Advent Day 16: Preparation

By


Isaiah 40:3-5;
Malachi 3:1;
1 Peter 1:13-21



“The Incarnation is the ultimate reason why the service of God cannot be divorced from service to others.” ―Dietrich Bonhoeffer,
The Cost of Discipleship
 
Preparing for a Birthday
By Becky Nation

When I think of preparing for Christmas, my thoughts usually turn to decorations. My favorites are red bows and poinsettias, live greenery, all kinds of candles--electric and wax--but my decorations have become “smaller scale” in this later season of my life. In retrospect, I perhaps spent too much time preparing the house and not enough time preparing my heart… 

But some things take you by surprise and work their way into your heart anyways. 

Last Saturday, our church receptionist Nancy Francis called to inquire if I was still on our church’s worship committee. This group was preparing dinner for Interfaith Emergency Services and one of the children, a little boy named Adonis, was having his 7th birthday. The shelter attendants wanted him to have a cake (actually, he had never had a birthday cake in his life, but I didn’t find that out until later). I wasn't able to attend, but I told Nancy I would get the cake if she could take it to Interfaith that afternoon.

On Sunday morning, I walked into Publix and there, on display in the refrigerator, was the perfect cake for a 7-year-old little boy; decorated with bright blue and red balloons—it was just waiting for the words “Happy Birthday Adonis.” Nancy took the cake to the shelter and learned that this was the first birthday cake that Adonis had ever had. We knew we were the recipient of divine intervention. How good is a God who would prepare the perfect cake for such a time as this?

...but The next morning, at 5:00am, I jolted awake with a horrible thought: I forgot to get candles!!! Because of my haste, and being so pleased with myself for finding the perfect cake, I didn’t stop to imagine the kid actually receiving it. I was sure there would be no birthday candles at the shelter, no candle for Adonis to blow out after making a wish. How horrible!

When the clock clicked to a respectable hour, I called Nancy and confessed my oversight—expecting her to share my lament, but, instead, she said, “Don’t worry! I took care of that! Adonis’ cake had plenty of bright candles!”
And I thought There you are again, Lord—working through Nancy as your instrument to cover one of your sinner’s forgetfulness. It’s a beautiful thing when the body of Christ works together to serve others.

As I reflect on this past weekend and think about preparation, I realize now that if Jesus came to my house for Christmas, I would not be concerned about poinsettias or all the other decorations. I would want a freshly baked birthday cake covered with lighted candles! And I thank the Lord that I was able to share that in this season—because Jesus said “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me.”  So I’m thankful for Adonis and what his birthday taught me about preparing for Christmas.
 

Prepare the way (2x)
Prepare the way of the Lord
Jesus...Jesus...Jesus
Tomorrow’s word: Path/Way →

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Seventh Symbol of the Jesse Tree: 12 Tribes of Israel

By
Image
Seventh Symbol of the Jesse Tree: 12 Tribes of Israel And Israel (previously named Jacob) had 12 sons who didn't all get along (despite their Father's dying attempt to gather them together for blessing and peace...). These sons became the 12 tribes of Israel. Genesis 49:1-28  God could have chosen any tribe or any family lineage--God could have skipped the family drama and tribal violence of the Old Testament tribes, but God chose to remain faithful to those ancient promises. God chose to root new  life and new  peace in a previously violent story. Praise be to God!  Just for fun: Which of the Twelve Tribes of Israel are you? (online personality quiz)  Tribe of Jesus: · Matthew 1:1–6 and Luke 3:31-34  describe Jesus as the tribe of Judah . ( “Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.” ~Revelation 5:5) ·   Mary, Jesus’ mother, was also related to ...
Read more

Eleventh Jesse Tree Symbol: Gideon's Clay Pitcher

By
Image
Eleventh Jesse Tree Symbol: Gideon's clay pitcher The Israelites enter the promised land, but the next generation stops worshipping God. When enemy armies attack and conquer them, the  Israelites turn back to God and cry out. God--in grace--raises up a judges (like Gideon) who leads Israel back to victory.  Gideon 6:11-16, 7:19-23 (or all of 6-8 if you're feeling ambitious)   Gideon--Peace by Karlie Harper I love the story of Gideon because it is an underdog story. In this story we see a man who is so full of doubt of himself that he does not recognize the Spirit of the Lord sitting right in front of him. For someone like me who battles doubt and anxiety, this story is particularly meaningful.  In the verses we see the Lord trying to build up Gideon’s courage by calling him a “might warrior” and telling him “Peace, do not be afraid”. But Gideon, not unlike myself, doesn’t listen to his Lord right away. If we read the story we go on to learn how Gideon—...
Read more

Twelfth Symbol of the Jesse tree: Ruth's wheat

By
Image
Jesse Tree Symbol #12: Ruth, shaft of wheat I n the days of the Judges, famine left an Israelite woman named Naomi widowed and without both her sons. As she moved back to her hometown, one daughter-in-law (Ruth) stayed with her. This  penniless  foreigner--this outsider--Ruth was cared for and brought in to the Israelite family tree... the roots of Christ  Ruth 1:6-9,15-18; 2:1-12 and 16 Matthew 1:1-5                                       Reflection b y Peg Powell After reading these passages in Ruth, I was reminded of one of my favorite stories. Long ago, there was a mayor who lived with his only son in the hills of China. None of them in this village owned a horse, but one day, out of the blue, a stallion appeared at the mayor’s home.  All of the people exclaimed, “How lucky you are.” The mayor said, “We’ll see.” A few days later, the stallion disa...
Read more