Scripture: Amos: 9:14-15

Amos proclaimed that the Lord promises to “restore the fortunes of Israel,” after the Assyrians had conquered and occupied the land. This divine promise expresses an overarching theme in the Bible that God’s choice is to make room for the people of God again and again and again; a people who are introduced first as wandering shepherds only to be enslaved later in Egypt. God promised a land flowing with milk and honey. After defeat and exile from their promised land, God restored them there.

Jesus embraced this dominant activity of God by making room for those, who had no room. At his own birth there was “no room” for him in the inn. Throughout his ministry he made room in God’s kingdom for those who were thought to have no room there: sinners, tax collectors, the sick, and outcasts, saying, “I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

In Advent we worship the one who at last promised, “I go to make a place for you and I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be, also.” God has always acted to make room for us. And so, when we make room for any, who do not believe there is a place for them in God’s kingdom, we prepare for the coming of Christ in a way that befits his mission.