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Archives: Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? #7

Let Us Go to Bethlehem

Table of Contents

Reflections for Advent and the Christmas Season

Reflections for Advent and the Christmas Season

LET US GO TO BETHLEHEM INTRODUCTION:

Reflections by Michael Crosby
Services by Mary Foulke
Activities by Michelle McKinnon Buckles
 

"Let us go to Bethlehem and see this event
which the Lord has made known to us."

It seems there were many who traveled the roads to Bethlehem all those years ago-Mary and Joseph, the multitude of people who filled inns and streets, the shepherds, the magi and Herod's soldiers. Bare feet and donkey's hoofs must have beaten the pathway smooth. A star, so we've been told, even pointed the way.

Why is it so difficult for us to find our way to Bethlehem today? Why have we allowed the pathway to grow over, the way to become unclear? Our paths to Bethlehem are filled with things other than dusty feet and starry nights. For many of us, during the weeks of Advent and even Christmas our eyes are focused on shopping and baking, decorating and entertaining rather than the Holy Child born in a manger.

While finding our way through the Christmas frenzy can be difficult, it is not impossible. By setting aside time to reflect on Jesus' birth and worship together, we can experience a Christmas that is full of joy and promise.

Using These Sessions

These weekly sessions offer households and other small groups one way to reorient the Advent/Christmas season. Beginning the first week of Advent and ending with Epiphany, these sessions provide for times of reflection, worship and activity that help us prepare for and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Set aside time each week to gather with your household or a small group of friends. Include people you know who might otherwise be alone.

As you begin each session, gather around your Advent wreath. If you do not have a wreath, you will need to make one before Advent begins. Look for a book with directions on making an Advent wreath in your church or local library. Or use these simple directions: Take a large, flat shallow bowl (at least 9 inches in diameter) and fill it with sand or coarse salt. Place four purple candles around the outside. Place a large white candle in the center. Stick them down into the sand or salt so that they are securely in place. Make a circle of evergreens and place them around the bowl.

Make sure you have a Bible and matches readily available. To begin, you can read the Bible passages and the reflection aloud. Or the adults in your group can read these before the group session begins. Consider by yourself or discuss with a group the questions that follow each reflection. During the worship service, take turns reading the different parts, lighting the candles and saying the prayer. Then you can move on to the activities. Choose one or more activity as you see fit. You may need to guide young children in drawing pictures, in writing a letter or in understanding certain concepts. Be open to adapting the services and activities to meet the needs of your particular group. In preparation for the service during the second week of Advent, try to obtain a copy of Alice Walker's poem, "We Alone," found in Her Blue Body Everything We Know (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991). There will be a time to read this aloud.

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About the Authors

Michael Crosby is a member of the Midwest Province of the Capuchin Franciscans and a nationally-known speaker and writer. His works include, Spirituality of the Beatitudes: Matthew's Challenge to First World Christians, The Seven Last Words, and The Dysfunctional Church. He also has served on the Board of Directors of Alternatives and Editorial Committee.

Mary Foulke is former chaplain at Wellesley College, Cambridge, MA, and a former member of Alternatives' Board.

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 FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT

Longing for Safety and Security

FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT: Jeremiah 33:14-16; I Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36

REFLECTION

In Milwaukee, one of the top tourist attractions is a place to eat. To get to the restaurant you go into an alley. On an alley door is a sign: "International Exports." When you walk inside you see a little office with bookshelves. A person sitting at a desk asks, "May I help you?" If you respond correctly, you say, "Is this a safe house?" At this the person pushes a button. Immediately a bookcase opens and you walk through a maze-way to the dining area.

"Is this a safe house?" is a question many find strange in Milwaukee. Yet it is not a strange matter to millions of people in our world. More and more we hear of children who are abused in their homes, torn apart by divorce, damaged because of violence suffered within the walls of their homes. Millions of us are wondering if we have safe streets and safe neighborhoods, as well as secure jobs and employment. Others around the world are being driven from their homes by wars and threats of violence.

The question has significance for many of us as we celebrate this first week of Advent. The question, "Is this a safe house?" represents the need and the longing in so many of us. Do we live in safe houses? safe neighborhoods? a safe world? If we do even a cursory reading of our papers, it would seem we do not.

Next to survival itself, safety and security are the most primitive needs of all humans. So, in a place where we long for safety and security in our homes, our streets, our jobs and our world, we are filled with hope when we hear the Lord's promise to Jeremiah. That promise to Jeremiah resounds to our generation on this first week of Advent: "In those days Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure; this is what they shall call her: 'The Lord our justice.'"

This justice spoken of to Jeremiah and to us represents the core of right relationships. Without right relationships there can be neither safety nor security. Without justice between husbands and wives, parents and children, we can have little safety or security in our homes. Without justice between the rich and the poor, between one race and another, we will continue to be afraid to walk our streets or drive in certain neighborhoods. Without justice and right relationships, people around the world will resort to arms, threatening safety and security. Without justice we will continue to have wars and to plan for wars. Peoples' needs for safety and security must be met if we are to have healthy relationships in our homes and justice in our society.

Where can we begin to make a difference so that "Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure"? Maybe it will be in working within our own homes to make them truly "safe houses." It might be in the way we prepare for Christmas, knowing that Jesus calls us to remember the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned. It might be by joining Amnesty International, donating money to a hunger organization, or by serving the poor and oppressed in our neighborhoods.

Yes, the days are coming when "Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure." We can begin to experience these days as we make a fit dwelling place for our God this Advent.

Questions to Ponder:

  1. How do you experience a lack of safety and security in your home? in your neighborhood? in the world?
  2. How do your actions and attitudes cause others to feel unsafe? How is God calling you to work toward justice in your relationships?
  3. How might you express God's justice in your Christmas preparations?

SERVICE

Reader:
The days are coming when "Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall be secure." The days are coming when our homes shall be safe, our cities shall be at peace and our world shall be secure.
Reader:
As we prepare to create a dwelling place for our God this Advent, we are invited to think, to pray and to plan for changes in our own lives that will help to realize God's promise of shelter for all people.
Reader:
Peoples' needs for safety and security must be met if we are to have healthy relationships in our homes and justice in our society. Let us take a few moments to reflect silently on our own needs for security. Why do we need a safe house? (After a minute or two of silence, encourage people to share their thoughts.) What are some reasons other people might need a safe house? (Encourage brief sharing.)

Lighting the Candle
Reader: We light this candle as a sign of God's promise to us and to all people for safety and security. Let our thoughts, prayers and actions reflect hope in the fulfillment of God's promise as we prepare for Christmas. (Light the first Advent candle.)

Prayer
God of strength and tenderness, beneath the shelter of your wings the night harbors no terrors, only peace-filled stars bearing promise. This Advent we praise you for providing sanctuary and for directing us toward the promise. In peace we rest in your presence; in strength we go forth to make peace in the world. Amen.

ACTIVITIES

1. Begin to think about a personal goal you can set to make one or several identifiable changes in the way you live and relate to God, others and yourself. Consider keeping a journal to record your progress and your feelings about the change(s) you are making. Encourage young children to draw pictures to express their experiences and feelings about making changes.

2. Discuss or reflect on what it means to be "safe" and "secure." What does it take for you to feel safe and secure in any given situation? (You may be surprised to learn that what makes you feel safe may be very different from what makes others feel the same.)

3. Look up the word "justice" in a dictionary. Think of a time when you experienced or witnessed injustice. Discuss how that injustice affected the safety and security of those involved. What can you do personally this week to see that someone is treated fairly?

4. This week, pray for strength and courage to recognize and speak out against injustice. Write a letter about a societal injustice you would like to see corrected and mail it to one of your congresspersons or a local political leader.

