And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Luke 2:8 KJV
When I briefly worked from 11pm till 6 am, I found myself suddenly a part of an exclusive group of people who only see the world from mid-night till dawn. On the night that Jesus was born, just above Bethlehem were shepherds who were the third shift workers of their day. The more important shepherds got the first shift jobs. But in the darkness of that night, those unnamed and seemingly unimportant third shift shepherds were about to become the first people on earth to hear the good news of Jesus Christ! That message was that God had remembered His people, He remembered Bethlehem and He even remembered shepherds whom everyone else had forgotten.
Did you ever stop to think that God also remembers you? He is not satisfied to visit only the better homes in the better neighborhoods with the biggest churches with their beautiful appearances. Just as the shepherds were watching their flocks at night so God watches over us when we are going through the darkest moments of our lives. He knows right where we are. He hears us and He still sends angels with His message of good news. There is no better place than right where you are to hear the news; that Jesus Christ came to bring hope and salvation to us all: even to third shift shepherds out in their fields at night!
And he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. Luke 21:2-3 ESV
Three years ago, we hadn’t met many of our neighbors yet since we had just moved in, so when I saw the teenage boy pull in the driveway across the street I called over “Hey good morning!”, hoping to strike up a conversation. Surprisingly he didn’t even turn his head to look at me, and headed into his house. I was a bit put off and grumbled about that “unfriendly boy across the street” to my wife later. Nancy paused to let me finish griping, then she said, “He’s deaf you know. He can lip read, but he had to be able to see your face.” In an instant, not only did my attitude completely change but I felt pretty silly to boot.
When ministering at nursing homes, whether for Christmas, or any other time, one of the most important things we can do is to listen with our eyes, just as my deaf neighbor would have done if He could have seen me. In this third and final installment on preparing a Nursing Home Christmas program, let’s take time to consider the value of really seeing the people we are called to serve. In the same way that deaf people lip read, we need to pay attention to people’s facial expressions and body language while we are singing, giving gifts or putting on a Nativity play. We shouldn’t just plough through our well-planned program, then announce proudly to others how loving and generous we have been. We need to watch people’s faces to see how they are responding. If someone is just staring off into space, then catch their eyes and smile. If you see those in the back, turning their heads or cupping their ears, move closer as they may not be able to hear the song. Don’t let your “Silent Night” be silent because they can’t hear the notes! Ask God for help to not only listen to the words of greeting as you shake their hands to say goodbye; but take time to see them as Jesus does. Then maybe we will hear more than people’s words. We will see them as God does when we learn to listen with our eyes!
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Yesterday I shared a little about preparing a Christmas outreach into Senior Living communities in your own town. Today I’ll be presenting some practical suggestions that you can use, or re-configure to fit your own situation. Most importantly is that we try to find ways to carry the love of Christ into facilities that are just beginning to open again. Why shouldn’t Christians be the first ones in the door willing to bringing tidings of comfort and joy. this Christmas?
We need to think about how the same old goals of nursing home ministry can be done in brand new ways. When Sunday services in a nice comfortable chapel at a retirement village where I used to visit were cancelled, one of the residents went to the administration and received permission for us to meet outside at a little park area around a fountain. Someone ran a long extension cord out of a nearby building to power the microphone and while others brought beach chairs to supplement the few park benches, we had available. We printed out flyers to advertise our little gathering and prayed it wouldn’t rain. It was both amazing and wonderful how being outside allowed other residents of the village to see that they had somewhere they could go for fellowship, singing and prayer. Some people wore masks, everyone socially distanced and no one became infected by it. Most of all we discovered that the difficulties encouraged us to work together with everyone and that together we could bring the hope of Christ to our community. One woman did the organizing and scheduling; while two retired pastors took turns moderating our meetings, and I only needed lead the songs.
Eventually we were granted the use of a recreational building where we had air conditioning during our hot Florida summer but the lessons we learned at the fountain were precious and will remain with me forever. We are a family and every family has to work together to find unique solutions in different situations. At another facility, the recreation director eagerly invited us to come sing Christmas carols.
Our Florida solution was to do the caroling around the swimming-pool! Residents from the assisted living building overlooking the pool area could hear the music and as we went on our small group grew in numbers considerably. At the end of our time after we prayed, we turned around to leave and were surprised by one of the staff people with a food-cart serving everyone hot chocolate and ice cream! It reminded me of the scene at the burning bush when God called Moses to go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let the Israelite people go. As you can imagine Moses was less than thrilled about how that was going to play out and God asked him a simple question,” What is in your hand?” and Moses answered, “A staff.” (See Exodus 3:2). In that same way, as we stand in front of our own burning bush, wishing we could pass through those flames to answer our own call to serve and God is asking each of us; “What is in your hand?” What opportunities do you have? Who can you ask to help? What abilities and talents has God given you? The answer may be something as insignificant as the stick in Moses’ hand, but God is not as concerned about what we have, but in how able He is to use anything and anyone that is given to Him in order to share the love of Christ with others.
These are the Sunshine newsletters that we distribute free of charge in several facilities
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