Devotion - December 21, 2023

 Luke 1:26-38: The angel Gabriel appears to Mary. “Fear not,” he says, “The Lord is with you.” And so he is. The Lord is with you…

Let me tell you a little story about that. There were two sisters from Brazil who told their story a few years ago in a church magazine. Identical twins they were. Both of them blind from the time they were born. And when they were ten, their father lost his job. It happened not long before Christmas. And they knew that Christmas wouldn’t be the same that year, because they were so poor. It would be like any other day. 

On Christmas morning they were all sitting together at the breakfast table. And their mother started praying the Lord’s prayer, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,” she prayed. And when she came to “give us this day our daily bread,” her voice gave way, and the twins, Vilma and Ruth, could hear their mother crying. So, they finished the prayer for her. 

Just as they reached the end of the prayer, they heard someone knocking at their door. It was one of the neighbors. And this kind, warm-hearted woman had brought a basket of fresh-baked bread for their breakfast. Oh, there is just something about the smell of bread -- something good and wholesome and holy. It smells like home. Like love. The kind of love that’s there when you know you’re not alone, when you’re with someone who cares, someone you can depend on, someone who’s with you and for you no matter what ….

One of the sisters said that it wasn’t until she sensed the fragrance of bread and the joy in their mother’s voice that she realized that there had been no food on the table that morning. And that’s when they knew that God had come near -- that God was with them and for them. When the neighbor came with open hands and an open heart, carrying with her the fragrance of Christ who is the Bread of Life.

That’s who you are. You are the fragrance of Christ. And like Christ-scented candles you have been called by your God to spread the healing, affirming, life-giving aroma of God’s loving presence wherever you go, to all the people around you -- the people God loves.  

“Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Rev. Tom Nolan