God’s People Are Comforted
1 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
As I prepare my heart for the arrival of the Christ child, I am wondering what it is that the Lord desires from us. What does it really mean to “prepare the way of the Lord” or “make a highway for our God?”
As Mary prepared for the very first Christmas night, she was denied access to a bed in the inn and our savior was instead born in a stable. I think about how many times I have opened my home to relative strangers at the request of a family member or a common friend. If we are so willing to open our homes to unknown travelers, how much more so should we open our church home to the unsheltered children of God?
How can we provide comfort and speak tenderly to God’s people? Can it be through opening our doors during this season to provide emergency shelter overflow with Room in the Inn? I think we can show that we do indeed have “room in the inn” for all of God’s creation this season of Advent and beyond.
-Lucy Crain
If you feel called to participate in this ministry of welcome, contact me at lcrain@firstpres-charlotte.org.