Saturday, January 3, 2009

The 11th Day of Christmas

Today is both Epiphany Sunday and the 2nd Sunday of Christmas. Epiphany Sunday is celebrated on the Sunday closest to January 6thwhich is the actual day of Epiphany. Depending on your pastor, your gospel lesson may have either been the story of the Magi (the Epiphany Text) or the prologue to the Gospel of John. I have a preference for celebrating Epiphany so I will be preaching from Matthew—but I’ll leave that passage to share with you on Tuesday. For today, let me share John’s beautiful introduction to the life of Christ and in it we hear several of the themes we have already reflected on during these past 11 days.
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
15(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) 16From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
At the heart of our faith is the idea that God has made himself fully known through Jesus Christ—God made flesh!—God with us! When we look at Jesus, we see God the Father. And when we abide in Christ then we too abide near the Father’s heart.

I remember as a little girl cuddling up to my mother. I could hear her stomach grumble and her heart beat. It was a sound like no other and a sound which meant I was loved, accepted and protected. When we cuddle up to Jesus we too can hear the beating of God’s heart and that is better than any 11 pipers piping.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

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