A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering: Christmas Eve Day

Coffee in the Morning by George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

It’s almost that time, Lord,
when we give each other gifts
- on your birthday:
please forgive us
for getting that mixed up every year
- and again this year!

So, there's lots of wrapping going on:
paper and foil, gift bags and boxes,
tags and tape, ribbons and bows…

Seems that everyone’s wrapped up in wrapping
so what I offer you this morning, Lord,
are all the things that wrap me up
and definitely need unwrapping...

• I get wrapped up, Lord, in little things
while the big things go undone…

Unwrap me, Lord, and keep me faithful
to what deserves my first attention...

• I get wrapped up in things that waste my time
and time is one of my most precious possessions…

Unwrap me, Lord, and make me a better steward
of my days and nights, my work, my play and my rest…

• I get wrapped up in fantasies and fears
and leave untended the realities I just don't want to face...

Unwrap me, Lord, and sharpen my vision
of what’s real and what will help me truly grow…

• I get wrapped up in what I want and hope to get,
and in desire for what I can't or shouldn't have…

Unwrap me, Lord, and give me a hunger
for what truly nourishes and satisfies...

• I get wrapped up in having more, in having the most,
in having the biggest, the newest, the best...

Unwrap me, Lord, and help me give and give away,
help me simplify and learn to do with less...

• I get wrapped up in anger and hurt
that sap my energy for reaching out...

Unwrap me, Lord, and free my heart
to be with others and to do for others…

• And I often wrap myself in - my self:
I'm get all wrapped up in me,
in my wants and in my worries,
in my disappointments and self-pity...

Unwrap me, Lord,
and let me see the blessings that are mine:
the gifts of your love, your word, your presence,
your mercy and your strength...

Unwrap me, Lord,
so that others can know, share and enjoy my gifts...

Unwrap me, Lord,
when I try to hide from you,
from your love
and from the love of those around me...

I have Christmas gifts for others, Lord,
but it’s your birthday that's coming
so I offer you an unwrapped heart,
laid bare for you to touch and heal
and mend and bless and wrap again
- but this time in your word and will,
your gospel and your grace...