Into the Way of Peace
By REVEREND DR. GREGORY GAERTNER
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Luke 1:76-79 (NRSV)
The run-up to Christmas is always a time that jangles my nerves a little bit, even though I don’t have any young children at home anymore and so I’m saved from some of the worst of the shopping and running around. This season seems even busier and more blessed than Christmases past.
Partly this is because we have extended ourselves out into the community in service and fellowship in new ways while continuing to do the things we’ve done in past years. We have begun a new ecumenical worship tradition with the other churches in Calvert County with our Thanksgiving Eve service at Trinity United Methodist. We have also purchased Thanksgiving baskets for families in need.
We have hosted some of the county’s homeless through the Safe Nights program in which so many of you participated. I am so very proud of Kathy Dangin and Charlie Bauerdorf for their leadership and I’m proud of all of you for your hard work and gracious welcome to our guests. We may have saved some lives – certainly we made Thanksgiving brighter and more festive for people whose lives are so difficult.
We shopped for, selected, wrapped and packaged presents for people who might not have gotten presents any other way, through Operation Christmas Child and Tree of Angels. I’m so proud of Bob Finlayson and Gus Wolf for their leadership in these gift programs and I’m grateful to all of the people of this congregation who helped out to make Christmas a time of joy for people who have so little.
We have bought presents that are truly meaningful through Gifts of Hope, giving people things they need so desperately and reminding those we love how much we have been given and how much we can share.
My dear brothers and sisters, you have given of yourselves in so many ways in this season of light. We are blessed to be a blessing to others and Linda and I are grateful to be a part of this lively and generous faith community. Please, take the time to enjoy the blessed peace of the coming of the Christ child. Advent can be a time of waiting, a time of quiet preparation, a slower heartbeat, a calmer day, a gentle night. Take time with friends and families to enjoy the peace and blessings of the season.
Pastor Greg
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