As Christmas Eve falls on the fourth Sunday of Advent, we mark a shortened Advent season, three weeks. This three-fold devotion focuses on the verbs: PAUSE, PREPARE, PONDER. The devotions include readings and focus verbs, as provided by Augsburg Fortress’ Sundays and Seasons, and contributions from congregation members on the theme of ‘gifts given and received.'
photo credit: Rev. Lidvald Haugen-Strand
WEEK
2: PREPARE – Luke 19: 28-40
You
will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it
here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs
it.’ – vs.30-31
‘Nurturing the Good’ meditation (mentioned in
yesterday’s devotion) invites participants to ‘feel’ gratitude:
“Let yourself bring to mind other things
you feel grateful for. How your body is still functioning right now, your heart
still beating, your lungs expanding and retracting, your skin protecting your
flesh.
Let yourself connect with gratitude for the presence
of beloved people or pets in your life…
Now let yourself open to gratitude for the world around you, the Earth that is supporting you…”---- Carolyn
Have
you considered that the Earth is supporting you? Or that an abundance of gifts
have been (are) laid in your path? The donkey-colt in the story from the Gospel
of Luke was a gift waiting for Jesus. The disciples go and retrieve the donkey
for Jesus to ride for his final entry into Jerusalem. The palm branches used to
worship Jesus were a gift waiting for the gathered crowd along the side of the
road where the parade took place. Time and space is imbued with waiting gifts.
I received the gift of a caring high school
teacher, who’s support and guidance changed my life.
His gift has put me in positions to pay it
forward.
I am forever grateful, and, that without
a doubt, God placed this person in my path. – Bill
I am both comforted and excited by the idea
that there are gifts all around us. It changes my perception of the world I
interact with. To consider that everything I perceive is a gift – means each
item is special, has intention, is meant for someone or some creature. It gives
me pause – is this gift for me or is this gift for someone else? Is this a
shared gift?
I recently read, when money realizes that it is in good hands, it wants to stay and multiply in those hands. – Idowu Koyenikan (Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability)
It
reminded me of people whom I have met that articulate their life through
stories of receiving gifts. Perhaps you know a person who constantly talks
about being in the right place at the right time, the one for whom the stars
align, the one who repeatedly speaks of being blessed, or prayer after prayer
being answered. The person isn’t
necessarily more blessed – it is that the person experiences the good – is prepared
(open) to accepting and using the gifts ready and waiting in time and space.
These gifts from the universe, gifts from God, gifts from Mother Earth – are freely
given.
The
Bible verse from Luke about the donkey, reminds us that Advent is a time of
waiting and hope. We wait for Christ to come again. We are reminded that the
Christmas story is a story of God’s gift of incarnation, a story that has gift
after gift to open, all the way to the tomb of Easter morning. Walking with their teacher, Jesus, the
disciples unwrap gifts of epiphanies into God’s character, new interpretations
of scriptures, and renewed hope in the kindom of God. Each gift received expands
their experience of God’s unconditional love. After Jesus’ death, the
disciples, now Apostles, re-gift the world with the gift of the gospel. Preparing
hearts to be open to the greatest gift.
Holy One, we give thanks for the
abundance of gifts,
ready and waiting in time and space.
Encourage and strengthen us to tell
our story from the perspective of gifts received.
Prepare us to be used as your gift to others.
Amen.
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