“Follow,
follow
Rise
up, shepherd and follow
Leave
your sheep and leave your lambs,
Rise
up, shepherd and follow
Leave
your ewes and leave your rams,
Rise
up, shepherd and follow.”
“There’s a Star in the East”
One of my
favourite childhood movies to watch during Advent is “A Charlie Brown
Christmas” when Linus proclaims the Gospel of Luke foretelling the
shepherds’ terror when God’s angel appears to them. The film is honest: society
has the tendency to become lost in the bustle and commercialism associated with
Christmas. Sometimes we become afraid to rise to the challenge of what it means
to be Jesus’ disciple as it sometimes means taking risks.
In
the shepherds’ story, there are questions: what happened to the sheep? Did they
all follow? Sheep are not the most obedient of creatures. Did someone stay
behind to look after them and miss the glorious sight? Luke does not say. He
concentrates on the angel’s message. The angel’s words are an invitation to us
all: to “rise up” and “follow” Jesus. To leave our ordinary lives behind and
live an extraordinary Christ-like life of embodied faith with justice and
kindness.
Inviting
God,
You challenge
us, the ordinary, to take risks and take up the cross, joining on a journey
that is extraordinary. Help us to listen with compassion and act with courage
on our journey which is to be like you. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
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