This is the fourth week of Advent, the Christian season of preparation for Christmas. We’re looking at some of the traditional themes of the season. This week: Revelation, Birthing, Love, and Rejoicing.

Today’s scripture: Deuteronomy 10:17-19a (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Carla Peck):

For some of us, this Christmas is a year of firsts, some of which will not be easy: the first Christmas following the death of a loved one, the first Christmas after a divorce or break-up, the first Christmas without employment, or the first Christmas after receiving a complicated medical diagnosis.

Today’s scripture speaks of God’s love for humanity — specifically for the widowed and orphaned, or as I see it, those who have been left behind. I see hope for those left behind in today’s scripture.

It causes me to remember a Christmas card I received about six years ago. It was the first Christmas after my Dad had passed away. It was my first Christmas as a mid-life orphan — a person in midlife with no parents. The card I received was from a distant relative — one of those behind the scenes relatives that my Dad talked about from time to time, but we never spent much time with and I never knew that well.

This note was handwritten at the bottom of the card: “I know this Christmas will be difficult without your Dad but there are still beautiful people and beautiful things all around.”

At first, I was taken aback by the note. I felt like my right to sit in sadness was being diminished somehow. But the more I thought about it, I realized it was wise advice. It was the voice of wisdom and a message I needed to hear — a message of tough love from an angel. It reminded me of the love that surrounds us in spite of chaos we may feel within.

Angels are heavenly messengers who serve as a bridge between heaven and earth, reminding us that we are not alone. We are surrounded by all kinds of unseen spiritual power. Even in the darkest of times, we are surrounded by beautiful people and beautiful things.

Prayer for today: Thank you, God, for the joy you give us. We ask that as we wait for all your promises to come true, and for Christ to come again, that you would remain present with us. Help us today, and everyday, to worship you, to hear your word, and to do your will by sharing your joy with each other. We ask it in the name of the one who was born in Bethlehem. Amen.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Carla Peck):

“Did the Twelve Pounds of Christmas Find You?” is the headline on an advertisement in the elevator where I work. I think it’s catchy and I can’t seem to erase it from my mind — so I will write about it! The slogan is a reality check, a wake up call, and a call to action to all who work in my building (and now to you, too.)

Perhaps the twelve pounds of Christmas is not a physical weight gain for you. Maybe it is a mental guilt gain (i.e. did I do enough, spend enough, spend too much, share enough enthusiasm and love with others, etc.). Now that we’ve been bombarded with advertising messages of “consume and indulge” for the past few months, it’s now the health enthusiasts’ turn at us asking us to “decrease” portion sizes and “increase” our muscle mass and heart rate.

I love the fresh start of a New Year and am particularly excited that this is also the start of the second decade of the Y2K millennium — a double fresh start! Not only can we renew and refresh in a new year, but also a brand new decade.

Renewing and refreshing is different for each of us. Some of us will set goals and lofty expectations, and even engage in competition to meet those goals. If we aren’t ready to commit to grand goals, perhaps we will ponder changes that will have a positive impact on us. Perhaps we will make a commitment to focus on the things that are most important to us. Perhaps we will make a commitment to determine what is most important to each of us. Perhaps we will find a renewed sense of focus. Maybe we can start by shedding the twelve pounds of Christmas, whatever form those pounds took. Maybe we can “decrease” the portion sizes of the unimportant things, the self destructive habits, the emptiness in our lives, and “increase” enthusiastically working towards increasing the muscle mass and heart rate of what each of us determines to be most important.

There are always going to be distractions to draw us from what is most important to us. This year (or even this decade) consider that the birth of Jesus at Christmas and the birth of Jesus in each of our lives at the start of this new year, can help us shed the “twelve pounds of Christmas” and lead us to what will renew and refresh us. Consider Jesus as a life coach spending time with you as you shed the twelve pounds of Christmas. Jesus is a life coach who will have your best interests in mind.

Thought for the day:

The Pastor, to my good friend Gaius: How truly I love you! We’re the best of friends, and I pray for good fortune in everything you do, and for your good health — that your everyday affairs prosper, as well as your soul! I was most happy when some friends arrived and brought the news that you persist in following the way of Truth. Nothing could make me happier than getting reports that my children continue diligently in the way of Truth!
3 John 1:1-4

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Carla Peck):

Can you remember the last time you told a friend or relative that you would like to invite a large group to come to a meal, at THEIR house? Just imagine being able to get away with telling the family, “We are having Thanksgiving at Brother Donald’s this year, make it happen,” and poof, just like magic, the event unfolds just days later.

I am reminded of a story I heard once about a child who went to church, all by herself. The child invited the pastor to come over after church and have lunch with her mother and sister, and herself. The pastor accepted the invitation and a delightful lunch was had by all (after mother and sister scurried to end their Sunday morning newspaper reading and relaxing with curlers in their hair, rapid-fire cleaned the house, and cooked a meal acceptable for such an honored guest)!

After reading today’s scripture, it seemed to me like Jesus had the Passover meal arranged in about this same way. I consider it to be yet another miracle.

Jesus’ dinner conversation wasn’t exactly what one might expect either. Jesus said that someone at the table would betray him. Jesus even went so far as to identify that person in front of everyone at the table! Talk about a scandal! But again, have you ever experienced a family dinner gathering where the conversation caught you off guard? Perhaps you have been asked to leave the dinner after such a conversation, or abruptly left the dinner on your own free will.

With the holidays just around the corner, perhaps a message that we can take away from today’s scripture is however dysfunctional we may think our family (or someone else’s family) gatherings can sometimes be, that we are just not that unique after all. Even Jesus experienced a dysfunctional dinner gathering.

