As this week comes to a close, I find myself thinking of some of the things that occurred this past Sunday simply because "J.K." was visiting. People who are normally chronically late to church showed up early. Ushers for the first service roped off rows for "the children" who never showed up. (Perhaps someone should have told them that Children's Church only overlaps the second service...) Congregational singing was trimmed to a neat ten minutes in order to make room for a video, a testimony in Spanish (with simultaneous translation into English), and an additional testimony from one of the persons who was featured in the video.
But perhaps the most interesting thing was to see that some people were agitated and nervous because they wanted to present Bronx Bethany in a manner that would have a positive impression on J.K. Warrick. I suppose there's nothing wrong with that. We all want to pull out the stops when we're hosting special guests.
Oh, but what a difference between the welcome of J.K. this past Sunday and the arrival of the Christ into the world over two thousand years ago. Jesus had an earthly "welcoming" committee of a King who wanted to kill Him and a religious system that showed no urge to embrace Him (Matthew 2:1-6) and a city that had no room to hold Him (Luke 2:7). God graciously revealed the wondrous birth to foreigners (Matthew 2:1-2 and 2:9-12), and shepherds who worked the night shift (Luke 2:8-20), and senior citizens whose hearts were open to hearing from the Spirit of God (Luke 2:25-39).
Prince of Peace, how is it that we approach Your throne with our hearts in chaos? We hear Your rebuke as You rebuked Martha: "You are encumbered. Your sister has chosen the better part. She sits at My feet and hears My word." Lord, forgive us for our focus on the things that keep us from hearing You. Prince of Peace, grant us Your peace during this season of anticipation and wonder. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment