An Audacious Advent: Setting the TableNäide

Radical Love That Makes Room

Advent is a season of waiting — but not a passive waiting. It’s an invitation to prepare room. We sing it every year: "Let every heart prepare Him room." But how often do we stop and ask: Who have I actually made room for? And maybe more importantly, who have I not?

When God entered the world through Jesus, He did it in the most radically inclusive way imaginable. The birth announcement didn’t go to the powerful or prestigious. It went to shepherds — the working poor. Strangers from distant lands followed a star to find Him. His family line included outsiders and the broken. From the beginning, the arrival of Emmanuel — God with us — declared that there is no “us and them” in the Kingdom.

But what does that look like for you and me?
In John 13:34 (NIV), Jesus commanded us to love others the way God has loved us.
No exceptions. No exemptions.

Radical love dismantles the quiet walls we build. It calls us to widen our tables and see Christ in the faces of those often overlooked — the single parent, the refugee, the unhoused neighbor, the friend whose story makes us uncomfortable. Real Advent love goes beyond sentiment; it’s an act of holy courage.

If our Christmas celebrations only include those who make us feel safe and familiar, have we truly prepared room for the Christ who came in discomfort and vulnerability?

Love, in its purest form, is justice lived out in relationship. It’s the willingness to see every person as worthy of belonging and embrace — because that’s how God sees us. The incarnation itself was a radical act of inclusion: Heaven making room for humanity.

So this Advent, may our homes reflect Heaven’s hospitality.
May our tables be wide enough for strangers and skeptics.
May our hearts be brave enough to love beyond comfort.

Because Advent love isn’t just about remembering His coming — it’s about becoming His presence.

Advent Invitation:
Who might God be asking you to make room for this Advent season? Take time to reflect on how your love may be shaped more by comfort than by courage. What would it look like to embrace radical inclusion—not just as a value, but as a way of celebrating Christmas?

Written by: Cheryl Nembhard