Holy Guacamole: A Glorious Discovery of Your Undeniable WorthSample

A few years ago, I arrived at church on Christmas Eve with several pans of cinnamon rolls. I had given most of them to homeless members of our congregation before the service. After we lit the candles and sang “Silent Night,” I still had two pans left, so my kids and I went on a cinnamon roll quest.

“We’re looking for someone who needs a little Christmas,” I told them.

The temperature was dropping below freezing as I drove along the highway, and it seemed most of the homeless and poor had hidden away in their tents or shelters. And then I saw them: a group of three men huddled together in a parking garage near an office building. We careened across traffic and pulled into the garage.

I walked toward the men and said, “Would you like some Christmas cinnamon rolls?” That was when I realized there weren’t just three men, but six. They were some of the roughest-looking street people I had encountered here in Austin, scarred and broken in body and life. Even so, they walked toward me smiling and completely relaxed.

“Merry Christmas,” I said as I handed them the pans. “Thank you,” one of the men replied. He opened his arms for a hug. I didn’t hesitate. Later I realized the potential foolishness of this moment, but right then I only knew that I wanted him to feel the kind of friendship God intends for all of His children to experience in life and in eternity. I hugged that man and told him God loved him. Then I said goodbye. The kids and I drove home to our warm house, which suddenly seemed far too full of things we couldn’t possibly ever deserve.

According to Jesus, if we want to be counted among the set-apart, beloved Holy Guacamole people of God, we can only move toward Him by moving toward needy people and offering them love and care. The facts are that Jesus is there with them, waiting for us to love Him by loving them. Every pan of cinnamon rolls we hand out lands straight in Jesus’ hands. If we cannot find a way to love and serve others, we should ask ourselves if we really love God at all.

The hungry man on the corner is not just a man who needs a good meal. The refugee seeking asylum is not just a displaced person in need of a bed. The child in foster care is not just a kid who needs a place to belong. The man next door who is hiding in his perfect suburban life is not just a guy with a good job and a nice car. And you are not just some person living a life that doesn’t really matter in the end.

You are Holy Guacamole. So are they. God is serving up His love in us and through us all.

Was this plan helpful? We adapted it from the book Holy Guacamole: A Glorious Discovery of Your Undeniable Worth by Carrie Stephens.