From the Pastor's Pen

Pastor Sally’s Devotional 12/24

| December 24, 2020

Dear Friends,

                I find myself thinking of small things this Christmas Eve morning.  I suppose this has to do with the smallness of the gift God gave us at Christmas.  God decided he wanted to change the world, convince humankind of the depths of his love and draw us to himself…. so he sent us a baby. 

                It is remarkable to think about.  God sent a small infant to fulfill his purposes.  He sent him to a tiny village south of the big city of Jerusalem.  He was born to small peasant people who weren’t particularly important and laid in a small animal feeding trough – a manger.  Jesus would grow up in a small village in Galilee and preach in and around small communities, talking to one person at a time.  Even at the height of his popularity he was preaching only to crowds of between 5-10,000 and this only rarely.  Most of the stories we have in the scriptures record incidents of healing one blind man, or one sick child or a faith conversation with one Pharisee in Jerusalem or one woman by the well.  The outreach of Jesus’ ministry seems so small.  And when he died he left a church of 12.  Wow!  Most Presbyterian churches today would be closed if they only had 12 members!  I think of small things at Christmas because God sent one small child, who grew into one man, who saved the world. 

                As you celebrate Christmas tonight and tomorrow I want to invite you to think small.  Think about how important the small relationships in your life are to you.  Remember the small things in in our worship service that give meaning to your life, like a particular song or a candle in your hand.  Thank God for all the small blessings your enjoy.  Consider what a difference it might make to the world if we each focused on just loving the people in our own small corner of the world.  Think about giving small gifts at Christmas – maybe even something you didn’t plan for.  Give the gift of forgiveness to someone who doesn’t deserve it.  Give the gift of your time to someone who wants to be with you.  Give the gift of surprise to someone who isn’t expecting anything from you.  Give the gift of love again and again.  It is the gift God gave to us in his small son.

 

Merry Christmas,

Pastor Sally

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