Archive for the ‘Hebrews 1’ Category
Above: Icon of Christ Pantocrator
Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
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Lord Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine,
thank you for the glorious mystery of your Incarnation,
essential to the Atonement, and therefore, our salvation.
May we, affirming your full humanity and full divinity without necessarily understanding them,
grow, by grace, into our full stature as human beings and achieve our full potential in God.
In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Genesis 1:26-31
Psalm 110
Hebrews 1:1-14
John 1:1-18
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 25, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARK THE EVANGELIST, MARTYR, 68
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Adapted from this post:
https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2020/04/25/proper-for-the-incarnation/
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https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2020/04/25/proper-for-the-incarnation/
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Above: Cedars of Lebanon, 1898
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-11736
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For Christmas Day, Year 1
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Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)
Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)
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O God, who hast made this most holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light;
grant, we beseech thee, that as we have known on earth the mysteries of that Light,
we may also come to the fullness of his joys in heaven;
who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, One God, world without end. Amen.
—The Book of Worship (1947), 118
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Isaiah 11:1-9
Psalm 132:6-17
Hebrews 1:1-12
Luke 2:1-20
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At least two themes unite these assigned readings: justice/righteousness/equity and the conflict between the Kingdom of God and human empires and kingdoms founded on violence and exploitation.
If we back up into Isaiah 10 then read 11:1-9, we notice a contrast of images. The mighty Assyrian Empire will not survive the wrath of God, who will cut it down and hack it away with iron. The Assyrian Empire, likened to a majestic cedar of Lebanon, will fall, but a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse. This shoot will be the ideal Davidic monarch. He will govern justly, righteously, in a manner that will create equity. After all, “justice” and “righteousness” are translations of the same Biblical word.
Another translation of the same word is “vindication.” Why not? Certainly, the poor and the oppressed need vindication.
Luke 2:1-20 is theologically rich yet historically inaccurate. First, as honest students of Roman antiquity attest, one cannot correctly state that all those men named at the beginning held office at the same time. Second, that census is pure fiction, objectively. So be it. Besides, something much more interesting is playing out. One notices it, if one has eyes to see and ears to hear.
According to the Roman Empire, founded on violence and exploitation, the Emperor Augustus (né Octavian) was the Son of God and the Savior of the World. He had presided over the transformation of the Roman Republic, consumed by its terminal civil war, into the Roman Empire and over the founding of the Pax Romana. Yet, as Tacitus wrote, peace in Roman imperial terms was a desert the Romans had created.
In Luke 2:1-20, the angels sang not to praise the counterfeit Son of God and Savior of the World, but to announce the birth of the genuine article. The angels sang at the debut of a seemingly unlikely savior, a helpless infant.
One function of the apocalyptic theme in scripture is to criticize those people and institutions in power who violate divine principles of justice/righteousness/equity. By extolling the virtues of an ideal ruler and government one calls necessary and proper attention to the glaring shortcomings of governments and institutions dependent upon violence and exploitation. God will cut them down, no mater how formidable they may seem from a human perspective. Empires, kingdoms, states, and administrations rise and fall, but the Kingdom of God, fully realized on the Earth, will endure. That is an apocalyptic promise for which we wait faithfully.
Merry Christmas!
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 12, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS TRASILLA AND EMILIANA; THEIR SISTER-IN-LAW, SAINT SYLVIA OF ROME; AND HER SON, SAINT GREGORY I “THE GREAT,” BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF JOHN H. CALDWELL, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER AND SOCIAL REFORMER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILLIAN OF TREVESTE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 295
THE FEAST OF RUTILIO GRANDE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1977
THE FEAST OF SAINT THEOPHANES THE CHRONICLER, DEFENDER OF ICONS
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Above: Elijah Resuscitating the Son of the Widow of Zarephath, by Louis Hersent
Image in the Public Domain
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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Exodus 20:1-20 or 1 Kings 17:8-24
Psalm 57
Hebrews 1:1-2:12
Mark 8:1-13
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Scholars of the Hebrew Bible debate whether the commandment,
You shall have no other god besides me,
in its original context, refutes the existence of other gods or merely places them off limits to Hebrews. Subsequent monotheistic developments point to refutation of other gods in today’s context, though.
Scholars of the Hebrew Bible agree, however, that Canaanite religion influenced Hebrew religion in more than one way. The Bible tells us that polytheism influenced Hebrew folk religion, much to the consternation of the orthodox. We also detect linguistic influences of Canaanite religion in certain names of God, as in Psalm 57. Furthermore, some of the Psalms are rewritten Canaanite texts.
Three of the assigned readings pertain to Gentiles.
