushing back in on us.
But what if….what if we didn’t just hear the same old same old Christmas Eve stuff……
What if we really LISTENED to the angels: what might they have to say?  To each one of these the angel appeared and the first thing the angel said was the exact same thing:  Do not be afraid……
To the faithful and tired, the angel says
Do not be afraid, God has work yet for you to do
To the upright and proper, the angel says
Do not be afraid, step out of your comfort zone
To those who are in deep trouble
Do not be afraid, I am with you; together we can bring great things out of this
To the outsider, the marginalized, those struggling to get by,
Do not be afraid, I can give you purpose and meaning
To the hardworking cynic, the angel says
Do not be afraid to believe God cares about even you-and that YOU might have a role to play in transforming the world!
Sshh   Listen    There’s an angel calling your name……
Shhh    Do not be afraid
This child can transform your life
This child can bring you meaning
This child can give you purpose
Listen    The angel is bringing you the news YOU need this night:
A word of assurance that your prayers are heard
A word of courage to do the right thing
A word of purpose calling you into something new
A word of peace for your troubled soul – and for our troubled world
Shhhh   Listen
Do not be afraid.

 

No comments: