Christmas

Who are you, that you love us so much?

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Francesco Londonio ~1750, photo by Dall’Orto, via Wikimedia Commons
 
How meek you are, Jesus, yet how mighty!
Your judgment is mighty, but your love is sweet.
Who can stand against you?
 
If we seek who you really are, your true nature is hidden in heaven,
    in the essence of the mighty Triune God.
But if a person were to seek your face,
    they could have found you in the lap of Mary.
 
Who can realize your depth, 
    you who are a great sea that made itself so small?
We come to see you as God, and see?
    You are a man!
Or if we came to see you as a man,
    the light of your Godhead shone brightly.
 
Who would believe that you are the heir of David’s throne?
From all his beds, you inherited an animal’s feeding trough.
From his palaces you received a cave.
And instead of his chariots, a young donkey.
 
How fearless you are, 
    allowing everyone to carry you in their arms.
You met all with a smile, 
    making no distinctions between family and stranger,
    between your mother and others.
 
Was it your love – you, who love all?
What moved you to let everyone have you,
    the rich and the poor alike?
How could you not return anger for anger, 
    fear for threat?
You are above returning injury for injury.
 
Who are you, Jesus, that you love us so much?
Amen.
 
Ephrem the Syrian, c.306-373, Syrian hymn writer and theologian
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And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 
She gave birth to her firstborn son. 
She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, 
    because there was no lodging available for them.

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The Presentation

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The Presentation in the Temple, Alvaro Pirez, The Met, public domain
 
 
From all eternity, O Jesus Christ, 
    you have been our Lord and our God; so did the Father will it.  
Yet in this, the last of all periods of time, you also had your birth; 
    you were born of a virgin, 
    of one that had no knowledge of any man.  
To redeem us from the Law, you submitted to the Law.  
Your purpose was to free us from slavery 
    to which our corruption had reduced us 
    and to confer upon us the rank of sons.
 
This is the day when you were carried to the temple 
    and the aged Simeon took you in his arms 
    and asked leave to go in peace.  
‘My own eyes have seen’, he said, ‘your grace and your saving power.’
 
Deliver us, now, Lord, from all that is vain;
    fulfill your promise and free us from sin and shame;
    fill our hearts with your holy Spirit and enable us to say:
‘Abba, Father.’
 
Early Christian Prayers edited by A. Hamman, #218
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Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

 

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

 

the birth

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image
 
When waves of pain contort Mary’s body
her face is cramped and pale
Her eyes scuttle apart like crabs
The waves pull, recede again
 
and attack more violently
She clings to the wagon wheel,
grits her teeth, and her screams
terrify the beasts in the stable
 
Joseph, pacing nervously,
stumbles and falls
At last, seated, he strokes her back,
grasps her hand; his strength flows into her
 
Then a tremendous power moves within Mary
Like the sun emerging from a mountain ravine
the infant’s head appears slowly, deliberately
Joseph grips it in both hands
 
Now the baby’s cry flies out, rends the night
Joseph’s doubts dissolve
On the straw bed
Mary peacefully shuts her eyes
 
Yorifumi Yaguchi, born 1935, Japanese Mennonite poet and pastor
 
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And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

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prepare us to receive your gift

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Adoration of the Shepherds / Gerard van Honthorst / Wikimedia
 
Lord, may you now let us this year once more approach the light, celebration, and joy of Christmas Day that brings us face to face with the greatest thing there is: your love, with which you so loved the world that you gave your only Son, so that all of us may believe in him and therefore not be lost, but may have eternal life.
 
What could we possibly bring and give to you? So much darkness in our human relationships and in our own hearts! So many confused thoughts, so much coldness and defiance, so much carelessness and hatred! So much over which you cannot rejoice, that separates us from one another and certainly cannot help us! So much that runs directly against the message of Christmas!
 
What should you possibly do with such gifts? And what are you to do with such people as we all are? But all of this is precisely what you want to receive from us and take from us at Christmas – the whole pile of rubbish and ourselves, just as we are – in order to give us in return Jesus, our Savior, and in him a new heaven and a new earth, new hearts and a new desire, new clarity and a new hope for us and for all people.
 
Be among us once again, on this final Sunday before the celebration, as we together prepare to receive him as your gift!  Make it so that we may rightly speak, hear, and pray, in proper, thankful amazement about everything that you have in mind for all of us, that you have already decided regarding all of us, and that you have already done for all of us! Amen
 
Karl Barth, 1886 – 1968, Swiss Reformed theologian
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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

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be our guiding star

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 image / pixy
 
God of all time,
who makes all things new,
we bring before you the year now ending.
For life full and good,
for opportunities recognized and taken,
for love known and shared,
we thank you.
 
Where we have fallen short,
forgive us.
When we worry over what is past,
free us.
 
As we begin again
and take our first steps into the future,
where nothing is safe and certain,
except you,
we ask for the courage of the wise men
who simply went and followed a star.
We ask for their wisdom,
in choosing to pursue the deepest truth,
not knowing where they would be led.
 
In the year to come, God of all time,
be our help and company.
Hold our hands as we journey onwards
and may your dream of shalom,
where all will be at peace,
be our guiding star.
 
Francis Brienen, United Reformed Church, UK
 
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After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, 
Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 
    “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? 
    We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

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Cusp of midnight

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 image / gamagapix / pixabay
 
What Mary wants now
God says soon

What Joseph needs now
God says not long

What the peacemakers seek now
God says hold your breath a little longer

What the hungry long for now
God says hush but a moment

What the poor yearn for now
God says, wait a little more

What the lonely hunger for now
God says shortly

What the forgotten thirst for now
God says presently

What the world aches for now
God says soon and very soon

Time is moving towards incarnation
justice is slipping into skin
peace is labouring
truth is taking human shape
this night
this hour
this moment
soon
 
Roddy Hamilton, Scottish Pastor
 
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And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

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