The other day I unwrapped my nativity scene and put it under the living room lamp. It looks good there, on the end table, but what was I thinking? That the lamp would be the star…? The scene is set up in a prominent place right next to the snowy red birdhouses and the stockings.
I am sure of this – come Christmas, there will be candy in those stockings.
It’s not as easy to be sure of the nativity.
If God showed up at your door right now and handed you a gift, would you take it?
Think for a minute before you answer…seams like a no brainer, but …
Have you ever gotten a Christmas gift that forces you into that most awkward of thank yous:
“Oh I love this! … What is it?”
At the Otterbein Small House Neighborhoods where I serve as Chaplain, and here at Unruly Hope, we’ll spend the next few weeks asking that very question along with Zachariah, Elizabeth, Mary, the Magi, and others who were close by when Jesus was born.
These were people who experienced angel visits, guiding stars, prophesies and impossible pregnancies. If all these happenings were gifts from God, I can imagine their thank yous:
“Oh I love this! … What is it?”
What exactly are the gifts God gave to them? To us?
I’m reading a book called Five Questions of Christmas by Rob Burkhart. Pick up a copy if you’d like, and follow along. I’d love to hear your thoughts. And your questions!
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7
Thanksgiving Day overflows, and yet the greatest treasures can hide under expectation, kitchen timers, and dog hair the vacuum just won’t get.
Every moment holds within it sight, smell, sound, touch and taste to be grateful for. Seek them out. Come on in to God’s goodness. Indulge.
Unruly Hope 