Shepherds: Sermon Reflections on "Advent Invitations"

Yesterday the grandkids were over to bake sugar cookies and paint ornaments. What a joyful afternoon!

Sean, the 7-year old asked me if we were celebrating Hanukkah. He was studying the Advent wreath and could tell some candles had been lit. 

So we got in a huddle and lit the three candles. I told them about the Prophets and the candle of Hope, the Shepherds and the candle of Faith, and Mary's candle of Joy. We sang, "Away in a a Manger" and that was enough.

Except for the 4-year-old, Beeboo, who, clearly anticipating the fourth candle, asked, "What about the Fairies?"

"Angels," I said.

Pastor Peter mentioned this morning that amid all the hubbub of Secular Christmas, this was our chance to be quiet and listen for the voice of God in the stillness. And in the prayers and Scripture and sermon, in the image of the shepherds in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night, there was a moment when I did have that sense of stillness. 

I'm glad for that moment of stillness. This week is going to be a humdinger with four visits to the doctor, a great-grandson who has started having seizures, a family gathering at our house, presents still to buy and budgets to stretch, and two family members going into the hospital before Christmas. And what can we do about children being gassed, starved and dehydrated at the border? Or hundreds stolen from their parents, lost or locked up--15,000 children in detention camps, thousands in tents in the desert.

All of these things add to the whirl of Christmas this year.

But focus: who got a personal invitation to see the newborn "God-with-Us?"  The shepherds, low income, uneducated working joes, terrified by an encounter with the Divine. (Ever notice how the first thing Angels always say, is, "Fear not!" It appears angels are not little and cute like Fairies.) Frankly, I'm impressed that the Shepherds, after such a hair-raising experience, had the courage to say, "Well, let's go see." And then they did.

Pastor Peter briefly addressed the coming of the Magi, the wealthy, educated, politically-connected foreign scientists who found their invitation written in the stars. I'd like to hear a sermon focusing on them.

What I'm left with this afternoon is, who are we inviting for Christmas? 

No, who am I inviting, and what, who, will they find when they come.---MZ