This week, we come to our final Sunday of Advent as we near our Christmas celebration. To date, we have reflected on God's revelations of hope, peace and love. Now we consider God's revelation of joy. In the midst of these themes, we have considered multiple angelic encounters in the Christmas story from Zechariah, to Mary, and then last week to Joseph. This week we consider the shepherd's encounter with the angels.
In Luke 2:8-15, we read of these shepherds who were keeping watch over their flocks in the night. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared to them. He brought them good new of great joy. The messiah had been born in the town of David. A company of heavenly hosts also appeared joining the first angel and they began praising God. Once the angels departed, the shepherds went to see this thing that had happened, this joyful event.
Through the news of Jesus' birth, a boy who would one day bring restoration to His people, God revealed His joy. The people of Jesus' day longed for restoration much like the people in the days of Psalm 126. And when they experienced that restoration, the Psalmist tells us that they were filled with joy. When they experienced the reversal of their circumstances, a reversal that only God could bring about, their mouths were full of laughter and their tongues sang songs of joy.
We too experience great joy through the unexpected and powerful reversals that God brings about in our own lives and the lives of those around us. Testimony of a life transformed brings us joy. What are the joyful reversals that you have experienced in your life? How might sharing that story reveal God's joy to others?
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