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SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT

Living a Prophetic Theology

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT: Malachi 3:1-4; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6

REFLECTION

Last week we learned that there will be neither safety nor security in Judah or Jerusalem-as well as our homes, our streets and our world-if we do not have justice. And we learned that this justice is found in right relationships with ourselves, each other and our God.

Today Paul prays that we will be "rich in the harvest of justice." What does this mean to us in the church today? Especially, what does this mean when we live in the church, in political and state realities that don't always reveal a great amount of justice?

About a decade ago, church people in South Africa wrote a document called "The Kairos Document." In it they said there were three theologies at work in considering church and state relations in that nation. The first is called "state theology." When this was used then in South Africa, certain church groups would try to use the scriptures to justify the status quo of apartheid. The second is called "church theology." Church theology would call for reconciliation or peace, but do nothing to address the underlying problems of injustice. Finally, the writers of the Kairos Document spoke of a "prophetic theology" which stressed the changing of relationships that must take place among persons and groups and among systems and structures for God's work to be accomplished. Thankfully, we've seen the dismantling of apartheid and the increasing of hope that, despite problems, rough ways will be smoothed in that divided nation.

As we celebrate this second week of Advent, we might ask how these theologies operate within our own culture. A state theology "sprinkles holy water" on our economic system. Commercialism, consumerism, materialism and militarism often go unchallenged by our pulpits and church people. Somehow to challenge these makes one "disloyal" or unpatriotic.

Church theology in our culture calls for people to be reconciled, yet ignores the underlying problems of injustice, including policies and practices of exclusion. Women are told they should be submissive to their husbands. People are told to support the work of the church; and moneys are used for more buildings rather than for helping people who are poor. "Reconciliation" occurs in our churches only so long as certain kinds of people go to their own.

Today's readings are prophetic theology at its best. Malachi wonders who will be able to "endure the day" when God's messenger comes. Then John's voice echoes the same refrain. Certainly John's words about valleys being filled, mountains being leveled, windings made straight, and rough ways smoothed showed that he wasn't preaching state theology or church theology. John preached prophetic theology and paid for it with his head.

Do our concerns represent state theology, church theology or the prophetic theology of Malachi and John the Baptizer? If we are to truly have a right disposition this Advent and if we are to prepare for the reordering of relationships that is demanded of us this Christmas, we must get our priorities right. Paul calls it valuing "the things that really matter." What really matters for us as we hear the scriptures today, as we sit in the pews, as we drive our cars, as we go to the malls, as we prepare for Christmas? What really matters to our families? What really matters to our churches, our communities and our world? What really matters to us as a people, as a people of the promise?

Perhaps we should all read again, and make our own, that beautiful prayer we've heard from Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians:

My prayer is that your love may more and more abound, both in understanding and wealth of experience, so that with a clear conscience and blameless conduct you may learn to value the things that really matter, up to the very day of Christ. It is my wish that you may be found rich in the harvest of justice which Jesus Christ has ripened in you, to the glory and praise of God.

Questions to Ponder:

  1. How can you begin to challenge the messages of the consumer culture this Advent season? How can your church address the commercialization of Christmas?
  2. What does "reconciliation" mean to you? Think of ways we may try to smooth things over without addressing the underlying problems. What can we do differently?
  3. Take a few moments to consider your preparations for Christmas. What really matters to you this Advent?

SERVICE

Reader:
This Advent season, we are called to receive messengers of change who offer judgment or refinement for the wilderness within our personal and collective lives. (If possible, read poet/messenger Alice Walker's poem, "We Alone." Encourage silent reflection.)
Reader:
As we prepare the way of the Lord this Advent, we are invited to think, to pray and to plan for changes in our own lives that will help to realize God's promise of justice for all people.
Reader:
Messengers who bring judgment are rarely welcomed. Refinement is not really a pleasant experience. Think of refinement of ore into iron; the ore has to be melted down in very hot fire. Or, think of judgment like a cold shower; there is a degree of shock, of discomfort, but judgment, like a cold shower, can wake you up and energize you. Spend a moment in silence thinking about someone who appears to you as a messenger of judgment or refinement. What is uncomfortable in the message? What is energizing? (Spend a full five minutes in silence. Children who find it difficult to sit still should be encouraged to draw a picture of their messenger or message.)