- The widow of Zarephath and her son were Gentiles.
- The 4000 or so people Jesus fed in Mark 8:1-13 were Gentiles.
- The audience for the so-called Epistle to the Hebrews (not an epistle) consisted of Gentiles.
I, as a Gentile, find this comforting.
How likely are we to write off populations as being beyond hope, help, salvation, et cetera? Take courage; God has not, does not, and will never write you, O reader, off. But will you write yourself off? I pray that you will not.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 25, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES BAR-ZEBEDEE, APOSTLE AND MARTYR
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2019/07/25/devotion-for-proper-18-year-b-humes/
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Above: The Nativity, by John Singleton Copley
Image in the Public Domain
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For Christmas Day, First Service, Year 2, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970
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Glory be to thee, O God in the highest, who by the birth of thy beloved Son
has made him to be for us both Word and Sacrament:
grant that we may hear thy Word, receive thy grace,
and be made one with him born for our salvation;
even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 118
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Isaiah 9:2-7
Hebrews 1:1-12
Matthew 1:18-25
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Christmas devotions occupy the same category as graduation speeches if one is not careful to avoid thoughtless repetition. I endeavor to avoid vain repetition and traditional platitudes.
Isaiah 9 opens with a text, with an uncertain timeframe, about the ideal Davidic king. Is the setting of the text the past or the future–the “prophetic past,” from our perspective? Historical identification seems to settle on Hezekiah, King of Judah (reigned 727/715-698/687 B.C.E.), son of King Ahaz. Matthew 1:23 quotes Isaiah 7:14 in Greek, not Hebrew, probably originally about Hezekiah yet subsequently interpreted to apply to Jesus. One may read about Hezekiah in 1 Kings 18-20 and 2 Chronicles 29-32. These texts make plain that Hezekiah, although great, was flawed.
Hebrews 1:1-12, with its high Christology, makes clear the superiority of Jesus to Hezekiah.
The birth of Jesus was much more important than that of Hezekiah.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 9, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE DAY OF PENTECOST, YEAR C
THE FEAST OF SAINT COLUMBA OF IONA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY AND ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT GIOVANNI MARIA BOCCARDO, FOUNDER OF THE POOR SISTERS OF SAINT CAJETAN/GAETANO; AND HIS BROTHER, SAINT LUIGI BOCCARDO, APOSTLE OF MERCIFUL LOFE
THE FEAST OF JOSE DE ANCHIETA, APOSTLE OF BRAZIL AND FATHER OF BRAZILIAN NATIONAL LITERATURE
THE FEAST OF THOMAS JOSEPH POTTER, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
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Above: Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds
Image in the Public Domain
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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Proper 2
Isaiah 62:6-12
Psalm 97
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:[1-7] 8-20
Proper 3
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
Hebrews 1:1-12
John 1:1-14
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The Reverend Will Humes, consistent with the Roman Catholic tradition of the three masses of Christmas, provides Propers 1, 2, and 3 in his proposed lectionary. Proper 1 is for Christmas Eve. Propers 2 and 3 are for Christmas Day.
St. Gregory I “the Great,” Bishop of Rome (d. 604), provided the oldest surviving documentation of the three masses of Christmas. The midnight mass was at the Church of St. Mary Major. The second mass, at dawn, was at St. Anastasia’s Church. The third mass of the day was at the Church of St. Peter.
Proper 2
The context of Isaiah 62 was the end of the Babylonian Exile. The nations had witnessed the vindication of Israel in 61:10-62:2. The best days of the returning exiles lay ahead. The problem was that, according to all historical sources, those predictions of paradise on Earth did not come true. Returning exiles lived in a poor, backwater satrapy of the Persian Empire. Many people pushed those vaunted hopes into the future.
God is in charge. This is good news for the righteous and bad news for those He consumes. Justification by grace, which results from divine mercy, makes the justified heirs to eternal life, which is knowing God via Jesus (John 17:3). Part of living faithfully, of responding favorably to God in response to divine mercy, is striving to live more patiently as one acknowledges God’s promises. There is always hope, even though some of it has yet to arrive.
Regardless of the year you are reading this post, O reader, I guarantee that global news looks nothing like God’s full-blown reign on Earth. This is a matter of human sinfulness and of divine scheduling. Mustering patience can be difficult, I know, but we need not rely on our strength, which is insufficient anyhow. Fortunately, God seems to smile upon even the effort to muster patience; at least the attempt is a sign of good faith.
Proper 3
The readings from Hebrews 1 and John 1 present the heavenly Jesus, who dwelt among people and met with both acceptance and rejection. All the people of the Earth should rejoice because of the Incarnation, but most do not. This is unfortunate. It is also a matter for divine judgment and mercy; I will not presume to know more about the balance of those two factors than the very little I perceive.
