December 2023 Newsletter

Greetings!

                 Why is it that every month seems to pass so quickly?! November came and went with the blink of an eye it seems. I don’t know about you…but Thanksgiving sneaks up on me every year! Well, November is over, and the December rush is here…so here we go!

                 I was sitting in the office as Carolyn, Janet, Cindy, Ron, and Jon were working on getting some of the Christmas decorations out and ready to put up. I wasn’t sure what they couldn’t find until the email came out that the white Nativity set could not be found. I had a couple of ideas of where it might be, but it was not. The hunt for the Nativity set reminded me of a story I often share on Christmas Eve written by Quaker minister Philip Gulley in his book Home Town Tales. I’m not going to write the whole story here; I will share in a nut shell. Philip and his family spend Thanksgiving in a small town with his mother-in-law, the day after Thanksgiving they visit the local variety store to shop for a Nativity set. He tells the owner what he is looking for and the man goes off to find it. He looks everywhere in the store, in the lawn and garden section, in the kitchen department, around the hair care items…no Nativity set. Then he looks in the candy and there it is. The story goes on, but that part of the story really sticks with me, looking for Jesus.

Jesus knew that after his death, resurrection, and ascension people would continue to look for him, after all he said he would be coming back. He also knew that we humans would sometimes look in the wrong direction, “Then if somebody says to you, ‘Look, here’s the Messiah,’ or ‘He’s over here,’ don’t believe it. False Messiahs and false prophets will appear, and they will offer great signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, even those whom God has chosen. Look, I’ve told you ahead of time. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he’s in the desert,’ don’t go out. And if they say, ‘Look, he’s in the rooms deep inside the house,’ don’t believe it. Just as the lightning flashes from the east to the west, so it will be with the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:23-27 CEB).

So, as we look for Jesus, we don’t need to be searching in forests, or deserts…Jesus is not hiding from us. Jesus says, “Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Whoever seeks finds. And to everyone who knocks the door is open” (Matthew7:7-8 CEB). Jesus is right there next to each of us, all we must do is look into our hearts, to knock on the door of our hearts, then Jesus will open the door!

Paul in his letter to the Philippians, “Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13 NRSV). It is up to us to do the looking, the searching, the seeking, the knocking on the door. God is already at work in us and Jesus is waiting to be found at home in our hearts.

I pray that this Advent and Christmas season, you will know right where Jesus is. And if you are looking, know that he is waiting for you to find him. This baby that came into a tumultuous world that was waiting for the Messiah, longing for God to act by sending the Messiah to them, was greeted not by royalty, but by shepherds who found him lying in a manger. May you find that same Christ child just behind the door of your heart and may you swing that door wide open welcoming him into your life as he welcomes you into his.

Blessed Advent and Merry Christmas,

Pastor Mona