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Do I do everything with a sincere plan and desire to please God in every way?
It is easy to get off track in the days of Advent. People often vacillate between two extremes. On one side is the harried holiday event planner, who is hoping a frenetic schedule and fanatical attention to detail will make it a magical time of the year for family and friends. This person is running at full speed with a to-do list in one hand and a credit card in the other, hoping to get everything just right. On the other end of the spectrum is the passive cynic, who avoids cultural rituals whose meaning has grown anemic and festivities that leave him or her weary rather than joyful. This person stays as disconnected as possible, attends to necessities only at the last minute, and hopes for a cold bad enough to offer an excused absence.
John Wesley’s question guides us on a path that makes Advent a sacred time of the year and brings us to a centered space where we can uniquely experience the joy of the Lord in the days before Christmas. Wesley asks us to focus our attention on a “plan and desire to please God.” Imagine creating a plan whose sole intention is to bring joy to the heart of God. What person would you attend to as a result? What good deed would be done? What group of people would be blessed? What act of generosity would claim your attention as a result?
I recall a day when I felt God tell me to go visit an elderly relative. She was experiencing memory issues and a good deal of confusion, and I feared the trip was unlikely to produce a meaningful visit. I had a lot to do and almost allowed my tasks to outvote the prodding that I experienced as the Holy Spirit encouraged me to make the journey. When I arrived, she smiled and greeted me warmly. We talked of fond memories. I thanked her for the ways she had blessed my life since I was a child. That day she was bright and her mind sharp, and she seemed glad that I had made the trip and come unexpectedly. Driving home, I recall how joyful I felt. It was not the thought that I had blessed my family member. It was the way she blessed me. I considered how I would have felt about the visit if she would have been less lucid and decided that it was simply good to follow God’s lead in my plans for the day. I felt the smile of God that we had shared that time, and that I had been able to offer my appreciation of her life and goodness to me. The desire to please God required me to make a plan to do what the Spirit was asking of me. We find such moments of joy and meaning when we make our desire to please God our highest priority.
By asking us to contemplate our “desire to please God in every way,” Wesley asks us to consider not only what we do, but the attitude we carry as we do it. When we think of the disposition we are to carry as Christ followers led by the Holy Spirit, the observation of Paul is helpful. Paul tells the Galatians that there is a real contrast to the behaviors and attitudes that once characterized their lives before they knew Christ. At that time, they were driven by whatever mood or disposition occurred to them on any given day. They were self-centered and unpredictable. By contrast, Paul says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
It’s time to make your plan to please God every day during Advent. Consider what your plan might be, and pray for God’s help to carry it out in the generous spirit of the Christ whose arrival we anticipate.
Rev. Tom Berlin