Imperfect and Overlooked
Scripture Reference: Luke 2:8-20
We have been focusing all year long on community and, even deeper, Family. We want to finish the year with an ADVENT-ure and go on a journey to discover Jesus.
Some of you may discover Him for the first time. Others may need to discover Him because He has become nothing more than a decoration in your life.
As we walk through the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas, we will observe Advent.
What is Advent?
Advent is a season observed in many Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The term is an anglicized version of the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming."
Advent – Expectant Waiting and Celebratory Preparation.
The Advent wreath is a tradition in the Christian church that has been around for a long time. It originated in Germany and Scandinavia and was used in homes for families to mark time. They would light a candle each night during Advent until Christmas Day. The light in their homes would greatly increase each day when they lit the candles, which symbolize the light of Christ.
Today, we only light five candles (marking weeks instead of days). However, we still use the candles to mark time and increase the light. Each Sunday, we light a candle, the light increases, and we grow closer to the day of Christ's birth.
Dec 1 – Hope “The Prophets Candle” preparation for the coming of Christ.
Dec 8 – Faith "The Bethlehem Candle" is the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.
Dec 15 – Joy "The Shepherd's Candle" the joy of the Shepherd upon hearing the Good News
Dec 22 – Peace "The Angel's Candle" is the Angel's message of "Peace on Earth."
Dec 24 - Christmas Eve – The Christ Candle
Luke 2:8-20
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 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. 10 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. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!
15 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.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
What is the life of a shepherd really like?
They were in daily contact with dirty, smelly sheep, their manure, their blood from cuts and scrapes, and the insects that buzzed around them. Shepherds were rarely clean enough to worship with God's people in God's presence. They were the overlooked and outsiders.
Today, we glamorize what then everyone despised.
I believe God gives us “imperfect opportunities” and uses “imperfect people” throughout our lives. The problem is that because it looks imperfect, we overlook the power of it.
The closer you get to something or someone, the more imperfections you notice.
The more treasured we consider something to be, the more responsibility we will take towards it.
What we overlook that is imperfect can be the very thing that gives us purpose. Could the imperfect turn out to be a privilege and not a problem?
How can a perfect God use imperfect things to bring about his perfect will? Because our imperfections do not taint his perfection.
In fact, his perfection shifts our imperfections to a trajectory of perfection.
What if fulfillment in life is not far off, but it could be in what is Close, Common, and Concerning?
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
It is possible that all you need to get you through your current situation, and every situation is not far off. It is close by.
Have you ever noticed that Jesus uses what is close by to do his miracles?
· He used overlooked water jars to turn water into wine.
· He used 5 loaves and 2 fish from a child who wasn’t even counted.
· He used spit and dirt.
· Here he uses people who are imperfect and overlooked. They were Shepherds “in the same region.”
What or who is in your life that is so close Jesus can’t use because you keep overlooking it?
Who is someone you are grateful for outside of your household in your everyday life that you have never expressed your gratefulness to them?
Is it possible that, because they are close, we treat them as common? In doing so, we take for granted and miss who Jesus wants to use.
Common
12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
The miracle was in the manger. Something that everybody had seen, been to, and walked away from.
What was common was actually the sign.
What is in your life that is common that if you visit it again, God can show you the miracle lying right in front of you?
Who is someone common in your life who is close to you that you need to "Look Again?" The shepherds were common to everyone, but God revealed the purpose of the moment to them.
Concerning
17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
The Shepherds relayed to Mary the compliments given by the angel concerning her Son.
“11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
It is more than the thought that counts.
Because they are "Close and Common," we never tell people what is "Concerning Them.” But if we want the Kingdom we read about at the end of the story, we need to give the word “Concerning Them” of what we already know.
It is not a "new word" that you need; it is the delivery of the "concerning word" you already have. True fulfillment happens when you deliver the word, even more so than when you receive a word.
It wasn't a new word when Jesus came to the earth as a baby. He was the word from the beginning. But, at just the right time, He delivered the word to you.
The term “just the right time” means appointed time or Kairos.
Galatians 4:4 “4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Romans 5:6 “6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
This moment we are in is another Kairos time. This is a time appointed by God for you. This is the “concerning word” for you. This isn’t a new word but a Kairos word asking if you know Jesus.
