Despite the fact that we are more “connected” than ever, we are facing chronic loneliness and isolation like never before. Perhaps this is because the “community” we have online is not real community! We are seeing one another’s curated, sanitized selves. Even those who are “authentic” online are more often than not curating and crafting even that so-called authenticity. If we want to experience healing and community, we must seek a different kind of connection with one another. Additionally, if we want to discover the truth of our world through real, genuine wisdom instead of algorithm-driven fluff, we must find that wisdom in lifelong relationships built on trust.

This will mean pursuing the discomfort of actual, face-to-face relationships and opening others up to the un-sanitized brokenness of our lives, trusting they will love us as we love them. Only then can our online interactions grow out of a place of health and fruitfulness, and not out of insecurity and a need for affirmation.

So much of our reputation and self-image comes from other people’s affirmation (or lack thereof) on our social media profiles. We crave likes, retweets, attention, etc. The pursuit of it all leads us to present an untrue image of ourselves online, and to lose sight of who we really are. As Christ-followers, we will only find health by making our core identity who we are in Christ, not who we are in likes. We are new creations in Jesus, and that should be the most important part of our identity!

If we want to stay in Christ while moving into our technology-saturated world, we must become far more cognizant of who or what is dictating the use of our time. So many games, apps, social media sites, etc. are geared around keeping you coming back as frequently as possible. The best way to break their hold over us is to have routine “sabbaths” in which we create sacred time to be free from the demands of our world and present with family and friends.

Garbage in, garbage out. As much as we might convince ourselves that the stuff we pour into our consciousness daily is harmless, it shapes us in ways we may not even recognize. By exposing ourselves to ceaseless immorality, sexuality, violence, rage, and hatred through the things we watch/read/listen to online, we are losing our moral foundations and living lives which do not reflect Christ’s influence within us. As followers of Jesus, we must be far more intentional about who we are allowing to influence us, what kinds of media we are consuming, and where our mindless scrolling is taking us. This is especially true in a time when artificial intelligence is making artificial information indistinguishable from the truth.

Technology and social media are powerful tools which make our lives so much better in so many ways but come with a significant dark side. Left unchecked, they can draw us into addiction, feed our insecurities, and foster the brokenness of our world. However, despite their danger, withdrawing from technology and social media is not an option. They are a part of our world whether we like them or not. Instead of withdrawing, then, we must look for how we can, as Jesus desired, go “into the world” even as we are not “of the world.”

The birth of Jesus came at a time when the people of Israel were facing many struggles. Roman occupation, economic challenges, violent uprisings, and moral drift contributed to a loss of hope and perspective. This was especially true since the long-awaited restoration of Israel’s national glory still hadn’t happened yet, over 500 years after the second temple was completed. But there were two devout, elderly people in Jerusalem who still clung tightly to the hope that God’s messiah would not only rescue Jerusalem, but the entire world.

There isn’t a lot of specific information in scripture about the shepherds who visited Jesus. But we know that in the ancient world of Jesus’ day shepherds were some of the lowliest, working-class peasants imaginable. In a time of violent rebellions, war, and instability, those on the bottom rung of society’s ladder like them would have yearned for peace. But not just peace as an absence of warfare, but as the presence of God’s shalom – abundance, life, and joy which comes from God’s presence among his people.

And this peace is exactly what the angels declare to the shepherds. Through the birth of Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, “good news” has finally come. The shalom of God, which these shepherds have been waiting for, has been born.

Luke does not give us many specifics about Mary’s background or social situation. However, reading between the lines we get the sense that she is relatively poor, disadvantaged, and vulnerable. She refers to herself as a “lowly servant girl” (1:48). Like many marginalized people in her day, Mary was at the mercy of powerful, corrupt systems of injustice and the iron fist of Roman occupation. As with many generations before her, she longed for God’s justice to come on the earth.

Which is why, when she learns that she will be the mother to God’s anointed one who will deliver Israel, she is overcome by the hope that political oppression (1:51-52), economic hardship (1:53), and national shame (1:54-55) will soon be swallowed up by God’s mercy and the hungry will soon be fed (1:53). Mary was looking for justice and found it in Jesus!

The book of Luke opens on a rather unremarkable character: an elderly priest named Zechariah. Although he and his wife were “righteous in God’s eyes,” they had been unable to conceive a child. Yet it is this priest who is told by an angel of the Lord that he will soon have a child destined to become the long-awaited prophet heralding the coming of God to the earth. Echoing the story of another elderly childless couple (Abram and Sarai), Zechariah must work through his initial doubt to come to a place of faith that God really means what he says.

Upon meeting his newborn son, John (a.k.a. “the Baptist”), Zechariah taps into the language and imagery of Israel’s prophets to declare poetically what God is going to accomplish: salvation from Israel’s enemies, a prophet who will prepare the way for the Lord, and a light for those who sit in darkness (all promises from the prophet Isaiah). All his life Zechariah had been waiting for salvation to come. Now, through his unexpected son it was about to be inaugurated.

Throughout his letters, Paul frequently paints the picture of the Church being an entirely new kind of community – one built not on pride, strength, and success, but on generosity, humility, and self-giving love. As we bring this series to a close, we will explore what it would look like for Grace Church to reflect these upside-down kingdom values in our interactions with one another, our willingness to serve, and in the loving, patient, and hospitable posture we take towards one another.