Sunday, December 13, 2020

Humble But Revolutionary




These are dark times for us, for the world. It is much safer to come home and shut the garage door and turn on the TV. It is much easier to make merry with your immediate family and forget the world at large right now. Admittedly, our little family has been really playing it safe with COVID looming so broadly in our local area. 


Here, 2 weeks away from Christmas, the darkness is closing in as we see this virus ramp up in a way that it hasn’t yet. We know hope is coming in the form of a vaccine—- praise God! But in the meantime, I can’t help but think of how the timing of Christmas can and should impact our storyline right now.  


I have once heard it said that the Bible is really an account of evidence of God’s relentless love for the world.  His constant desire to reach out and love us stands true through Genesis to Matthew- where it peaks in a humble, but revolutionary way when Jesus, Immanuel, is born. I love that Immanuel means, “God Is With Us.” And if we ever needed to know that God was with us, well- it is now, December of 2020. 


As a follower of this Jesus, this Savior, I know that we have a part to play in God’s plan of love in the darkest of places. Also in a humble, but revolutionary way, we can be the light of Christ. We have a social responsibility to love others and point them to the Savior. 


One prayer that I pray often is that, “Others would know Jesus, because they know me.”


Several years back, my husband and I knew a man who frequented our favorite restaurant on Friday evenings as we did (before children). He was friendly as could be and in months, we came to enjoy seeing him weekly as we had our dinners next to each other. Eventually, the holidays were upon us, and it dawned on me to get him some gourmet salsa and lay it on his doorstep as a means of wishing him a Merry Christmas. You know that almost 10 years later, when we see him, only occasionally these days, he STILL thanks us for it?  I mention this because that simple act of placing a $5.99 jar of salsa on his porch, was evidence of a love of our Creator...not of my invention but of God’s loving inspiration.


If each believer saw him or herself as a conduit of God’s love in tangible, meaningful ways, our darkness would be a little less dark this December. 


Any humble kindness can be revolutionary for someone right now.


Your ability to love others is not limited by the current situation, your wallet, or your inability to fly to a third-world country and build shelters right now.  Likewise, your ability to love others only depends on your availability and willingness to do so to anyone who might need it. We are all in need of it.


Just as a crude stable in small rural town burst forth with the love of our Creator that first Christmas night, a bag or note you thoughtfully place on a doorstep could show that very same relentless love to a dark and depressed world. 


For those of us who do proclaim to love Jesus, here are some piercing questions:


Do others know His love because of you?


Has the love of Jesus made a difference in your life?


Who is in need of a humble, but revolutionary porch drop-off ?


We were recently the recipients of many such porch drop-offs and I can tell you that when you are down and out, and your work buddy sends hot chocolate or your neighbors surprise you with donuts or your sister sets down a whole turkey dinner on your steps, you are fulfilled and valued and held in a love that ties us all together. 


What a beautiful thing.  I believe this is what God hopes we will do! John 13:35 states, “If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.”  


And love isn’t at its best unless those good intentions are put into action.


In these difficult times, at this very sacred time of year, I hope you get to safely and genuinely share the love and light of our good God. It’s not about the salsa, it is about the hope you ignite to brighten this darkest of Decembers.


🎄🎄🎄Merriest Christmas to my friends. May others know Jesus because they know you & me. ðŸŽ„🎄🎄

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