Beloveds,
What are your hopes and expectations for the world?
Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds had high expectations. They believed what the prophets foretold of God’s promise to send a messiah.
Do we dare claim the hopes and expectations of Mary, Joseph and the shepherds?
As followers of Jesus, and by virtue of our baptism, we are called to have high expectations of ourselves and for our world, that beloved community might be known and experienced in our world.
As followers of Jesus, and by virtue of our baptism, we are called to have high expectations of abundance;
justice; truth; inclusion; belonging and love.
There will be times when you have expectations of Christmas type joy, but instead find the world feels more like Good Friday. Northern lights come close, but we likely will never encounter a sky full of angels announcing the Messiah’s presence. But Jesus most assuredly comes to us in the highest of our joys and the depths of our sorrows.
As we live through the challenges of our day, return frequently to the words of God’s promise of salvation, and ponder those words in your hearts.
Look for signs of Jesus’ presence and God’s action all around us. The angel told the shepherds to go to a humble place to find Jesus. Perhaps that is an invitation to us as well. God is always revealing God’s self to us in unexpected ways and places. Like the shepherds, we have to go and expectantly look. We can see the signs of God’s good news in nature, in relationships, in ways that people come together to care for God’s creation and each other.
I pray that we would be a sign of God’s grace in the world, that we might inspire others to have high expectations and hopes for the healing of our world.
Merry Christmas!
Peace and blessings,
Bishop Shannon