The reading from Isaiah 52 is a prophecy of the restoration of Jerusalem. The Presence of God will dwell with the people, as it did after the Exodus and before the crossing into Canaan, we read. The full victory of God remains for the future, but the Incarnation constitutes a unique divine intervention into human events. The Incarnation points toward intervention and tells us, among other things, that we who follow Christ have excellent reasons to hope for the future.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 17, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT PATRICK, APOSTLE OF IRELAND
THE FEAST OF EBENEZER ELLIOTT, “THE CORN LAW RHYMER”
THE FEAST OF ELIZA SIBBALD ALDERSON, POET AND HYMN WRITER; AND JOHN BACCHUS DYKES, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND PRIEST
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Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/devotion-for-christmas-day-years-a-b-c-and-d-humes/
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Above: Nunc Dimittis
Image in the Public Domain
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FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS, ACCORDING TO A LECTIONARY FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP IN THE BOOK OF WORSHIP FOR CHURCH AND HOME (1965)
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Father, you have declared your love to humankind by the birth of the holy child at Bethlehem.
Help us to welcome him with gladness and to make room for him in our common days,
so that we may live at peace with one another and in good will with all your family;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
–Modernized from The Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965), page 76
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Zechariah 2:10-13
Psalm 34
Hebrews 1:1-12
Luke 2:21-32
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Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.
Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity;
you love righteousness and hate wickedness.
–Psalm 45:6-7a, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
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The author of Psalm 34 praised God for deliverance from trouble.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are they who take refuge in him.
–Psalm 34:8, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
Exiles whom God commanded to flee from the place of their captivity (in Zechariah 2) must have felt grateful. Certainly the captors did not feel blessed, however. Those who lived by the sword died the same way.
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews quoted Psalm 45:6-7 in 1:8-9. He did so in reference to Jesus, a deliverer of a variety different from Cyrus II, King of the Persians and the Medes. Jesus was greater than Cyrus. However, Jesus (the historical figure, not the eternal Second Person of the Trinity; Christology is complicated) had a humble origin as a baby. He did not outwardly seem great to uninformed people at first. Simeon of Jerusalem was among the informed; he recognized the Messiah immediately.
Now, Lord, you are releasing your servant in peace,
according to your promise.
For I have seen with my own eyes
the deliverance you have made ready in full view of all nations:
a light that will bring revelation to the Gentiles
and glory to your people Israel.
–Luke 2:29-32, The Revised English Bible (1989)
The reading, however, should extend through verse 35, at least. By continuing to read we find the predictions of the rejection of Jesus and the piercing of Mary’s heart.
Often good news comes mixed with bad news–sometimes for the same people. Does this reality shake our confidence that God is good?
As for revelation to the Gentiles, we will pick up that thread in the next post.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SUNDAR SINGH, INDIAN CHRISTIAN EVANGELIST
THE FEAST OF DAVID PENDLETON OAKERHATER, EPISCOPAL DEACON
THE FEAST OF SAINT FIACRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT
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Above: Annunciation of the Angel to Zechariah, by Domenico Ghirlandaio
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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Malachi 1:1-14
Psalm 8
Luke 1:1-25
Hebrews 1:1-2:4
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O LORD, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
–Psalm 8:1a, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
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In Malachi 1 YHWH complains (via the prophet) that many people are taking their sacrifices lightly, offering unfit food and creatures in violations provided in the Torah. (Consult Exodus 12:5 and 29:1 as well as Leviticus 1:3 and 10; 3:1; and 22:17-30 plus Deuteronomy 15:21 regarding animal sacrifices). People in many lands honored God, but, in Persian-dominated Judea, where, of all places, that reverence should have been concentrated, many people were slacking off.
St. Zechariah, the father of St. John the Baptist, certainly revered God. The old man was a priest at the Temple at Jerusalem. He and his wife, St. Elizabeth, the Gospel of Luke tells us,
were upright ad devout, blamelessly observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
–1:6, The Revised English Bible (1989)
In an echo of Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 17:15-22 and 18:1-15, each account coming from a different source), the elderly priest learned that he and his wife would become parents against all odds. He was predictably dubious. The prediction of a miracle and a marvel, to borrow language from Hebrews 2:4, came true.
Hebrews 2:3 provides a timeless warning against neglecting
such a great salvation
–The New Jerusalem Bible (1985).
