Christmas 1
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
For he said, "Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely; and he became their savior in all their distress."
-- Isaiah 63:8
This passage is part of a lament that mourns the sad state of Israel. As Israel grieved its condition of poverty and powerlessness, in this passage it remembered its origin. When God graciously formed them as a people from a group of slaves in Egypt, "... he became their savior in all their distress." God did not do that as some distant force. "It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them...." As we celebrate the first Sunday after Christmas, we also experience the poverty and powerlessness of the church as the people of God. As we lament the sad condition of the church, it is important that we remember our origin, as well. It was God's gracious choice to dwell among us in the person of Jesus. "For he said, 'Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely; and he became their savior in all their distress.' " Whatever is true about the state of the church, our very existence is the result of God's gracious act. Like Israel, the church should be reminding ourselves that we are in the hands of God. As one continues to read the rest of Israel's lament, you hear Israel plead with God for God's renewed presence that they might be redeemed from their present state. To celebrate the incarnation of the Word of God in the community of faith is to remember our origin in the past but also to anticipate God's gracious work in our future.
-- Isaiah 63:8
This passage is part of a lament that mourns the sad state of Israel. As Israel grieved its condition of poverty and powerlessness, in this passage it remembered its origin. When God graciously formed them as a people from a group of slaves in Egypt, "... he became their savior in all their distress." God did not do that as some distant force. "It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them...." As we celebrate the first Sunday after Christmas, we also experience the poverty and powerlessness of the church as the people of God. As we lament the sad condition of the church, it is important that we remember our origin, as well. It was God's gracious choice to dwell among us in the person of Jesus. "For he said, 'Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely; and he became their savior in all their distress.' " Whatever is true about the state of the church, our very existence is the result of God's gracious act. Like Israel, the church should be reminding ourselves that we are in the hands of God. As one continues to read the rest of Israel's lament, you hear Israel plead with God for God's renewed presence that they might be redeemed from their present state. To celebrate the incarnation of the Word of God in the community of faith is to remember our origin in the past but also to anticipate God's gracious work in our future.
