Christmas - in Heart, Mind & Joyous Realism

Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14 (15-20); John 1: 1-14

Although we will not have Sunday  School class on Sunday - enjoy the Christmas eve and Christmas services, and the presence and beauty of the Lord's coming in your own ways - I attach a lesson for those who may be interested. I believe there's a little something for everyone.

 

The Rev. Amy Richter gives us a message from and for the heart with a reprint of  The Rev. Richard H. Schmidt's Christmas: "Let Me Hold You, Dear Little Jesus," from Episcopal Life magazine.

 

Debra Dean Murphy, in "The Logic of the Incarnation,"shares historical and philosophical perspectives of the differing gospel accounts of God's coming to us in the gospels of Luke and John, blending "the familial and the philosophical; the provincial and the universal, the personal and the cosmic. And we find our place in a story that at once traverses the dusty roads of Nazareth and the farthest galaxies of the heavens. For unto us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord: in him was life, and the life was the light of all people."

 

Theologian Bruce Epperly , in "The Joy -- and Ambiguity -- of Christmas," tugs at both our hearts and minds, as he brings us a joy grounded in the realism "that life can be difficult.  But, make no mistake, this is the world in which the Christ-child comes -- the world of grieving spouses, homeless families, frightened immigrants; a world of care and uncertainty. This is precisely where "we need a little Christmas" -- not false hope or a good-time God, but an all-season spirituality, grounded in a love that embraces the dark night and the joyful dawn."

 

"On this holy night, when you are a newborn baby, let us cradle you in our arms. Let us hold you and keep you warm. Now, while you are small and vulnerable, let us watch over you. We want to hold you now, because many times in time to come, you will hold us."

 

~ The Rev. Richard H. Schmidt