Among the questions that Advent forces upon us is whose coming we are preparing for. What is it, this news of great joy? Whose birth is it toward which we are all impelled in the darkness? We know the story, but the pageantry of the season so easily hides the mystery: What does he mean to us, this child awaiting us in Bethlehem who in a few years would change our understanding of our world, our God, and ourselves? One answer that his followers all seemed to insist on was the centrality of love—love of God and love of one another, two commandments that Jesus seemed to imply are both basic and inseparable. Another was the notion that attachment to worldly wealth is the worst kind of trap, a self-deception that makes it virtually impossible to focus on loving God and each other.

Quite possibly Dana and Katy Perreard (pronounced Pair-ee-ard) had in mind Jesus’ words about the folly of trying to serve two masters when they decided that rich financial reward was not what they were seeking. This decision was integral to their sense of call—they knew that they couldn’t serve small churches and hope to make a lot of money, and they were fine with that. They looked for paths through seminary that didn’t load them down with so much debt they’d be obligated to work for large, wealthy churches. They modeled a path of stewardship and discipleship that put their priorities first: leading a congregation of believers in Jesus’ path of loving one another and trusting a generous God. This meant a modest home and simple lifestyle, including staying off the treadmill of credit-card debt. It meant sacrificing a second income for a time so that Katy could stay at home to focus on raising their three small children.

These were laudable goals—simple, though by no means easy to achieve. But then, as so often happens, real life enters the picture. Two thousand years ago, that meant that the journey home to Bethlehem, challenging enough for a young carpenter and his pregnant wife, was complicated when they discovered there was no place to stay for the night, no place for her to give birth. For the Perreards, as for many families today, real life meant unexpected medical conditions and the mountain of bills accompanying them. For both young couples, a little kindness was enough: an innkeeper pointing the way to the stable where at least the presence of animals might provide a bit of warmth; a check from a denomination grateful for the leap of faith that led the couple to accept a call at a small congregation.

This, quite simply, is how we live it out, this notion of loving one another: We help each other find and focus on what God is calling us to do, and we help each other over the obstacles to doing that. The Christmas Joy Offering is one important path for Presbyterians to make that journey together. Half of our gifts goes to help racial ethnic students find their gifts and a way to return them to God through serving their community. The other half helps us keep faith with those who find unexpected expenses in their journey serving the church. With joy for this opportunity to live into the good news that first greeted the shepherds two thousand years ago, let us give generously to support the Offering.

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