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Preachers & liturgists will have a choice, this weekend:  to present the Second Sunday of Christmas, or to skip a day to the Epiphany.  Since the church at which I’m to preach is following the Epiphany scheme, and since the following week plunges directly into the Baptism of Jesus, I’ve decided to look at the Epiphany lections.   This is the Season of Light, celebrating those AHA! moments when the lightbulb of recognition goes on, when  holiness breaks into our drab post-holiday world.  Secular Christmas promises so much; and realizes so little.  Here’s an antidote.

We begin with a marvelous poem attributed to Third (post-exile) Isaiah, 60:1-6.  “Arise, shine, FOR YOUR LIGHT HAS COME, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon YOU!”  This isn’t a prescient prophecy of the Messiah, but rather a joyous proclamation to all of Zion that God is still ready to break in with renewed hopes and dreams.  The Jewish Publication Society translates verse 5 as “As you behold, you will glow…”  God’s dream, then, is to create a community of glow-ers?  The whole People will burn with holy light:  “Their radiance is essential to any bright future of God’s own imagining.  If they hope to sit on the sidelines while someone else shines instead of them, then they have missed their central role in God’s vision.”  (Barbara Brown Taylor, FEASTING on the WORD, A 1:199)

The opening verse of Ephesians 3:1-12 speaks about Paul’s defining moment, a moment we all need when we (at last) can say, “Oh!  THAT’s why!”  The mystery of Christ, to over-simplify, is the uniting of all humans in the Divine Light which shines over and within them.  The Church Universal is the pipeline through which this light engages the movers ‘n’ shakers of our society:  “Through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”  And of course some places which aren’t so heavenly…

We can’t have Epiphany without providing for the entrance of the Wisemen.  Whoever they were.  However many there might have been.  The Isaiah passage makes reference to camels bringing the Wealth of the Nations, maybe that was their mode of arrival.  Our glamorized traditions have distorted the story a bit–it may be good to re-read Matthew 2:1-12.  Tom Troeger points out that before they presented their gold/frankincense/ myrrh they gave the most important gift of all, themselves!  Can it be that the people who recognize Jesus as Lord ARE the “Wealth of the Nations”?

Barbara Brown Taylor wraps it nicely for us:  “There is no contradiction between proclaiming the epiphany of the Lord and the epiphany of the Lord’s People….He comes to set other people on fire, not to burn like a torch all on his own….People glow with God’s light because God is present with them, not because of anything they have done to secure that presence for themselves….Today Christ’s kin get to behold his glow until they glow themselves. They get to pass the gold and frankincense around as if it belonged to the whole family.”  (op.cit.)

God Bless Us, Every One                             Horace Brown King

My ruminations over scripture readings assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Christmas is that bright spot in the depth of the year when we dare affirm that the surrounding dark has only limited power over our spirits.  Granted, there are several more weeks of chill to come–yet having visited the manger we find direction home even though the road be gloomy.  Bishop Reuben P. Job reminds us, “But the enormous truth of Christmas rests in the revelation of God’s self to humankind.  At last we can talk about God in terms we understand, human terms.  Because of Jesus,, we can make sense of our lives and understand more fully who we are and where we are going.”  (A GUIDE TO PRAYER…, P.47)

We begin with a shout-out from Isaiah, bringing vital hope within the acknowledgement that there’s a sense of God’s alone-ness in the quest for justice and righteousness (63:7-9).  This is not done long-distance:  “it was no messenger or angel but [GOD’S] PRESENCE that saved them.”  This is a welcome reminder that even in our secular despair of shredded wrapping paper comes a call back to remember that God continues to enter our daily endeavors.  Christmas is our annual reminder that there is a purpose and plan in an ongoing Creation.

Hebrews 2:10-18 seems quite heavily into suffering, relating Jesus’ earthly life to being in the atonement role of the high priest.  The author is affirming the unity of God with the People who go from one persecution to another.  Tevye, in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, says something to the effect that Jewish tribes are always running somewhere, that’s why we wear these funny little hats…  “For it is clear that [Jesus] did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham.  Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect….”  Christmas then means that evidently we must count a lot!

Matthew 2:13-23 includes the sad story of the Massacre of the Innocents, Herod’s out-of-control response to the perceived threat to his dynasty.  I suppose that even at Christmas it’s important to recognize that pain still spreads it’s deadly terror.  Contrast Joseph, who continues to be the hero by listening to the angel of his dreams and taking the family to refuge in Egypt, later in Nazareth.  Would the adult Jesus later have survivor guilt?  Or is this account included as one more instance of solidarity with humanity and all of our foibles…..An “old” story tells of the dying King Herod, eaten away with jealousy and cruelty, opening the curtain of his bed-chamber just after he had ordered the slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem:  “I want to see the Star go out!”  But it hasn’t.

We don’t sing enough, “Lo,  how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung!  Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as those of old have sung….It came, a flow’ret bright amid the cold of winter, when half-spent was the night.”

