The Nativity of our Lord - A
And so it comes to this: After days of cooking and baking, planning and preparing, buying and wrapping and decorating, the goal of our efforts is at hand. The presents are under the tree, the stockings are hung, the Christmas dinner is on the table, the family is all together, perhaps trying to avoid the standard family arguments that always boil up and over when we're together at the holidays.
And so it comes to this: After the retail efforts nationwide, in which some businesses do 50 percent of their annual sales at Christmastime, after the shot in the arm that the Christmas shopping season gives to the national economy, the end of the shipping and advertising and stocking and restocking and ordering arrives.
And so it comes to this: After the retail efforts nationwide, in which some businesses do 50 percent of their annual sales at Christmastime, after the shot in the arm that the Christmas shopping season gives to the national economy, the end of the shipping and advertising and stocking and restocking and ordering arrives.
There are no more shopping days until Christmas. For most people the news comes as quite a relief. But for others, those who find some special kick in buying gifts for others, the news may come with a blow.
Have you ever noticed how the story of Jesus' birth is set in the midst of a play of darkness and light? The whole event, with its Babe and mother, the animal shed, the keepers of sheep on the hillsides, and later the wise men from distant places making their trek to see the Holy One, all are set first in darkness then in light!
The night begins with the people of Bethlehem putting out their lamps and trudging off to bed. The city that was David's birthplace goes dim, then dark, house by house. And all is at rest. Then, suddenly, a star appears, first as a mere speck then a spot, then a fire ball punching its way through the night, pointing its finger at the stable where the peasant woman and Child are.
The night begins with the people of Bethlehem putting out their lamps and trudging off to bed. The city that was David's birthplace goes dim, then dark, house by house. And all is at rest. Then, suddenly, a star appears, first as a mere speck then a spot, then a fire ball punching its way through the night, pointing its finger at the stable where the peasant woman and Child are.
There will be a lot of present-opening these days. It has long been a part of the festive celebration of the season: giving and receiving gifts. We sometimes bemoan the commercialism and materialism that have become parasites on Christmas, and we are sometimes dismayed by the children who grow up thinking that the holiday is all about Santa and the toys he brings. But, at its core, the tradition of gift giving at Christmas is a lovely one with wholesome roots.
Some of us will use tags on our gifts, and those tags will indicate "from" whom and "to" whom the gift is given. Let's use the occasion of the season to put one of those tags on the gospel.
Some of us will use tags on our gifts, and those tags will indicate "from" whom and "to" whom the gift is given. Let's use the occasion of the season to put one of those tags on the gospel.
"And so this is Christmas...." Bob Geldof's musical Band Aid gift to Africa ("Do They
Know It's Christmas" and other such songs) replays the ongoing crises of our times every
year in this season. Perhaps this will be the year when faith gives way to sight, and all
Christmas Eve services will be pre-empted by our Lord's return.
But if not, the texts for preaching this year are the great classics. Isaiah charges our imagination with hope. Paul, in his memo scratched off to Titus, ties our hope to the tangible. And Luke, as he recounts the first Christmas, makes the tangible wondrously strange and compelling.
One child, learning to recite the Lord's Prayer about this time of year, petitioned God to "forgive us our Christmases as we forgive those who Christmas...
But if not, the texts for preaching this year are the great classics. Isaiah charges our imagination with hope. Paul, in his memo scratched off to Titus, ties our hope to the tangible. And Luke, as he recounts the first Christmas, makes the tangible wondrously strange and compelling.
One child, learning to recite the Lord's Prayer about this time of year, petitioned God to "forgive us our Christmases as we forgive those who Christmas...
Schuyler Rhodes
And so it comes to this: After days of cooking and baking, planning and preparing, buying and wrapping and decorating, the goal of our efforts is at hand. The presents are under the tree, the stockings are hung, the Christmas dinner is on the table, the family is all together, perhaps trying to avoid the standard family arguments that always boil up and over when we're together at the holidays.
And so it comes to this: After the retail efforts nationwide, in which some businesses do 50% of their annual sales at Christmastime, after the shot in the arm that the Christmas shopping season gives to the national economy, the end of the shipping and advertising and stocking and restocking and ordering arrives.
And so it comes to this: After the retail efforts nationwide, in which some businesses do 50% of their annual sales at Christmastime, after the shot in the arm that the Christmas shopping season gives to the national economy, the end of the shipping and advertising and stocking and restocking and ordering arrives.
David Kalas
The Psalmist cries out "O, magnify the Lord with me" (Psalm 34:3), and we make take that as our invitation and our calling this holiday. The occasion and Scriptures combine to give us that opportunity. They give us the chance to magnify the Lord.
When I was a boy, I misunderstood the phrase "magnify the Lord." It made no sense to me, for I thought that you can't make God bigger than he already is. And, of course, we can't. But what we can do with him is something akin to what we do with any magnifying glass: we can try to look at him more closely and to see him more clearly.
