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Almost a cliché when I was a kid in Sunday School and Youth Group in our little church, it’s perhaps rolling out again in this Advent Season as we think of the Joy that Jesus brings. We light the third candle and remember the joy of the angels as they announced and sang, and then the joy of the shepherds as they went to find. And did they then have something wonderful to share?! Later, as wise men travelled from much farther away to come and worship and adore, they too were moved with joy and wonder.
The words of my youth tried to sum up the reasons and results of joy in the word itself: J – for Jesus; O – for Others, and Y – for Yourself. And of course, it mirrors the words of our Lord about how we are to love the Lord our God with all our strength and mind, and our neighbour as ourselves.
At Christmas of old, the characters came seeking a king. At least, the wise men did. The shepherds had no idea, perhaps, for all their years at Sabbath School and with all of the prophets’ promises about the Messiah to come. Could this helpless infant lying before them in a manger be the Messiah, God’s anointed? Indeed, the King of Glory?!
The astrological wisdom of the wise men of distant lands—Gentiles with different customs, pagan and “beyond the pale” in a sense to God’s People Israel—had led them to leave home and travel that far to find the now toddler, at home with his parents. Their search reminds us that God can use many unexpected means to draw people toward Himself.
To seek God, we must first believe that He is, and that He rewards those who seek Him. The reward, of course, is to find Him and then to discover that we were really found by Him. Found by the One who came to seek and to save those who are lost without Him.
Some are moved within and from without to “travel” and put up with a lot to find the Key to Life, to find God’s love and forgiveness, and to discover that it comes through Christ the Lord — yes, through that babe in swaddling clothes who grew to be God’s Man in the good of His life and deeds, in His death, His resurrection, and His welcome “Home” to the right hand of the Father.
Some need a pretty striking happening in their life before they begin to pay attention. Maybe an angel or two… (which sometimes happens, still…) And though fearful, they are moved beyond their fears to journey to the place where not only is a Child born, but where they too are born anew into a glorious hope, assurance — and JOY in the Good News and all that it means for them and for the world.
Others first? No, second. God is first always, and it is God and God’s Kingdom that we are always to be seeking. Only then will we find, including finding ourselves and seeing our neighbour in a new light. Others second, then — but in a sense all three are rightly joined together as we “spell” and live out, with Joy, our purpose in creation and life. We’re certainly tied to our neighbour whether we know it or not. What’s good for them is good for us, and vice versa. I think too of the advice when travelling by air that if, for some reason, we need oxygen, we should first put the mask over our own nose before doing the same with our child.
So what does this mean for us as disciples at Kingsway?
In a sense, as disciples of Jesus at Kingsway—found by God in Jesus and now seeking to follow Him through His grace and the power of the indwelling Spirit—we have breathed in the oxygen of heaven (and so much more!). And because we have received it, we are now to share it with our neighbour and with every corner of creation and the world where we live, travel, and have opportunities to serve.
For this is our JOY: knowing and being known by God, rescued and reclaimed that we may serve anew.
We join with Him in sharing what we have received, as in the words of the old maxim, “as hungry persons telling others where we might find bread.” “Bethlehem” literally means “house of bread,” and here we may so easily segue into another article, for there the shepherds found the One who is the Bread of Life. This Bread is for knowing, for eating and digesting, for ourselves — and for sharing with others. This is JOY.
And this is why we gather and then go, why we share, give thanks, intercede, we worship, sing and serve.
This is why we pray…
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Tourists from dozens of countries may be asked to provide a five-year social media history as a condition for entering the US, under a new proposal from the Trump administration.
In addition to social media history, the Trump administration also plans to ask visitors from 42 countries to submit extra personal information before entering the country.
This information would include telephone numbers and email addresses used over the last five and 10 years, respectively, and information about their family members.
According to a notice published in the Federal Register, the data would be “mandatory” for new arrivals from the 42 countries in the visa waiver program.
The list of countries in the program includes many European nations, such as the UK, Germany, and France, as well as US allies Australia, Israel, Japan, and South Korea.
Although citizens of these countries usually don’t need visas to travel to the US, they still have to apply online through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).
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Daily News, Announcements & Features at Suffield High School
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