That salvation is the offer of God, who made the aged Abraham and Sarah parents and did the same for the elderly Sts. Zechariah and Elizabeth. It is the offer of God, who chose St. Mary of Nazareth to become an instrument of the Incarnation. It is the offer of God, the name of when many people all over the world honor. May we revere God and strive, by grace, to offer our best, not our leftovers and spares in sacrifice.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 19, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ANNE HUTCHINSON, REBELLIOUS PURITAN
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HAMMOND, ENGLISH MORAVIAN HYMN WRITER
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Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/devotion-for-the-first-sunday-of-advent-year-d/
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Above: The Sacrifice of Isaac, by Caravaggio
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death
to be for us the means on life.
Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ that we may gladly suffer shame and loss
for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 27
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The Assigned Readings:
Genesis 21:1-7 (Monday)
Genesis 22:1-19 (Tuesday)
Psalm 105:1-11, 37-45 (Both Days)
Hebrews 1:8-12 (Monday)
Hebrews 11:1-3, 13-19 (Tuesday)
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For he remembered his holy word
and Abraham, his servant.
–Psalm 105:42, The Book of Common Prayer (2004)
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The New Testament defines faith three ways, for that anthology is the product of more than one writer. Faith, in the Pauline sense, is inherently active, hence justification by grace. Yet, in the Letter of James, faith is intellectual, hence that book’s theology of justification by works. Those two schools of thought affirm active faith, so they are two ways of making the same point. Then there is faith according to Hebrews 11:1:
Now faith is the assurance of things not hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
–The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
Faith, according to this definition, which overlaps with the Pauline meaning, keeps one going in the absence of evidence in support of or in contradiction to a proposition.
Abraham, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, was an exemplar of that kind of faith. As we have read in Genesis in this lectionary-based series of devotions, this was not always true. (The author of Hebrews glossed over some content from Genesis.) And I argue that, in Genesis 22, the patriarch failed the test of faith, for the faithful response was to argue.
Did I hear you correctly? Do you want me kill my own son? Have I not sacrificed Ishmael already by sending him away with Hagar? What kind of God commands me to kill my son?
The near-sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham must have caused psychological damage to the son (how could it not?), for he became a passive, minor figure and the least of the patriarchs.
My favorite aspect of Judaism is arguing faithfully with God. In Islam one is supposed to submit to God, but Jews get to confront the deity in good conscience. This ethic is evident in the Psalms, with frequent complaints to God. I recall, decades ago, reading a review of a translation of the Psalms. The new translation avoided King James-style politeness, as in
Lord, I beseech thee,
preferring
Look, Yahweh.
The review, from a Christian magazine, was favorable. I have kvetched to God with great honesty often. Is not honesty essential to any healthy relationship?
Pondering the art of faithful arguing led me to remember an incident from the Gospels. The four Gospels are wonderful texts, but they lack any description of tone of voice at some crucial points in the narratives. Tone of voice, of course, can change the meaning of dialogue. In Matthew 15, for example, Jesus was in Gentile country–the region of Tyre and Sidon. There a Gentile woman begged our Lord and Savior to heal her daughter. He replied,
It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.
–15:26, The Revised English Bible (1989)
She answered,
True, sir, and yet the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the master’s table.
–15:27, REB
Jesus replied,
What faith you have! Let it be as you wish.
–15:28a, REB
The context if that story tells me that Jesus said what he did to prompt her to reply as she did. She passed the test. All she had to do was argue. Isaac would have been better off had Abraham been as faithful as that Gentile woman.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 8, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE NINTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATUS OF LUXEUIL AND ROMARIC OF LUXEUIL, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS AND ABBOTS
THE FEAST OF MARTIN RINCKART, ARCHDEACON OF EILENBURG
THE FEAST OF RICHARD BAXTER, ANGLICAN THEOLOGIAN
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Adapted from this post:
http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/devotion-for-monday-and-tuesday-after-the-second-sunday-in-lent-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: David Brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.
With your abundant grace and might,
free us from the sin that would obstruct your mercy,
that willingly we may bear your redeeming love to all the world,
for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 19
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The Assigned Readings:
2 Samuel 6:1-11 (Thursday)
2 Samuel 6:12-19 (Friday)
Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 (Both Days)
Hebrews 1:1-4 (Thursday)
Hebrews 1:5-14 (Friday)
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Your love, O LORD, for ever will I sing;
from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness.
For I am persuaded that your love is established for ever;
you have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens.
–Psalm 89:1-12, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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God, I am convinced, does not change, but human perceptions of God do. They have transformed, in fact. The Bible records some of those inconstant perceptions of the divine.