Lighting the Candles

Reader:
We light the first candle as a sign of God's promise to us and to all people for safety and security. (Relight the first Advent candle.) We light this second candle as a sign of our calling to prepare the way of the Lord. (Light the second Advent candle.)

Prayer
God of the wilderness, a long time ago in Jordan you sent a messenger to prepare human hearts for the coming of Christ. That message has brought great confidence and joy to many people. God of our wilderness, help us to prepare the way today for your coming with repentance and compassion. Teach us to live in expectation of your prophetic judgment, that we may abound in love and be found rich in the harvest of justice. In this time of preparation help us to learn to value the things that really matter. In the name of the coming Christ we pray,
Amen.

ACTIVITIES

1. Think or talk about what really matters in life to you. What really matters to your family and closest friends? Why? Do you live your life in such a way that others know what is important to you; or do your words and actions reflect a different set of values? In your journal, make a list of areas in your life where your beliefs and actions don't match. (Encourage young children to draw pictures that represent their beliefs and actions.) What changes are you called to make?

2. As individuals or as a household, use magazine and newspaper clippings to make a paper collage of the things that are really important to you. Display the completed poster in a well-traveled area in your home. Use it as a daily check to see if your words and actions reflect the values mirrored in the collage.

3. Contact a local, state or national organization whose work and values match your own. Ask what you can do throughout the year to assist them in their work.

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THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT: 

Making Rough Ways Smooth

THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT:  Zephaniah 3:14-20; Philippians 4:4-13; Luke 3:7-18

REFLECTION

The overall theme that seems to be at the heart of the readings for Advent is the need for a change in our lives, our relationships and our world. Hearing this, many of us might be like the different kinds of people who came to John the Baptizer and asked: "What are we to do?"

The very fact that all sorts of people-the crowds, the tax collectors and the soldiers-asked the question is amazing in itself. Today's statistics tell us that over eighty percent of churchgoers don't even remember what was said in the Sunday sermon. Here you have the people not only listening to John's message and remembering it, but being touched by it enough to ask what they needed to do to make the Word come alive in their lives! What are we to do?

The crowds may have represented the average person in first century Palestine. These are the people who, today, we'd say paid their taxes, went to church and obeyed the law. Yet, even to these, John called for a reordering of their lives toward those in need: "let the one with two coats give to the one having none. The one who has food should do the same." The message is clear: We must also reorder our lives. We must go beyond paying our taxes, obeying the law and going to church. We must go beyond buying gifts for "those who have everything," beyond eating elaborate holiday meals, beyond hanging tinsel and lights. Like the crowds in first century Palestine, we are called to reach out to those in need.

Luke next tells us that "tax collectors also came to be baptized" and asked John "what are we to do?" In those days, tax collectors represented the political system that oppressed the Jews, and they often found ways to benefit personally at the peoples' expense. John tells the tax collectors, "Collect no more than is appointed you." The message for the tax collectors and for us is clear-even when systems, structures and forces seem beyond our ability to change, we can't allow ourselves to be part of the processes that hurt other human beings.

Finally, the soldiers ask John, "What about us?" And John addresses three tendencies those with power often face: don't bully anyone, don't accuse falsely, and be content with your pay. John's words speak to all of us who have positions of power. The question the soldiers asked John can be the question doctors and lawyers ask, the question repair people and salespeople ask, the question those hiring day laborers and domestics ask: "What about us?"

In all cases the message is the same: If we are to truly welcome the Messiah into our lives and relationships, we should change our ways. By trying to make rough ways smooth in our world, we will be doing what we can to make God's reign come on earth as it is in heaven. Then we, too, can rejoice as we listen to the words of Zephaniah:

The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear. On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love.

