This piece was written by my younger brother Daniel. I found it so insightful that I thought I would share it with you.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2:8-20)
The theme of this final week of advent is joy and proclamation. Today, we heard about the joy of the shepherds who upon finding the baby Jesus went out to proclaim that joy. This time of year invites us to examine where our joy lies and what we are proclaiming with our lives. Do we proclaim the genuine joy of Christ? Or do we proclaim the hollow ‘joy’ of our selfish ambitions?
We all know the feeling of great joy or excitement and how that joy overflows, sparking an irresistible urge to share our experience with anyone who will listen. Be it the marvelous scenes we saw on our Utah trip, the new insight you just stumbled upon, or the first smile from our newest niece or nephew. Something about joy just naturally overflows into our words and our actions.
Our joys don’t just overflow; they also seep into the very fabric of who we are. The things we give our time and attention to, our joys, are what mold us. Knowingly and unknowingly, our joys shape us. They colour how we see the world, how the world reveals itself to us, and how we react to the world, molding our thoughts, actions, and desires. As we give ourselves: our time, our attention, and our focus to the things we love, we become a reflection of what we love most. We become what we love, what we set our heart on. As Jesus tells us: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”
So the question becomes, What do you love? Where do you find your joy? What do you give your time and attention to? When we examine ourselves do we see screens and social media occupying our time and attention? Or are we consumed with materialism and the endless desire to acquire one trendy item after another? Or is our time and attention consumed by fleeting, meaningless conversation? Is our joy first and foremost with the self, with making sure we get what we want? Or, perhaps we have made an idol of our neighbour and act primarily to “fit in”, to acquire renown and praise from them?
Ask yourself: What moves you? What motivates you? What have you given your life to? What do you serve?
The Christian is one who gives his attention to Christ. When we immerse ourselves in the story of the gospel, in practices of prayer, service and worship—then he becomes our joy, our first love. Then everything else falls into place. When Christ is our first love, our swords become plough shares, our weakness becomes strength, our selfishness becomes self-giving sacrifice, our pride becomes meekness, our hate becomes love. We find our whole lives reordered around this love.
So this advent season lets us guard our gaze and pay attention to what we pay attention to. Let us turn our eyes away from ourselves, our screens and our worldly riches or whatever lesser goods we are worshiping, and instead, like the shepherds, turn our eyes upward to the heavens. Let us, like them, run to find the baby Jesus and give our attention to him. Then we will find that we have the eyes to see the wonderful and miraculous work of God in and around us. Like the shepherds, when Christ is the center of our attention, when he is our greatest joy, then we will find we cannot help but proclaim the magnificent joy in our hearts to the world through our words and deeds.
Coffee with Kierkegaard 