Scripture: Isaiah 63:7-9 •Psalm 148 • Hebrews 2:10-18 • Matthew 2:13-23
In Matthew's gospel this week we have the story of Joseph and Mary taking the baby Jesus to Egypt, as refugees, to escape the wrath of Herod, Herod's slaughter of the Innocents, and Rachel, who weeps for her children. Sound familiar? Where is God in all of this? In our grief and sorrow? In times of violence, suffering, war, false promises, appeasement, prejudice, and hate?
In "Remembering Rachel: The Slaughter of the Innocents," The Rev. Pam Fickenscher says Matthew is telling this story, not for the events themselves, but to draw us into the experience. This is a brutal world. The child, whose name means "God saves" is born into a world much like the one we live in. The peace he gives to us is not cheap. here is no cheap grace, cheap sympathy, cheap comfort. A price is paid, and was paid, and in the midst of suffering, mourning, even dying, we know that God has been there before, comes near and is in the midst of our pain, suffering, and mourning. As this baby was rescued by loving human parents, we can do the same, for our children, and children who are refugees from violence, hate, prejudice, and evil. In so doing, God comes near, not only to those we rescue, feed, clothe, or shelter, but to us. The Rev. Dr. James Lamkin, in his "The New Normal," tells us God has been there before. He is with us now, and will meet us again. Whether we recognize God, or not.
Scripture: Jeremiah 31:7-14 or Sirach 24:1-12 •
Psalm 147:12-20 or Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21 •
Ephesians 1:3-14 •
John 1:(1-9), 10-18
This week of Christmas, we read another account of the Christ coming
into our world. This time it is not as a babe in a manger with shepherds
and wise men. In the first chapter of the gospel of John, we are
presented with a cosmic account being with God from the very beginning.
He is the Word made flesh. God tabernacled in the flesh in Jesus, and
chose to live with us, and within us. Read The Rev. James Liggett's perspective on John's gospel in "The Same Story."
Moses
was not allowed to see God. He hid in the cleft of a rock while God
passed. God was not in the fire, the wind, or the quake of the earth. He
was to be found in the sound of sheer silence, or as Father Paul
Bresnahan would tell us, in the "daughter of a sound." Jesus told his
disciples that "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." And he told us
he is always with us. What is it to see a "Permanent Glimpse of God," as The Rev. Dr. Thomas Lane Butts tells us?
The
Rev. Dr. Janet H. Hunt tells us that the Fourth Gospel, the Gospel of
John, tells us that in the life of Jesus, “The Word became flesh and
dwelt among us.” The English word “to dwell” is derived from a Greek
word that literally means to “pitch a tent.” Though not particularly
poetic, the Gospel of John actually reads, “The Word became flesh and
pitched a tent among us.” What does pitching a tent among us,
tabernacling with us mean? Consider The Rev. Dr. Hunt's "And pitched a tent among us..." and add your thoughts.
Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7 • Psalm 96 • Titus 2:11-14 • Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)
In the times in which we live, it is more important than ever to recognize, and state the truth. And not just speak the truth, but mean and do what we say. In other words to live in truth. In the first chapter of the gospel of John, we are told that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
In our celebration of the Eucharist, every week the priest invokes the power of the holy mystery of the presence of Christ, Immanuel - God with us, in the sacraments of wine and bread.
Daniel Clendenin in "This Most Tremendous Tale of All," presents an honest challenge to us all. I choose to believe in the One who brings hope to the hopeless, who is the Truth, and who holds the power of liberation, not conquest, to free us from all which separates us from the love of God and each other. This is beyond sentimentality. Beyond shallow claims of personal salvation without accepting responsibility for our actions and the consequences of our actions. To be the hands which feed, clothe and care for those in need, for those living in poverty, the sick, the lonely, depressed, and outcast, and those imprisoned by whatever imprisons them. Real Christianity comes with a cost. A cost of discipleship. Will the Church be the Church of Christ, or lost in gaudy, loud and glamorous displays of emotional sentimentality, saying one thing, and then doing another, proclaiming to be "pro life," but engaged in the practice of death?
"... And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me?
And is it true? For if it is,
No loving fingers tying strings
Around those tissued fripperies,
The sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath salts and inexpensive scent
And hideous tie so kindly meant,
No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare —
That God was man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine."
- Britain's Poet Laureate John Betjeman (1906-1984)
Scripture: Isaiah 7:10-16 • Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 •Romans 1:1-7 • Matthew 1:18-25
As we await the birth of the Christ Child this Advent, we read Matthews account of Joseph's dream. Think of what Joseph must have been thinking and going through when learning that his betrothed was carrying a child not his own - especially at that time and place.
What did Joseph do? Look at what it takes to be able to do what he did. It is hard to put ourselves in another time, another culture, and we know "the rest of the story." What do you think you would have done? Consider The Rev. Dr. Janet H. Hunt's "Just What a Dad Does," and The Very Rev. Samuel G. Candler's "Believe in the Dreams of the Person You Love."
May God protect you and yours, and give us what we need to have faith, trust and to believe as we celebrate the coming of the Lord.
Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-10 • Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19 • Romans 15:4-13 • Matthew 3:1-12
This week in the Advent season we read about a shoot growing out of an old stump, a righteous judge who will bring equity to the meek and poor. The
wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the
calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
The apostle Paul tells us we shall have hope by the steadfastness and encouragement of the scriptures. We are to welcome one another and rejoice, as Christ has welcomed us. Paul prays: "May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may
abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
When things seem hopeless, how can we have hope? How can we abound in hope?Consider The Rev. Janet Hunt's Abounding in Hope, and Steve Goodier's No Hopeless Situations.
You might say, I'm too old now, or too young, too weak, not knowledgeable enough, not good enough,or use some other excuse to miss what God is calling you to do. Citing today's gospel and John the Baptist, in New Life Stirring in an Old Stump, The Rev. Whitney Rice tells us "All the
old condemnations of ourselves and others are to be chopped down and thrown
away, making room for the new shoot of Jesse to grow up within us. That is how
we prepare the way of the Lord. John the Baptist is not preaching a message of
condemnation, but rather one of liberation, of freedom from the thick, choking
overgrowth of sin that has trapped us in misery and hopelessness."
It's never too late. There's always hope. Now is a good time to start.
Scripture:
Isaiah 35:1-10 •Psalm 146:5-10 or Luke 1:46b-55 • James 5:7-10 • Matthew 11:2-11
What do you think when your idea of what God’s will is, or what should happen does not happen – when your expectations are not met? This week, while in prison, John the Baptist sends a messenger to Jesus to ask if he is the “one who is to come, or should we look for someone else.” What is hope, and are our hopes misplaced? What was Jesus’ reply to John, and to us? See The Rev. Dr. Amy E. Richter’s “Expecting the Unexpected Messiah.”
What should we be hoping in and for? What is God doing in our lives? Consider The Rev. Daniel P. Matthews, Jr. “What’s the Plan?”
Can we choose how God will bless us? How are we called to face the unknown? Read Sara Miles’ account of Mary’s experience of God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, and her response in “My Soul Proclaims: Submission and Subversion in Mary’s Magnificat.”
