"God is present among you and you are saying with your lives that you aren't interested."
It's an Eugene Peterson quote I stumbled across a month ago that has stayed with me. It seems even more real and appropriate as Advent begins this week.
I think it would make an awesome t-shirt (if only I can be the one to wear it in front of a mirror). I wanted to put it on my business cards and write it over my doorposts. For me, those words just seem to release a scandlous, heartbreaking truth. Everywhere I look testifies to its legitimacy. Yet, it is more than a wearing or issuing of a scathing tesimony to the world in which we live. It's also a recognition and realization of my own willing participation and complacency.
Sometimes things come into our lives that are remarkable gifts, but we fail to ever see them. We let them slip by without so much as a nod. I wonder if it will happen again this year. What unexpected gift might God be offering us this Advent and Christmas season that will simply fall through the cracks? What will sit in the corner never unwrapped?
The message has been proclaimed some 2,000 years: God is present among you. Still, we say with our lives that you are not interested. Maybe this year will be different?
I agree Norm. I know last Sunday at Forestville United Methodist Church you gave my family the honor of lighting the Advent Candles. This was a remarkable gift you gave us. I pray this season everyone gives thanks to God for giving us his son Jesus Christ.I pray people this Christmas will realize how much Jesus loves us. Thank you again Norm and may God Bless you and your wife each day in your ministry. In Christ Barbara Russell
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