In that sense, of course, it is always the role of the preacher to be a magnifying glass for the congregation. And today's familiar passages are a great benefit to us in that work....
When I was a boy, I misunderstood the phrase "magnify the Lord." It made no sense to me, for I thought that you can't make God bigger than he already is. And, of course, we can't. But what we can do with him is something akin to what we do with any magnifying glass: we can try to look at him more closely and to see him more clearly.
In that sense, of course, it is always the role of the preacher to be a magnifying glass for the congregation. And today's familiar passages are a great benefit to us in that work....
Frank Ramirez
For some the story of Christmas is a fantasy set in an idealized world where pregnant women get to ride donkeys and prophets look into a deep future divorced from the day’s realities. It’s a world defined by the lyrics of Christmas carols and the illustrations on Christmas cards. But the real world is far more interesting and exciting -- and the birth of Jesus takes place in that real world, where desperate situations demand even more than in peaceful times that we act righteously according to God’s word, with the expectation that God’s good will shall be accomplished in our own life’s struggles.
Isaiah’s prophecy is sent in a real political world, in which a failed king who ignored God’s advice now reaps the bitter consequences, as do his people, yet amid the smoke and rubble...
Isaiah’s prophecy is sent in a real political world, in which a failed king who ignored God’s advice now reaps the bitter consequences, as do his people, yet amid the smoke and rubble...
Mark Ellingsen
Isaiah 9:2-7
The First Lesson is a prophecy of the historical Isaiah, working in the southern kingdom of Judah in the 8th century BC. The text is a prophecy about the Messianic King. It may have originally celebrated the accession of a new Judean king. This king is described as a great light [or] for those who had been in darkness [choshek], that is in oppression (v.2). Based on v.1, presumably this is a reference to the liberation of the Israelite inhabitants of areas annexed by Assyria. Darkness is standard biblical imagery for oppressions, and light is an image for relief from such oppression. This observation was readily applied to the Babylonian exiles of the 6th century BC addressed in the chapters from 40 to the end of the book...
The First Lesson is a prophecy of the historical Isaiah, working in the southern kingdom of Judah in the 8th century BC. The text is a prophecy about the Messianic King. It may have originally celebrated the accession of a new Judean king. This king is described as a great light [or] for those who had been in darkness [choshek], that is in oppression (v.2). Based on v.1, presumably this is a reference to the liberation of the Israelite inhabitants of areas annexed by Assyria. Darkness is standard biblical imagery for oppressions, and light is an image for relief from such oppression. This observation was readily applied to the Babylonian exiles of the 6th century BC addressed in the chapters from 40 to the end of the book...
Christmas shops are not just for Christmas anymore. These stores that specialize in everything yuletide-ish do business year round and can be found everywhere. I have seen them in an outlet mall near Washington, D.C., nestled in a small village in the mountains of North Carolina and adorning the white sand beaches of the Alabama Gulf Coast.
To enter one of these shops is to experience both the nostalgic and the surreal. There are trees and lights and ornaments that look like museum pieces belonging to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. There are contemporary displays that leave you wondering what its connection to Christmas could possibly be. And then there are those memory-evoking displays that transport one back to one's childhood. For me it was the bubbling tree...
To enter one of these shops is to experience both the nostalgic and the surreal. There are trees and lights and ornaments that look like museum pieces belonging to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. There are contemporary displays that leave you wondering what its connection to Christmas could possibly be. And then there are those memory-evoking displays that transport one back to one's childhood. For me it was the bubbling tree...
Sandra Herrmann
Merry Christmas! The midwinter festival has come, and it calls for parties, feasting and drinking and dancing and the exchange of gifts. Like all people in the northern hemisphere, we need light in the dark days of winter. The only problem with all of this is that the pressure to be joyful can send us spiraling in the exact opposite of mind sets.
The people of the first century C.E. had a huge festival, the Saturnalia, which likewise featured feasting and drinking, laughter and dancing, the giving and receiving of gifts. In and around Jerusalem, where most of the Roman garrison was posted, their celebration grated on the Jews, whose power had been taken away by this foreign army. Watching them celebrate their ‘pagan’ religious holy day in such a way was the height of...
The people of the first century C.E. had a huge festival, the Saturnalia, which likewise featured feasting and drinking, laughter and dancing, the giving and receiving of gifts. In and around Jerusalem, where most of the Roman garrison was posted, their celebration grated on the Jews, whose power had been taken away by this foreign army. Watching them celebrate their ‘pagan’ religious holy day in such a way was the height of...
Lectionary Commentary and Sermon Illustrations
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For each week, Emphasis writers delve into the heart of the lectionary readings, providing you with several fresh, solid ideas -- based squarely on the lectionary texts -- for creating sermons that speak powerfully to your audience. They look for overall themes that hold the readings together. Then, they zero in on the themes and the specific scripture links, suggesting directions for the sermon and worship service. Since a single idea each week may not provide what you are looking for at that particular time, writers suggest several, giving you the opportunity to select the one that matches your specific needs.