Questions to Ponder:

  1. How is God calling you to reorder your life this Advent? Is God calling you to rethink the ways you celebrate Christmas? How?
  2. Who do you have power over? Are you ever tempted to misuse that power?
  3. The author refers to making "God's reign come on earth as it is in heaven." What does God's reign look like to you? How can you begin to make rough ways smooth?

SERVICE

Reader:
"Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise."
Reader:
As we contemplate what we are to do this Advent, we are invited to think, to pray and to plan for changes in our own lives that will help to realize God's promise of justice and love for all people. (Brief period of silence.)


Lighting the Candles
Reader:
We light the first candle as a sign of God's promise to us and to all people for safety and security. We light the second candle as a sign of our calling to prepare the way of the Lord. We light this third candle as a reminder of our calling to make rough ways smooth in our world.
Prayer
One:
We turn to you, O God, as we open our hearts in worship and trust. We offer our lives to your people for we know that in the midst of our living,
All:
Each of us can do something.
One:
Our hands can build, heal and give comfort.
All:
Each of us can do something.
One:
Our feet can walk with those who suffer and are oppressed.
All:
Each of us can do something.
One:
Our eyes can be open and our minds sharpened to detect injustice wherever it might be found.
All:
Each of us can do something.
One:
Our tongues can speak truth to the powerful and name the evils that we see and experience.
All:
Each of us can do something.
One:
Even as we acknowledge our participation in these problems,

Each of us has the power to choose doing something over doing nothing. We find power and hope in the coming of Christ to bring with God a new blessing of freedom on the earth.
Amen.

ACTIVITIES

1. Discuss with someone the changes you are attempting to make in your life and relationships this Advent. How does it feel to make changes? Exciting? Frightening? Why? Talk about how God calls us to make changes in our lives, not just during Advent but throughout the year.

2. With God's help, how have you begun to make "rough places smooth" this Advent? Have you hurt someone by your actions or words recently? Visit, phone or write that individual. Arrange a time when you can discuss honestly what each of you can do to make your relationship deeper and more meaningful. Write about or draw a picture of this experience in your journal.

3. If you could give one gift to the world so that it might be a better place for all people, what would that gift be? Encourage each member of your household or group to find an object that symbolizes his/her gift. Individuals should box and wrap the gifts they chose and should place the boxes near the manger scene or under the Christmas tree. Leave the gifts wrapped until Christmas Eve.

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 FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT

God's Words Fulfilled

FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT:  Micah 5:1-5; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-55

REFLECTION

The gospel writers tell of God breaking into human lives and history through the story of two women-one old woman giving birth after years of trying to conceive and a virgin being with child. "Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord's words to her would be fulfilled," Luke writes of Mary. Mary was a woman who was open to God's will for her. A few verses earlier, we hear Mary's response to the task God wanted to entrust to her: "Be it done to me according to thy word."

In Luke, we are reminded of the amazing things God wants to do in each of our lives if, like Mary, we trust that God's words to us will be fulfilled. How does God want to enter our world today through us? Where do we find the presence of God in our lives, like Mary found it in hers and trusted that the Lord's words to her would be fulfilled? What is written of us in the book?

We read in Micah: "Thus says the Lord: 'You, Bethlehem-Ephratha, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel.'" The one who came forth from Mary's body would be the ruler of Israel and of the Church. This same one must be the ruler of our lives and our actions. On this day, one week before we celebrate his birth, we can still ask how we are preparing to welcome Jesus, to do his will, to trust that his words to us are being fulfilled in our lives.

The place where Jesus was born, "Bethlehem," offers us a clue. In Hebrew, "Bethlehem" means "house of bread." As we look around us, we see so many people in our world starving, so many malnourished, so many hungry, not just in places in Africa, but in our country where one of every five children is hungry.

