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Well there are a slew of scripture lessons we could run into over the next 7 days. There are lessons for -
Holy Name (Jan 1) and in fact the tradition of remembering and observing the circumcision and naming of Jesus on the eighth day goes way back. The tradition of starting a new year on Jan 1 is not all that clear. In England, March 25 was considered the beginning of the year until 1752. Just after the equinox? Start of the planting season?
New Year’s Day (despite the above, there are lessons for the day.)
The Second Sunday of Christmas
Epiphany (Jan 6) The arrival of the Wise Men.
We will look at one or two lesson from each set.
Holy Name -
Numbers 6.22-27 The Blessing
+ God tells Moses that one of the jobs of the priests is to bless the people. Just what does it mean to bless someone? If we remember Isaac, Jacob, and Esau, it was/is a pretty big deal, and there is a certain “uncontrolled” or “magical” quality about it. Or, has it just become the close of worship?
+ “The Lord bless you and keep you, make his face to shine upon you…” it has to do with being protected, being treated with grace and kindness, with being at peace. Thinking about it that way, who has the power to bless you? Who do you have the power to bless?
+ Has there been a time in your life when you have felt particularly blessed? How about now?
Luke 2.15-21 The shepherds come and leave; Jesus is circumcised and named Jesus.
+ Jesus is named in obedience to what the angel said. Mary and Joseph didn’t get to pick a name. Where did you get your name? If you could change it, would you? And to what? If you have a child, what went into choosing a name for him/her?
+ we note three different sets of people in this story. The shepherds – they came and told everyone and then went back to the flocks and fields and are not heard from again. All who heard – they marveled and then went back home and were not heard from again. Mary - she heard the words of the shepherds (it would have been nice if Gabriel had shown up) and pondered them and kept them in her heart. She is the only one who reappears in the story of Jesus’ ministry. What do you suppose she heard in the message of the shepherds – affirmation? Uncertainty about the future? Fear? (See the note on the arrival of the wise men below!)
New Year’s Day
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
- The opening lines from a poem by Louise Gates Haskell – you can read the rest of it here.
Ecclesiastes 3.1-13
+ To everything, turn, turn, turn….What does it say that there are seasons for killing, destroying, throwing stones, tearing apart or down, hate, war? Does it mean these things will always be with us? Is life always a mixture? Would this be good news or not? What are you most feeling now?
+ according to vs 12-13, the best thing is to find enjoyment in life, food, work. So a positive view of work. And we are certainly enjoying food these days!
+ if we read on to vs 15, it says “everything that happens has happened before, all that will be has already been”. I’ve been reading the Thursday Next series of mysteries where the timeline of history is set for all time and it is the job of the ChronoGuard to keep reality from veering too far from it. It’s interesting, and confusing! How do you feel about reality – how much ability do we have to alter it? In particular, is the human experience/experiment open ended? How does this fit in with the idea that God is bringing all to an adequate conclusion?
Ps 8 “O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth…” This is just such a nice psalm.
+ Praise from children gets made into a fortress. A piece from Meister Eckhart – “If I were alone in a desert and feeling afraid, I would want a child to be with me. For then my fear would disappear and I would be made strong. This is what life in itself can do because it is so noble, so full of pleasure and so powerful” Would Mary have felt something like that when Jesus was born, or would that have come later?
+ What are humans, compared to the heavens? William Anders, one of the Apollo 8 astronauts who first orbited the moon in 1968, later said that although the astronauts went on their mission to explore the moon, what they really discovered was the planet Earth. He added: “I think it’s important for people to understand they are just going around on one of the smaller grains of sand on one of the spiral arms of this kind of puny galaxy…. Earth is insignificant, but it’s the only one we’ve got.”
+ What does it mean to be given dominion? - Authority? Ability to have an affect on something? What was God thinking?
Second Sunday of Christmas
Jeremiah 31.7-14
+ vs7 is a request – “Come and save what’s left of Israel!” How does that resonate with you today?
+ and then God promises that there will be a grand return. That sounds good, although the days we would like to return to were not always as good for all as they were for us! Note that all kinds of people of varying abilities and ages and situations will return. What would be some of the things that would need to happen for such a return?
+ there will be more food than they need. Well, we are still trying to eat up holiday desserts before they get to stale!
Epiphany Jan 6 -
Matthew 2.1-12 The Wise Men arrive and depart
+ and note that this is a different story from Luke’s. It doesn’t always work too well to try to mush them together. Luke has a shepherds, a stable, poverty, angels. Matthew has wise men, a palace, wealth, dreams.
+ the Wise Men go home by a different road. I always used to go home from church by a different way after the service on Epiphany, or on Christmas Eve.
+ it’s always a problem when there are two kings mentioned.
+ note Christ is for all people. What does that mean – that all people should be Christians, or that God loves all people, or something else?
+ this from Fred Craddock -
Stories of old rulers being threatened by the birth of heirs to the throne were common in Matthew’s day, but clearly the direct antecedent was the Moses story. This image of a tyrant, jealous and intimidated, screaming death warrants and releasing the sword of government against the innocent to preserve entrenched power, stabs awake the reader and abruptly ends a quiet Lukan Christmas. But Matthew must speak the truth: good news has its enemies. One has but to love to arouse hatred, but to speak the truth to strengthen the network of lies and deception. It is no mystery One who gave himself to loving the poor and neglected of the earth would be killed; there are institutions and persons who have other plans for the poor and neglected. Of course, no one wants a hassle, much less a clash, but what shall Jesus’ followers say and do? The fearful whisper, “Tell the Wise Men to be quiet about the Child.” Wow.
Ok – here’s a piece I wrote a number of years ago – a little lighter take on the Wise Men.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold wise men came from the east to Jerusalem…
“WISE men?”
That’s right. They saw the star and followed it and found the baby.
“And you call them ‘wise’? I’ll bet that’s not how their families saw it…
In the evening…
“Pack my bags, mother. I’m off in the morning.”
“What do you mean, ‘Off in the morning’? Where are you going?”
“The star was there. We’re going west to find the baby.”
“Are you nuts? How do you know it was a star and not one of those satellite things?”
“It was a star; it was THE star. We’re going to find the child, to worship and adore, and then we’ll be back.”
“We?”
“Melchoir and Balthesar are going, too.”
“They’re as loopy as you are. How will you know where to go?”
“We’ll just head west. There’s sure to be signs when we get there.”
And in the morning…
“Well, I packed you some sandwiches, they’ll last a few days, then you’ll just have to hope
something is open, which I doubt, this being the holidays and all.”
And she watched from the open door until he was just a dot on the horizon, and then she closed the door and knelt down and prayed -
“Dear God, whoever you are, watch over my loopy husband. Grant him traveling mercies. Help him find this child to worship and adore. Keep him out of trouble. One way or another, bring him safely back.”
The star still shines brightly over the manger of Bethlehem. Just over the hills on the western horizon, you can see it if you close your eyes and look with your heart. It’s just after Christmas, a good time to shy away from the “Wise” men. Keep an eye out instead for those who are slightly “loopy with the season”. As you come from wherever it is you are, to worship at the manger, and adore, may God grant you traveling mercies – safely there, and one way or another, safely back.
That’s it for now – Happy New Year!
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