Luke 2:15–20

Luke 2:15-20 

English Standard Version 

  The shepherds come as ordinary people, and they're sent back into the world, back into their ordinary lives, but they've been transformed.  The joy and hope of Christ has transformed them.  

  So it is with us -- in the midst of our ordinary lives, Christ comes to transform us, bringing hope and joy to us.  May the joy of Christmas change our hearts!

  Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:1–14

Luke 2:1-14 

English Standard Version 

  Imagine Bethlehem, late at night on Christmas Eve -- the world is dark and cold, and while many are expecting the Messiah, he has not yet come.  But he is close, and there is hope -- the light is coming for the darkness.

  So we sit, often in darkness, but the same light still shines, and Christ is close.  Hold onto hope -- no matter how dark the night, Christ is near!

Luke 6:24–26

Luke 6:24-26

English Standard Version 

  I wonder if we take seriously enough the warnings of Jesus.  It feels like we often skip over these harsher words of Jesus, preferring instead the gracious and merciful teachings.  

  Jesus is warning us about the danger of self-sufficiency.  We fool ourselves into thinking we've acquired security because we have money, or enough food, or entertainment.  We're never truly self-sufficient, though -- everything we have depends on the grace and mercy of God, and we live best in community, which is why it's so important that we remember that the healing Christ offers us is both vertical and horizontal, restoring our relationship with God and with one another.  

Luke 6:20–23

Luke 6:20-23 

English Standard Version 

  Jesus doesn't ignore the reality of pain and suffering in his times.  To follow Jesus faithfully then didn't mean that life was sunshine and roses -- one gets the concept that many of the followers of Jesus struggled with countless issues, and they certainly weren't the ruling power of the day and time.  But they had hope despite the reality of their situation and the harshness of life.  

  In the here and now, Jesus is reminding us that pain and suffering in our times doesn't mean the Kingdom of God has departed us, and it doesn't mean that there is no hope.  Jesus spent countless hours with the poor and the hungry, so that they would know the Kingdom of God is for them, and he reminds us of this same truth -- that the Kingdom of God is for us!