Mohandas K. Gandhi once said something like, "If Christ would ever come again, he would have to come as bread for there are so many who are hungry." Jesus said to us that, if we will welcome him, it will be when we find him in the breaking of bread as well as in the serving of bread to the hungry. Today everybody who is called a disciple is called to become that bread for the life of the world. Every family is called to become a Bethlehem, a house of bread, where the hungry can be fed in some way. How might new life, new bread come to our households, to our church, to our nation and to our world this Advent?

If we can know what is written of each of us in the book, if we can see how our lives must be at the service of those who are hungry and poor at Christmas and throughout the year, then we can make these scriptures fulfilled in our lives. It is then, like Mary, we will be able to find him within us and among us. And then we, too, might hear those reassuring words, "Blessed is she [or he] who trusted that the Lord's words to her [to him] would be fulfilled."

Questions to Ponder:

  1. When all around us seems amiss, how can you trust that God's words will be fulfilled? What role might you play in the fulfillment of God's promise?
  2. Where do you find the presence of God in your life? The author writes that we find God in our service to those who are poor and hungry. Is this true in your life? What other ways do you experience God's presence?
  3. Do you find God present as you prepare for Christmas? What role does God play in your Christmas celebrations?

SERVICE

Reader:
"If Christ would ever come again, he would have to come as bread for there are so many who are hungry."
Reader:
As we prepare to bear God into the world this Advent, we are invited to think, to pray and to plan for changes in our own lives that will help to realize God's promise of justice, love and bread for all people.
Reader:
In this final week before we celebrate the birth of Jesus, let us consider the ways in which, like Mary, we can find Christ within us and among us. (Pause) How are we preparing to welcome Jesus? Let us reflect in silence. (After a short time of silence, encourage the group to share their thoughts.)

Lighting the Candles
Reader:
We light the first candle as a sign of God's promise to us and to all people for safety and security. We light the second candle as a sign of our calling to prepare the way of the Lord. We light the third candle as a reminder of our calling to make rough ways smooth in our world. We light this fourth candle as a reminder to watch for the image of Christ in the poor among us. May their absence serve to remind us of the divisions this celebration seeks to heal; and may their presence help transform us to be one body in the one who is to be born.

Prayer
One:
We await you, Christ Jesus. There is room in our homes and in our hearts. We welcome your judgment of our lives,
Another:
That we may be freed to love you and one another.
One:
We welcome to our home the faithful and the doubters, the seekers and those who have been found,
Another:
That we may know you as friend and redeemer of all.
One:
We welcome your suffering,
Another:
That in sharing it, we shall also share your joy!
One:
With stranger, with neighbor, with friend, with those who are poor and those who are outcast, we await you,
Another:
For there is room in our homes and hearts. We welcome you. Come, Lord Jesus, come.
Amen.

ACTIVITIES

1. How do you place trust in others? Is it difficult for you to trust others? Why? Make a list of those you most trust. What is it about those individuals that allows you to trust them? Think about or talk about how you trust God. What situations have increased your trust in God? decreased your trust?

2. Take a trust walk. Break the group into twos. Have one partner blindfold the other, spin her/him around and lead a walk around the house or yard. After a designated time, have partners change places so that everyone has a chance to be blindfolded and led on a walk. After the trust walk, reflect in pairs and as a group on your experiences.

3. How can you bring "new bread" or "new life" to your neighborhood or school? As a household, bake a loaf of bread and/or prepare a meal to take to a local homeless shelter or soup kitchen. Ask in advance if you can help serve the meal. Once returning home, reflect on the experience. What did you see? hear? feel? How was Christ present? Write your thoughts in your journal. 

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CHRISTMAS EVE/DAY

All Who Heard It Were Amazed

CHRISTMAS EVE: Isaiah 9:2-7; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20

REFLECTION

Each one of us probably has a Christmas crèche or at least a Christmas card that depicts the nativity scene described in today's gospel. The scene-Mary and Joseph, the child Jesus, shepherds, and maybe some angels in the distance-is etched in many of our minds.

Let's take a minute to listen to the gospel again, as though we've never heard it before. Verse 15 says that "when the angels left them," the shepherds decided to go to Bethlehem "and see this thing that has taken place." Verse 16 says, "so they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and child lying in the manger."

