Pastor Jim Holwerda
Eleven Cent Christmas
By Pastor Jim Holwerda, Father Fred Chaplain
God, why can't someone just leave a bunch of money on a tray?" The prayer was partly exasperation and partly wishful thinking. The young man who offered it had just learned that he had overdrawn his checking account. "How could that be?" He had tried to be so careful in managing his money.
He wanted to go back to college. He believed that college was the way to make a better life for himself. But before he could do that he needed to save some money. He could get some grants and loans, but they wouldn't cover everything. Family was not an option, they were spiritually rich, but financially poor.
He found a job washing dishes in a cafeteria. He didn't make a lot of money, but it was something, and he thought he was making progress, until the notice came from the bank. He, along with many guests at the Foundation experienced the great frustration of working hard and getting nowhere. The temptation is to lose hope.
He had received the notice in the morning, and it weighed heavy on him as he worked his shift. His mind flitted between anger and helplessness. A seductive question, "What's the point?" lingered in his mind. Cornered by his circumstances, he expressed his frustration, "God, why can't someone just leave a bunch of money on a tray."
Several hours later everything changed. A tray came through with a bunch of money on it – eleven cents! He could not believe his eyes. Now, eleven cents did not do much for his predicament – he was still poor and struggling to make ends meet, much less save for college – but that eleven cents conveyed a meaning far beyond monetary value. To him, eleven cents meant that God had heard his prayer and that God was with him. Nothing had changed; but everything was different.
Christmas celebrates God's peculiar arrival in the world. To a world in great need the Creator came as a helpless infant, in poverty. Is it so strange to think that God would continue to reveal himself in small, seemingly insignificant ways?
Hope and joy abound for the one who perceives his presence.
