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Written as the Year changes from 2024 to 2024! Who’d have thought it? Maybe THIS year, Christ will come for everyone, everyone at all. While we wait and bask in the light of the Star, we hear these messages sent about the universality of the ChristChild.

SIRACH/ECCLESIASTICUS 24:1-12 talks about the Eternal Wisdom of the Creator, perhaps the breath of God, enveloping the World. But this free-floating Wisdom needs a headquarters, a constant address–so naturally, the Jews picked Jerusalem. Wisdom offers us a chance to get near to God, not just through salvation by-‘n’-by, but by showing us how to live wholly throughout life. “Wisdom springs from God and is the foundation of a life lived as God created it to be.” (Stephen G. Lytch, in FEASTING on the WORD, C 1:175)

The EPHESIANS reading, 1:3-14, is a tied-on compendium of catch-phrases and other gnostic pieces of wisdom. BUT as Wm. Barclay points out, “holy” means “DIFFERENT”! The Christians of Ephesus are enjoined to be DIFFERENT from social culture around them, not necessarily to get to Heaven, but to live life as God intended. This intimates that the New Order is already among us, unfolding daily, our only hope in the face of oligarchs and non-seeing politicos then and now! (Praise God for Bernie Sanders!) Who will stand with me in Being Different?

The Gospel is that of JOHN 1:9-18. Read it often, allowing each word and phrase to resonate into the perceived hopelessness of the day. Barbara Brown Taylor reminds us that “the Word [I like to use “promise” or “presence”] was not God’s creation but the true Light of God.” (op.cit., 193) She invites us to put skin on the glory: our Divine Connection is more than an occasional affirmation of Doing Good, but becomes a way of living which reflects the ongoing love and daily involvement of a Living Creator…

William Barclay, again, in his commentary on Ephesians: “All over the world, God had been preparing individuals and nations so that their minds would be ready to receive the message of Christianity when it came.” (page 99) It’s oblique. It’s different. It’s also Good News for a weary world.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Tell your friends! Join us every Tuesday for a provoking moment of hearing scriptural readings assigned by the Common Lectionary for the upcoming weekend…at horacebrownking.com

Seems to me that the prevailing concept of this Advent–and into Christmas, too–is that God takes insignificant things and makes them great! You & me as well. Texts to be heard on the upcoming weekend involve how children grow, and how we ourselves may grow into the likeness of God as revealed in the ChristChild.

I SAMUEL 2:18-20 recalls how the boy Samuel ministered with older Eli in the sanctuary at Shiloh, and how his mother Hannah would bring him a larger robe each year. Was this a forerunner of Christmas giving? At any rate, Samuel would be able to enter the New Year with new clothes, which probably fit him better, signifying that his growth was more than physical. The story reminds us that God doesn’t just create and step back: God is truly supervising our maturity. The Old (year) may pass, yet the New is always at hand…

The author of Colossians 3:12-17 may well have been thinking of the ancient tradition of taking off “old” clothes before Baptism, and afterward donning new duds. Here he lists some virtues of the New Clothes: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience…forgiving…and loving. “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” What binds the members of this well-dressed congregation to each other is the peace of Christ. We become these things as we allow the grace of God to flow through us no matter the situation… Even in aggressive traffic!

The Gospel is LUKE’s story (2:41-52) of pre-teen Jesus staying in Jerusalem and hanging out with the teachers in the Temple. After three days (!) his parents finally caught up to him and their relief was palpable. “Did you not know,” said he, “that I must be in my Father’s house?” I guess they were looking for Jesus in all the wrong places. Just as in the story of young Samuel, Jesus gradually recognized his spiritual growth–which I commend to you. He and we need to grow FROM our roots, not IN SPITE of them…

Written on Christmas Eve, when the earth stood hard as iron. But the Solstice is past, and soon small signs of the renewed world will be noticed. May YOUR New Year be blessed with special clothing–and an awareness of ever-expanding growth.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Visit with us every Tuesday as we try to make sense of our own lives through the readings proscribed for the upcoming weekend–at horacebrownking.com

I hate being small. In elementary school, even in High School, I was the littlest, the shortest in the room. I finally got to my 5’8″ in college, although I’ve shrunk 2″ in old age. But I’m small: I’ve been blessed with a big voice, so that big people might know that the little guy in the corner is actually here. Yet in after-school games, or in neighborhood play, I was usually overlooked… I’m Just. Too. Small. Scriptural passages to be heard on the upcoming weekend help affirm God’s concern and plans for the Small.

The prophet MICAH probably did God’s Work just before the Babylonian army carried most of the people of Judah off to Exile. The Northern Kingdom (Israel) had already fallen to the Assyrians and its Ten Lost Tribes were scattered over the Mediterranean world. So why should Micah be hopeful? Because he’d caught the glimmer of what God continues to do: in 5:2-5 he announces that God’s specialty is in the small places, the backwaters, even Bethlehem (means “house of bread”)! While the People are looking for a rough ‘n tough Messiah, Micah expects One who will “feed his flock in the strength of the Lord”. If you’re living in a stable, Rejoice! God is to be found in the nooks and crannies.