Prayer for the day: Thank you, God for this story. Any shame that I feel from having dysfunction in my family can be lifted up to you. Help me to “be love” in the stressful, dysfunctional situations I encounter.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Carla Peck):

Today we study a parable that Jesus told that seems to break all the rules of good employment practices. This parable challenges conventional views of consistent and just reward for a good day’s work. I think the landowner in this parable represents God. The landowner displays a concern and compassion towards some of the workers which is unlike what most of us experience in our daily work lives.

On one hand, I completely understand the disappointment of the workers who worked the entire day and received the same pay as those who worked only a few hours. If we are honest, aren’t we watchful for signs of inequality? Does my employer like working with the younger, prettier colleagues better than me and therefore give them the more interesting assignments, and more pay? Does my employer favor my co-workers who go out for drinks and play golf after work, while I go home to spend time with my family instead? I know, we are told to mind our own business, worry about the things we can control and let the other things go and stay focused on the task at hand, which may help with feelings of insecurity when these observations of potential inequity surface.

On the other hand, I have an admiration for the landowner’s radical unexpected generosity by paying the workers who worked less than an entire day the same amount as those who worked the entire day. This parable, as told by Jesus, give us insight into what God’s kingdom is like and the grace of God.

Sometimes a person dies after years of service and honor. At other times, a child is taken away before the door of service and achievement has even opened. There are people who, on their deathbed, announce they have become Christian and there are those we know who never enter into relationship with God. Is it possible that from God, all receive God’s grace and the same welcome, and for all, Jesus Christ is waiting?

Prayer for the day: God, I want to be the hands and feet of Jesus and make earth more like the kingdom of God. How am I, as an individual and your child, called to demonstrate radical, unexpected generosity?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Carla Peck):

For me, Church on Sunday feels like the kingdom of heaven, at least as much as my human brain can comprehend what the kingdom of heaven may be like. I feel close to God when I am worshiping at Church during Sunday service, so that makes Church feel like the kingdom of heaven to me.

In today’s scripture, yeast is touched by hands and “mixed into” a large amount of flour. Imagine, if you will, that you are a small ingredient: yeast. As yeast, you encounter pressure, squeezing, and at times, even punching, from the hands kneading you through the flour, pushing you deep into the bowl, sometimes even scraping you alongside the bowl — all in the spirit of having you encounter as much flour as possible — so that you and the flour together can become dough. Once you (yeast) encounter a sufficient amount of flour, you, the flour and the hands mixing you and the flour together rest, then you (yeast) and the flour expand together to become dough. Although the flour is much bigger than you, the flour cannot become dough until you (the yeast) arrives.

On Sunday, some of us may feel like ingredients, such as yeast, when we walk into Church. We’ve been under pressure throughout the week, squeezed by juggling multiple priorities and deadlines, even punched with unexpected events.

But, when all of us ingredients arrive at Church, something remarkable happens. Our journey, as ingredients, toward God and the kingdom of heaven is awakened by flour: the sounds of singing, scripture reading and prayer; the words to song and scripture; hearing the inspiring word (and the jokes) spoken by pastor during the sermon and seeing key points on the wall; the words of children that warm our hearts during the children’s sermon; the taste of holy communion; the opportunities listed in the bulletin for service, growth, and connection with other ingredients; the rhythm of music; welcoming new ingredients; kind words to other ingredients; offering our gifts and resources; and the spirit of worshiping in community. As ingredients, we have the blessed opportunity to focus on mixing with all the flour that is presented to us in so many ways during worship, so that we can experience the closeness of God and a piece of the kingdom of heaven here on earth.

Prayer for the day: God, I choose, with your help, to think about the opportunities I have to be an ingredient that makes earth a little more like the kingdom of heaven. Thank you for the joy that you have given me. Amen.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Carla Peck):

Today’s story appears in three places in the Bible that I know of (see also Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:17-26). This indicates to me that there must be an important message for us.

A paralyzed man is brought to Jesus for healing. Isn’t it odd that the first thing Jesus says is:

“Take heart son, your sins are forgiven.”

Imagine going to the doctor for an extreme case of poison ivy, after all, it is the season for many of us to begin working in our yards again. Your poison ivy is itching and spreading rapidly, the over the counter ointments are not helping, and you have to walk like a stick figure so that you don’t further aggravate the miserable rash.

As a last resort you go to the doctor for fast relief — that anti-itch ointment and those pills that work from the inside out. But, instead of giving you the prescriptions for the medicine, your doctor completely ignores your obvious physical condition and says something like “I suspect that you completed a soul care plan at your church this year and I would like to know how that is going for you.”

Just imagine what the paralyzed man and his friends who brought him to Jesus must have been thinking when they heard Jesus’ greeting:

“Take heart son, your sins are forgiven,”

especially given the man’s obvious physical distress. Do you think it is possible that Jesus wanted the man’s emotional pains to be healed first so that when Jesus healed his physical disorder, the man would be completely free to live a new life, as given by the grace of God, without paralysis?

Similar to the poison ivy pills that work from the inside first and then to the outside, perhaps Jesus is teaching us about an interconnection between our soul and our body. Just as Jesus has forgiven our sins, do we need to forgive ourselves or someone else, to diminish emotional pain or physical hurt?

Thought for the day: May the love and compassion of Jesus surround you today and bring healing to your emotional pain and physical hurt. Lord, help us all to be more like Jesus by extending a forgiving heart. Forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.