When God works in our world, God often looks for a partner. We see this most clearly in the story of Mary the mother of Jesus. Mary is invited to partner with God in bringing forth the Messiah Jesus. Her response is to say, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Lk 1:38) Mary’s posture of serving make space for Jesus to be born into our world. In the same way, we are invited by Jesus to join him in his work in this world. This is more than just volunteering a few hours a month. We have been commissioned to be “ministers of reconciliation”. (2 Cor 5:18) This is a whole vocation of using the gifts that God has given us for the building of the Kingdom. When we do this, we make space for Jesus to show up in this world through acts of “new creation.”