As an infant born among animals, God became completely accessible to the lowliest of all people. + Bette Dickinson, Making Room in Advent
I continue to marvel at Bette Dickinson's beautiful Making Room in Advent: 25 Devotions for a Season of Wonder. As showcased in a previous post, "Making Room for Limits God Gives Us for Good," Bette is not only a gifted Advent artist as seen at her Art Shop featuring a collection of various pieces, she also is a gifted author. Making Room in Advent is a powerful Advent devotional. Below is another excerpt that I hope encourages you today.
Advent | Making Room for the Marginalized by Bette Dickinson
Luke 2:8-14
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”
As Craig Keener explains in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, in this time in history, royal birth announcements were accompanied by a choir that would worship the king of an earthly empire (as well as a throng of soldiers to show the might of their leader's reign). It was done in the sight of the highest class and was very public. In contrast, the arrival of King Jesus' birth was not announced within the palace courts to the privileged, but incognito in an ordinary field to lowly shepherds. Shepherds at that time were on the margins of society. It was a profession without honor.
According to Keener, "This narrative would have challenged the values of many religious people, who despised shepherds; shepherds work kept them from participation in the religious activities of their communities." They were considered unclean. The shepherds likely felt isolated, rejected, and cut off from the things of God and the people of God. If God dwelled within the temple and they were always in the field, then how would they ever encounter him?
But God comes down to find the shepherds — the ones on the outside looking in. The glory of heaven comes to find them on the outskirts of society in their workplace and welcomes them in with a heavenly host. For the shepherds, a mundane moment in darkness is suddenly lit with splendor. When they least expect it. When they aren't looking for it. When they think they are excluded from God's salvation, "the glory of the Lord (shines) around them, and they (are) terrified." As if it is not clear enough who is included in this message, the angels says to the shepherds, a Savior has been "born to you."
"Born to you" is an announcement to those who go unseen. To those who are outcasts. To those who have been disappointed. The Savior is born ... God is making a statement. He is born into the margins and announced to the marginalized. Though he is the King of all kings, there is nowhere so foul he is too proud to go and no person so lowly he is too lofty to embrace ...
Including you. And me.
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| Holy Homeless Family by Kreg Yingst @psalmprayers |
What better sign of good news for all people than how Jesus came? As an infant born among animals, God became completely accessible to the lowliest of all people. The shepherds would not need to clean themselves up or journey to the temple to see him. He removed the religious, cultural, and political barriers so they could behold God in the flesh.
The contrast is striking.
A king arrives in a stable.
The holy is birthed into dirt.
Heavenly fanfare fills an earthy field.
Brilliant glory illuminates the dark night.
Lofty angels sing before lowly shepherds.
All point to the good news that would be for all people.
Ponder
God comes into the world through the marginalized.
We make room for him by going to the margins to see Him.
Who are the marginalized people in your community?
What might it look like to position yourself to see God through them?
Pray
Inhale: You are "born to me."
Exhale: May I receive Your life.
+ Adapted excerpts above from Day 20: Making Room for the Marginalized in Making Room in Advent
Here are links to other recent Advent City Notes (CN) books:
The Cross and Peacemaking Presence; Living and Loving Curiously with Wonder; Praying with Mary and Jesus; Making Room for Limits; "Merry Christmas" = "Be Not Afraid"; "Christ with Shopping Bags" Story of God; Waiting is the Womb in Which We Are Formed; The Paradigm-Shattering Event of Human History
With presence, peace, and many prayerful blessings,
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