The second Sunday in Advent focuses on peace and Dave spoke this morning from John 14:27-29. Jesus spoke to His disciples promising to give them His peace. Even though the crucifixion lay immediately ahead of Him, Jesus could still speak of (and demonstrate) peace. He knew peace in the midst of turmoil, and because of this promise, we can know calm and assurance even when life is troubled.

Peace (Hebrew ‘Shalom’) indicates wholeness and satisfaction as well as the absence of hostilities. We have hope and assurance of peace because of who God is; we know that nothing can separate us from His love. The gifts He gives us are effective and eternal, so even in the midst of really difficult circumstances, we can know His peace. God is unchanging and unchangeable and therefore the peace He gives is both lasting and enduring. At this time when we remember the names of Jesus, we focus on the fact that He is the ‘prince of peace’ (Isaiah 9:6). Because of this, we can be the recipients of His peace.

I’m always struck by Luke 2:7 when I re-read the Christmas story: ‘She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them.’ No room in a heaving Bethlehem overrun with descendants of David returning to their home town for the Roman census. No room for the Saviour of the world, born to a world that really didn’t want to know him. The irony of this situation always challenges me to look at how much room there is in my life for Jesus. You would think at this special time of year, it would not be a problem to find room for Him, but it’s always alarming to me how many things (often good things in themselves) can creep in and push Jesus out.

For a couple of years now, the line from the carol ‘Joy To The World’ has reverberated around my heart: ‘let every heart prepare Him room.’ When visitors come to our homes, there is preparation. Extra food must be bought. Bedding needs to be changed if they are sleeping over. Cleaning and tidying have to be done. In the same way, we have to de-clutter our lives at times to carve out time to be with Jesus. We have to purify ourselves. (1 John 2:28) We have to learn (as Mary did), to drop the busyness to spend time with Him. (Luke 10:38-42)

Making room for Jesus means there must be no room for certain things. Out must go fear, anxiety, doubt and despair. Out must go selfishness, pride, covetousness, bitterness, envy and anger. There simply isn’t room or space in our hearts for these things and Jesus. We can’t keep those attitudes and be with Jesus. We have to get rid of things in order to embrace the hope, peace, love and joy which Jesus promises.

Many people ‘have a good fettle’, as my Mum used to say, prior to putting up Christmas decorations. They throw things away that are no longer needed so they can make room for the new. We too need to ensure we put off our old self and put on the new, to understand that we have no room for sin so we can have plenty of room for our Saviour.

For me, devotion is often allied to faithfulness and perseverance. I see it in the Mum who gets up yet again in the night to deal with a crying child, even though she is beyond weary herself. I see it in the Dad who goes out to work in all weathers to provide for his family. I see devotion in the many small acts of kindness which strengthen relationships: the gift of a bunch of flowers as a ‘get well’ present or the gift of a box of chocolates to someone who has been struggling recently.

Christmas is often associated with gifts, and it can be difficult to feel enthusiasm for buying gifts when you have struggled with shopping bags on a busy day or are finding it hard to make ends meet. Jesus spoke about the greatest commandments being to love God with all we have and are and to love others as much as we love ourselves. Faithful love and devotion matter a lot. We see this in Simeon and Anna, servants of God who were privileged to meet with Jesus soon after His birth. Their faithfulness and devotion to God meant they were in the right place at the right time to see God’s Messiah. (Luke 2:22-40) God is no man’s debtor; He meets with us every time we show Him devotion and is there to bless us.

Throughout this year, Dearne Churches Together has worked to give out small tokens of kindness and love to our community. At Easter we gave out hearts to the community and care homes, and today we will be giving out stars. These have been made or decorated by people who wanted to bless others, oftend spending much time on these gifts, and we are grateful for the many hundreds of stars which have been knitted, crocheted, sewn, painted or decorated in other ways. We have stars made from beads, stars that are baubles and many other kind of stars, all reminding us of the star which guided the Magi to baby Jesus.

Jesus said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ (Acts 20:35). Devotion understands this and seeks to bless other people from the abundance of blessing God gives to us. Thank you to all who have supported these community projects so selflessly. We pray that God will see each act of devotion and will bless all who receive these stars.

The ‘D’ of Advent for me stands for ‘Devotion.’ Devotion is a love or loyalty for someone that is usually seen in actions. If you are devoted to someone, you think about them a lot, and this results in actions. A parent who is devoted to a child will seek the child’s best interests and will look out for them in a hundred little ways. When you’re devoted to someone, you will put their interests ahead of your own and will look to help and bless others.

The Christmas story is full of small acts of devotion: Joseph feeling utterly miserable because he thought Mary had been unfaithful to him but not wanting to expose her to public disgrace, Mary singing praise to God even though to conceive as a virgin left her open to public scorn, Elizabeth publicly naming her son ‘John’ (not a family name) in obedience to the angel’s command. We often feel that small acts of kindness and devotion go unnoticed, but Advent is a time when we can show our gratitude to God in lots of small ways.

Why not use this time to show devotion to those who may be struggling and in need?