Advent Proclamation

When we got home from the store what do you think Princess did?  Did she drag herself into the house and slouch into a chair and sigh?  Did she run to her room to play with her toys?  Did she skip into the house and exclaim, “We got the bird!”  After she spent an hour staring at the bird and poking her finger in the cage and discovering that the bird did absolutely nothing, she went and played, but that wasn’t first. First everyone knew we had a bird.

How long had the angels been waiting to proclaim, “Christ is born?”  When they got their chance they did it up well.  The shepherds got that message loud and clear and went to see the newborn babe.  After they had seen Him they went on their way glorifying God and praising Him.  They didn’t do it in a huddle where no one else knew what was going on.  They made it “widely known”.  The Advent proclamation needed to be made. 

Several months later when Jesus was taken to the temple for His presentation to the Lord, Mary and Joseph met Simeon.  He was a righteous man who had long looked for the coming Messiah and he wasn’t shy about announcing it.  Then they met Anna, an elderly widow, who, when she saw the babe, spoke of Him to all who looked for the redemption of God’s people.  Then there were the wise men that came looking for the King of the Jews and proclaimed His birth even in the king’s palace. 

Unlike the bird, which never ever really did much beside sit and make a mess, Christ did all that He had been sent to do.  When He had finished His work He told His followers to go and proclaim the Good News of His salvation and the full hope that gave to all people.  That proclamation of Christ’s salvation, hope and peace is still needed by all today.  We need to be eager proclaimers of that hope.  “Christ has come!  Hallelujah!” 

Let us sing and obey the great Negro Spiritual, “Go, Tell it on the Mountain”.

    Go, tell it on the mountain,
    Over the hills and everywhere
    Go, tell it on the mountain,
    That Jesus Christ is born.

 

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