ADVENT 3

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the broken hearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. 2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favour has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. 3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.
Isaiah 61 v 1-3

What would constitute good news for you today? What would bring beauty into your brokenness? Change is inevitable throughout life although we tend to be much less tolerant of change in the church. Change is not always bad as many seem to assume – like the hymn that has the line “change and decay in all around I see”. Change can, more often, be a very positive thing. But how we react to change is what matters. Those who followed that baby, grown into Christ the man, turned their world upside down in response to his challenge and call.
A challenge and a call that hasn’t altered through the course of history. A challenge and a call that is re- issued to you and me in this time and in this place.
Dare we engage with that challenge today? Dare we move from where we are to where God wants us to be – still transforming the world around us?
Look again at the baby this year and see God changing the world.
Can we risk God changing us today?