Luke 2:7 “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
In 2020 we received calls at the church with the question: “Is the church open?”
The question has echoes of the Lukean passage above. Are we accepting people expecting the Savior? Are we open to seekers? Are we open to potentially “un-clean” people, strangers, folks who don’t look like us?
We know from the Gospel that Mary was fulfilling a Ministry assignment and she was not from the right side of town. She could not shelter in place. There was no stopping. There was no option to delay. There was no "wiggle room" in her mission.
Despite the maze we have all traveled since Sunday March 8, 2020, when we had over 120 people in the sanctuary, the reality is: we all continue to do many of life’s vital functions. Some things, like a baby arrival, HAPPEN. Your Saint James has found a way to continue to happen electronically, in cars, in the parking lot, in your home, on your phone.
Is Christmas coming? Like the passage above, wrapping WILL happen and things will be laid in place for the joy of others. Be it a McMansion or a humble abode, Christmas is open to anyone who is able and willing to celebrate a Savior who came to a hostile environment, under threat of death, in a stinking stable. He came to provide a vaccine for the sin virus.
Hallelujah!
Mrs. Thomas and I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a year of diminishing and disappearing pandemic. While we completely understand and would not ask you to do anything different, please know how much we have missed the spirit-filled worship embedded in the rich history of the Saint James Baptist Church. We pray you will be freed to worship the way we have in the past real soon. Our Christmas gift wish at the top of our list is YOU PRESENT!!!!
There is plenty good room on the corner.