HEBREWS 10:5-10 talks a lot about Christ’s sacrifice, which makes us contemporary Christians uncomfortable, although the Jewish traditions in the Day banked a lot upon sacrifice. But to me the central part of the message is that God in Christ alone does it for us, that we cannot fix ourselves. Jesus is born to accomplish what the Law could not–to mend the broken, to make peace with Creator and Creation, to rebuild the tarnished cities… This restoration is seen as Grace, whatever our stature.

In LUKE 1:39-45 we meet the story of the pregnant Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth–also pregnant with John the Baptizer in her old age– in a “Judean town in the hill country”. No name, so it’s probably Small. The story tells how John the Baptizer gave a kick of joy when he heard the voice of Mary. Two pregnant women on the margins meet in an obscure village, and the world is changed! The message for the Church is that the alienated and the passed-over are often the recipients of the Holy Promise. Even me. Even you.

Brian McLaren has written, in an online mediation, “In Christ, we see an image of God who is not armed with lightening bolts but with basin and towel, who spewed not threats but good news for all, who rode not a warhorse but a donkey, weeping in compassion for people who do not know the way of peace.” The joyous news of Christmas is that God can yet be seen–especially now–in all of the world’s nooks and crannies…

The other day I got a Christmas Card which read, “Wishing you JOY and happiness”. This third weekend of Advent is often called “joy”, and a pink candle is lit on the Wreath. But where is Joy? Certainly not on MSNBC or other news-stations. Not in the rough-and-tumble of shopping at the Maul. Not on the Echo, where a search for Christmas music yields “All I want for Christmas is You”. Readings to be unveiled this weekend remind us of the anticipated Messiah, who will save us from the chains of the System. Dare we anticipate this Good News?

Well, who reads ZEPHANIAH? But this pre-Exilic Prophet begins by telling it as it is, then telling us how it will be (3:14-20)! God does exalt those who suffer by coming to us to show us how it’s done. God speaks, “I will deal with…I will save…I will change their shame…I will bring you home…” Prophets are the ones who hear the voice of God when no one else seems to. “Do not fear” anticipates the angelic promise to the shepherds…and other places where holiness is revealed. Will God really interrupt our cynicism with a message of Joy?

In PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7, Paul gives them/us an almost impossible goal: “Rejoice in the Lord always…” What? Do you know what my day was like? Even though our circumstances are pitiable, still we are told not to worry about anything. The result is that “the peace of God…will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ.” Are you at peace, this Christmas? Why not?

LUKE 3:7-18 remembers the message of John the Baptizer, in the wilderness of the muddy Jordan, away from the urban lights and distractions. He reminds the crowds that they need to open their eyes to the injustice/suffering around them: the indigent need the clothes of the well-appointed; the tax-burdened need the administrators to be honest; the falsely- accused need a fair hearing. God intends to make all things right–yet the People are urged to be part of the process. The whole thing is a matter of Turning it Around, repentance, doing Good where Evil has risen.

And so the Season of Joy comes yet again! As I write, there’s rain outside my window, and I’ve yet to hear Silver Bells. I desperately need to hear a message of Joy. In my depression, I’ve found Joy in the Church, in the warm friendships and in the holy message of one who was, one who is, one who ever more shall be. I wish you JOY…

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Biblical texts to be read on the upcoming weekend come to stir our thinking every Tuesday; at horacebrownking.com

Remember the old poem, “There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile…”? Perhaps this weekend’s lessons are all about him–but you and I can listen in, as well. It seems like God is in the restoration business, cleaning up our lives. The texts to be heard at worship serve to remind us that God is at work daily restoring that which was called “Good”.

MALACHI (which means in Hebrew, “my messenger”) is sick and tired of the corruption to be found after the Exiles have returned from Babylon and (finally) rebuilt the Temple. In 3:1-4, he images God as a refiner of precious metals, burning away the superfluous to make the metal true again. Won’t this hurt? Yes, probably…but we don’t need all the trappings of society to be holy. Part of Advent is the expectation that our lives will be purified through God’s graceful presence in the ChristChild.

PHILIPPIANS 1:3-11 is Paul’s introduction to his beloved church in Macedonia. He asks that “your love may overflow more and more…so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless.” He tells of the process of purity, which is unreachable by ourselves, given and supervised by the Christ himself. Paul’s encouragement to these ancient saints-in-training comes to the contemporary Church as well: those who hear these words may know that God is nearby to take away our brokenness and burn away our excess baggage.

Which brings us to the message of John the Baptizer as remembered by LUKE in 3:1-6. Recalling words of the Prophet Isaiah, Luke allegorizes John as “crying out in the wilderness”, i.e. the corruption of God’s Plan. The Wilderness is where we can see God–without the bright lights, the tall buildings, the business of each day. The People of (society’s) Exile are called across the desert from the delights of Babylon (see Revelation and also O. Henry) to reclaim the mislaid promise. “Prepare the way of the Lord…make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

Being refined is usually a painful process. We’ve accumulated lots of toys and other armor-scales which may or may not identify us. Yet in the long term, these extras mean nothing. God’s intent is to burn away the Stuff which separates us from the Kingdom of Heaven, and to stand tall in the nakedness in which we were made. Come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please join us to be confronted by Scriptural texts to be read on the upcoming weekend; every Tuesday at horacebrownking.com