Dear Fellow Children of God,
A number of years ago I had trouble with service from a
large national phone company. Now, I’m
not sure that I personally felt I was an unimportant customer. But, my impression was that this company did
not consider my business important.
After all, I was just one individual account. I surely wasn’t their biggest customer either. I got the run around. When you phone someone for help and they put you
on hold for over an hour, that behavior sends a message.
There are times all of us have felt ignored or unimportant
to others. We may not be wealthy. We may not be a person of power or
influence. So, when we get slighted, or
forgotten, it is not a surprise.
At this point, however, I need to confess that even God’s
church can act in ways that make people feel unimportant. The Lord sent His Son for all. God’s children are called by to love
everyone. But sometimes it may seem that
the church leaders or outgoing people get the attention. The quiet folks may seem ignored. The church is to be God’s loving family. When God’s church gives the impression that
someone is unimportant we have failed at that point.
That is what makes the announcement of Jesus’ birth by
the angels to the shepherds such a wonderful part of the Christmas story. There were few people more common in Jesus’
day than shepherds were. These men were
not leaders of the temple. They weren’t
political leaders or military leaders. Yet,
other than Jesus’ mother and father, the only ones to get an angelic birth
announcement were some night shift laborers doing a common job.
The shepherds
may have seemed common and unimportant to others but, God obviously cared about
the them. In fact, when Mary told her
cousin Elizabeth that she was expecting, Mary praised God with a song we now
call “The Magnificat.” (Luke 1: ) In that hymn of praise Mary says of the Lord,
“52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has
lifted up the humble.” This truth
is expressed throughout God’s Word. God
cares for everyone and takes special care of the poor and lowly.
Do you ever feel like you are not important to God? Please, remember the shepherds. These common men heard singing like none of
us have ever heard. What a wonderful
gift from God to those considered common!
But, please also remember how important God has made each
of us. God reached out to people who
could not help themselves with their sinful condition, and He sent His Son, His
Only Son, the very Son of God, to humble Himself so we could be lifted up in God’s
love.
Phone companies and others in our world many not think we
are important. God does. God cared about the humble and the lowly and
the common people of Jesus’ day. God
cares about all people today, no matter how seemingly unimportant. What a wonderful Christmas gift!
A Child of God, Thankful for God’s Unexpected Grace to
the Shepherds, And to us!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. I had a number of positive comments about the
link in last week’s message to the Christina Rosetti poem and Christmas carol,
“In the Bleak Midwinter.” Here is another link to that same song. My classmate and friend Al, who teaches in
Okinawa, sent me this version of this beautiful song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8WGlhJKlGo
So, I
thought I would let you know that we
will sing this carol, In the Bleak Mid-Winter” at the beginning of our
candlelight worship on Christmas Eve at the 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. services.
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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am
sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and
friends whose e-mails I have. (I am always adding new names of friends
and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first
time.) However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me
know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if
you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me
their e-mail address.
****
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