God Bless Us, Every One                         Horace Brown King

My reception of scripture lessons for the upcoming weekend can be found USUALLY on Tuesday at this space on Facebook or at horacebrownking.com

When we name a thing, it develops a personality.  Old cars take on a familiar name, ‘specially when they won’t start.  My father-in-law, a farmer, cautioned against naming any of the animals that would someday appear on the dinner table.  So it is with our children:  giving a name sets them apart from everyone else, and marks them as unique.  More than a number.  More than anonymous cannon-fodder.  With a name, persons acquire a character and often a heritage.  I’m proud to be the fourth “Horace” in five generations.  Names matter.

The Baby as a Sign (Isaiah 7:10-16).  God, through Isaiah, confronted King Ahaz of Judah, who was panicked by the saber-rattling of Israel and Syria.  Isaiah’s message was basically, “Trust in God, ‘The Lord himself will give you a sign.  Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son,  and shall name him Immanuel'”–God With Us.  By canonizing this child with a holy name, Ahaz/Judah will acknowledge his unique role among the nations. What expectations do we have of God as we celebrate the birth of Immanuel/God With Us?  Perhaps more germane, what PANICS can we move beyond?

The Baby as a Statement (Romans 1:1-7).  In the midst of Paul’s run-on sentences and heady terms, we read about Jesus Christ who “was declared to be Son of God…”  As we count down to Christmas, it’s good to be greeted with news of a special Holy Child.  Those who would explore this Epistle further need to carry this greeting with them through Paul’s development of basic Christology.  This Advent season is but a beginning of a life-changing journey.

The Baby as a Savior (Matthew 1:18-25).  Joseph had some life-changing decisions of his own:  he loved Mary, but…where did this baby come from??  Fortunately for the world, he gave importance to dreams, especially when an angel told him to name–that is, own — the child:  “You are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Daniel Harris writes in FEASTING on the WORD, “Sin is the choice to minister to ourselves, rather than allow the savior to minister to us….  Some people choose to minister to themselves through chemical dependency, others thorough acquiring money, shopping, gambling, addiction to work, or simply by going it alone.  [Advent] invites us to ask whether we have managed to save ourselves in any of these ways.”  (A 1:97)

It’s a hectic Season for time- and spirit-constraints.  The ChristChild often is buried not in swaddling cloths but in wrapping-paper of anger and guilt.  We tend to forget that The Baby has a meaningful Name, even as we drag him forth to center our creches on Christmas Eve.  My church at Fly Creek NY had the lovely tradition in which the children who were in worship on Christmas Eve would bear the lifesize-plus statue of Baby Jesus to it’s honored spot in the outdoor creche.  Almost every year, one of those theologians-in- training would exclaim, “Wow, that’s HEAVY!” — and Christmas would begin.

God Bless Us, Every One                                   Horace Brown King

Join me every Tuesday as I ponder the Scripture lessons for the upcoming weekend–found at this spot on Facebook, or at horacebrownking.com

I’m a city guy; I don’t know anything about a Wilderness.  The nearest time I met with one was in early-marriage when we got turned around in our VW Beetle in a strip-mining operation near Carbondale PA.  We drove through a confusing maze of dirt tracks looking for a way out–at first it was an adventure, then it got to be a less-than-funny puzzle, and as the sun went further & further beyond the hills, a desperate quest for the Way Out.  ANY way out.  Finally we happened upon a shallow creekbed and drove downstream–did I say that it was a Beetle?–until we met with what passed for a road…  Readings for this Third Week of Advent speak about finding a way through the wilderness; and speak to the many confused by unfamiliar terrain in their hearts and spirits.

We begin with words of hope given by the Prophet Isaiah to those transported to Bablylon, 35:1-10.  He says that the glory of the Lord will yet cause the desert to flower and rejoice with singing.  “Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear!  Here is your God….[God] will come and save you.'”  Then again, a highway will be found in the wilderness, with no wild beast or danger there.  “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing…”  This poetry literally drips with Grace, and should be read in worship with a sense of delicious fulfillment.

James 5:7-10 is a brief call to patient waiting (who wants to do THAT?).  Evidently the restoration of the wilderness is a process often buried under headlines of the day.  Perhaps the duty of the Advent Christian is to guide others who haven’t yet appreciated the story to mark the oases amid the sand dunes.  And while we’re waiting, don’t grumble but remember other prophets!

Is this Jesus the Real Thing?  The question comes from John the Baptizer, according to Matthew 11:2-11, but is an eternal question of those who’re imprisoned and need reassurance.  Jesus replies with notes about the visibility of Advent:  “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them”.  He then extolls John for his message in the desolate places to those who could put their comfort behind them.  They too were finding a way home through the wilderness.

Bruce C. Birch, in FEASTING on the WORD (A 1:53) reminds us that “the transformed way through the wilderness is also the sign of God’s impending new age, when all that is less than whole is restored and made new….the coming of God’s Kingdom is signaled by reversals in the world’s priorities and understanding.”  Even those most prone to the tapestries of power can be humbled as the world lurches toward God’s fulfillment.

God bless us every one.                              Horace Brown King

My travels with scripture readings for the upcoming weekend can be enjoined every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com