Advent is Upon Us: Not the 'Inn Crowd'

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Ok, I admit it.  The title is a very, very bad pun.

And this is not so much as an Advent musing as a reaction to what's happening during this particular Advent season.

I was never, ever part of the 'In Crowd' growing up.  Something the folks in the 'In Crowd' would emphasize at times, lest I forget.

It's funny, because, you know, that was years and years ago and I thought it was all behind me.

But the news that is so prevalent has stirred it all up again.  Because the same thing is happening on a national level.  I'm not going to get political, but I do have to say this...what I'm seeing and hearing is very very very similar to so much that I experienced in my youth as one of the not-cool-people.

It actually has taken me a couple of weeks to realize that's the echo that's being generated by the current events.  'You're not cool and we aren't going to play with you....'

But, it being the season that it is and all,  I am processing this through the story of a little family from the backwoods...can anything good come out of Nazareth?...who could not find any room amongst caring people.  Not even in a moment of extreme need.  Was it because they were from out of town?  Was it because they were from the wrong neighborhood?  Was it because the rumors of Mary's out-of-wedlock pregnancy had preceded them?  Were they dressed differently, or did they talk funny, or not know the local customs? Or was it just because the folks around them were too pre-occupied with their own busy-ness that no one made it a point to help?  Indifference, rather than outright rejection?

He certainly understands what it feels like to be overlooked, rejected and excluded.  Born in a barn, raised in a small town away from any influential connections,  misjudged and misunderstood...oh, yes, He understands.  But the people who were like Him, the shepherds, the fishermen, even the prostitutes and tax collectors,  all outside of the In Crowd as well, those people were glad of Him.  He didn't even try, really, to win over the In people.  He let them hold their opinions and focused on the folks who followed Him.


The lesson I'm getting from this almost subliminally is that, you know, it doesn't always matter what the 'In Crowd' says and does; my part is to follow Jesus and let Him handle it.

And I need to let every little echo that hammers on that surprisingly still slightly tender nerve to remind me of that.