Consider, for example, the Ark of the Covenant, O reader. It was a tangible link to the intangible God. Unfortunate Uzzah, out of piety, reached out to steady the Ark, which oxen were causing to tip. He died. 2 Samuel 6:7 tells us that God was angry with Uzzah and struck him dead. That verse does not reflect my understanding of God.
Later in 2 Samuel 6 King David danced immodestly in public. Michal’s scorn was justified. The author of the text seemed to have a different opinion.
In contrast to the deity who allegedly struck Uzzah dead, we have a high Christological text in Hebrews 1:1-14. Jesus, the reflection of the divine glory, is greater than the angels, it says. Yet people touched Jesus and found healing, not death. He was God in the flesh (however that worked), among people, dining in homes, and weeping. Although the scriptures do not record any such incident, I think it likely that he had some deep belly laughs. In Jesus, my faith tells me, I see God.
Uzzah should have lived a few centuries later, for Jesus would have blessed him.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 27, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ARTHUR CAMPBELL AINGER, ENGLISH EDUCATOR, SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT AEDESIUS, PRIEST AND MISSIONARY; AND SAINT FRUDENTIUS, FIRST BISHOP OF AXUM AND ABUNA OF THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX TEWAHEDO CHURCH
THE FEAST OF THE VICTIMS OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS
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Adapted from this post:
http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/devotion-for-thursday-and-friday-before-the-fourth-sunday-of-advent-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: Interior, Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Palestine, Between 1934 and 1939
Image Source = Library of Congress
(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/mpc2004002998/PP/)
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-04039
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The Collects:
All-powerful and unseen God, the coming of your light
into our world has brightened weary hearts with peace.
Call us out of darkness, and empower us to proclaim the birth of your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
and
Almighty God, you gave your only Son to take on our human nature
and to illumine the world with your light.
By your grace adopt us as your children and enlighten us with your Spirit,
through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 20
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The Assigned Readings:
Set One:
Isaiah 62:6-12
Psalm 97
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:[1-7] 8-20
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Set Two:
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
Hebrews 1:1-4 [5-12]
John 1:1-14
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Some Related Posts:
O Blessed Mother:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/o-blessed-mother/
A Christmas Prayer:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/a-christmas-prayer/
Blessing of a Nativity Scene:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/blessing-of-a-nativity-scene/
A Christmas Prayer: God of History:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/a-christmas-prayer-god-of-history/
A Christmas Prayer: Immanuel:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/a-christmas-prayer-immanuel/
Christmas Blessings:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/christmas-blessings/
A Christmas Prayer of Thanksgiving:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/a-christmas-prayer-of-thanksgiving/
The Hail Mary:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/the-hail-mary/
O Little Town of Bethlehem:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/o-little-town-of-bethlehem/
Joy to the World:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/joy-to-the-world/
Christmas Prayers of Praise and Adoration:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/christmas-prayers-of-praise-and-adoration/
Christmas Prayers of Dedication:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/christmas-prayers-of-dedication/
A Prayer of Thanksgiving for Christmas:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/a-prayer-of-thanksgiving-for-christmas/
How Can I Fitly Greet Thee:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/how-can-i-fitly-greet-thee/
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Light has dawned for the righteous:
and joy for the upright in heart.
–Psalm 97:11, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)
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You have made known your victory:
you have displayed your saving power to all nations.
–Psalm 98:3, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)
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The readings for Christmas Day, the first day of Christmas, focus on the arrival of salvation. In some ways this announcement constitutes old news, especially when reading the lessons from Isaiah. And, as another text tells us:
In many and various ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he also created the ages. He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has obtained is more excellent than theirs.
–Hebrews 1:1-4, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition
Salvation was–and remains–old news. And the one new means of it is about 2,000 years old in human terms now. Through Jesus we have access to
…the cleansing power of a new birth and the renewal of the Holy Spirit….The result is that we are acquitted by his [Christ’s] grace, and can look forward in hope to inheriting life eternal.
–Titus 3:5b and 7, J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition (1972)
The Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, proclaimed to shepherds, is potentially good news for people of various socio-economic backgrounds and cultural origins. Grace is good news, is it not? Yet grace, although free, is costly, not cheap. It demands much of us. And there is potentially bad news from a certain point of view. To follow Jesus–to be a disciple–might cost one more than one wants to pay. It has cost many people their lives.
On this Christmas Day and on all other days may we accept the challenge to take up a cross and follow Jesus, the Word made flesh and the Light who shines in the darkness without the darkness overcoming it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 10, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHANN SCHEFFLER, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF GEORG NEUMARK, GERMAN LUTHERAN POET AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN HINES, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
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Adapted from this post:
http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/devotion-for-december-25-year-a-elca-daily-lectionary/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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