Friday, December 20, 2024

For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you

cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting. Do not, therefore, abandon that boldness of yours; it brings a great reward.

Hebrews 10: 34-35.

 

When I was in high school, sitting around with the girls on my basketball team, someone showed us an old picture of her grandmother who had recently died. As we all offered our sympathies, one of my teammates shared that she never had a picture like that of her grandmother, for all of their old photos had been destroyed in the big flood that had gone through our community when we had been in early elementary school.

 

She remembered how, as the water quickly came flowing down their street, her family had to flee from their home with only the clothes they were wearing and, so, they lost all of those possessions and photos that might serve as memories now. Many of us remembered that flooding, but few of us had ever met anyone who had suffered through it.

 

Someone asked how she had managed to deal with such a loss and she told us. As they returned home to begin the cleanup, her aunt stopped by to help. But, she also brought her camera and a photo album to take pictures of the devastation and the progress they made in their recovery.

 

She took pictures of neighbors and family who came to help. Those were their pictures of promise and hope. Those were their new memories.

Memories that showed how they had stood firm in their suffering and how those survivors had found strength to offer compassion and sustenance to others around them who also endured hardship.

 

In these final days of Advent, may we remember that God does not abandon us in our times of trial. God sends others to accompany us through our suffering, reminding us that this is what our God has promised. And, it came to us, as a tiny child laid in a manger.

 

O God of promise and hope, you hear the prayers of the whole world – prayers for help, for love, for mercy, for safety and relief. Help us to respond with confidence and compassion. Make us an answer to someone’s prayer.

Amen.

 

Rev. Paulette Obrecht is a retired pastor in NEPA Synod and a member of the Advisory Board of Lutheran Congregational Services.