Now listen carefully to the next two short verses. The passage says the shepherds saw Mary, Joseph and the child in the manger. Then it says: "When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child." This, presumably, would refer to the message the shepherds heard from the angels. But then it says immediately, "And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them." Who was this "all" who heard the story from the shepherds? Was it just Mary and Joseph and their newborn? Were there others there?

Could the message be for us as well? Perhaps we've stopped being amazed by the story because we've heard it so often. The image of the nativity takes on new meaning when we place ourselves in our Bethlehems, in our places where the marginalized and rejected ones are forced to dwell.

Last Christmas I stayed in Milwaukee where I live among the poor. I went to my community's meal program and was especially touched by seeing the little children in the line for food. I thought to myself, "no child should have to be in a line like that... But, then, that child should not have had to be in a manger like that either."

Can we hear the good news today like those who heard it in far-off fields? Can we see what they saw in that manger centuries ago? Maybe we can't hear what they heard, see what they saw, or be amazed anymore at the sounds and sights contained in today's reading of God's birthing among us. Maybe we are like the people in today's first reading, living in darkness because we have taken the light among us for granted.

Or maybe we've seen the light, heard the angels, and perhaps even, at one time or another, paid a visit to Mary, Joseph and their infant. Only, then we went back to our fields, back to our work, away from our source, failing to let our eyes and ears of faith remind us of the vision we've experienced.

We can be among "all who heard it" if we are open to being amazed. We can be amazed at God's infinite love for us; amazed at the way God works in the human condition; amazed at who God chooses to be revealed to in our world; amazed that God is with us.

As we celebrate Christmas today, let's listen more carefully to the angels who may appear in our midst unannounced. Let's watch for the shepherds who may visit us in the appearance of poor and marginalized people in our midst. Like Mary, let's take a little more time to treasure these words and ponder them in our hearts.

Questions to Ponder:

  1. Who are the shepherds and angels in your midst this Christmas? Someone in your family? A neighbor? What messages do they bring?
  2. The author found meaning in attending his community's meal program at Christmas. How might you place yourself in your "Bethlehem" this Christmas? What might amaze you there?
  3. Can you see past the sentimental Christmas card images of the nativity to experience the amazement of God being born to a poor family in a stable? Is this how you would expect to see God-with-us?.

SERVICE

All:
(Sing a favorite Christmas carol or song.)
Reader:
The shepherds went with haste and found Mary and Joseph with the baby who was lying in a manger. And they spoke of the angels and all they had been told. And all who heard it were amazed. And Mary reflected on all these things silently in her heart. (Spend a few minutes in silent reflection.)
Reader:
This baby, Jesus, was born for us. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ was made flesh. Christ was born that we may be freed from chains of all kinds, and that we may receive the power to bring God's freedom to all people. This baby, Jesus, is born for all.
Reader/Singer:
"How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings from in heaven."

Lighting the Candles
(Light the candles in silence.)
Reader:
Let us be amazed. Our God has been born among us! Freedom has taken on flesh, and in Spirit dwells with us.

Prayer
O wondrous and loving God, you have been born among us and have called us each by name. You have gone before us, preparing the way: "The freedom of God is at hand!" Increase our capacity for freedom and love. Deliver us from any hesitation in the pursuit of justice. Encourage us in prayer, especially for those who are poor; those in prison; those who suffer from war, violence or hatred; those who are lonely; those who are sick; those who are grieving. Make us one through the unity of your presence. Be with us always, be with us now, O God who has been born among us! Amen.

ACTIVITIES

1. Take a walk in the woods, in a local park, by a lake, or some other favorite outdoor spot. Observe the things around you. Select an object (rock, moss, plant, tree bark, etc.) and examine its detail. Reflect on the process by which it was formed. Was it formed in days, months or many years? Now imagine the birthing of God in a stable. What was it like? Imagine the sights, sounds, smells. Pray that by God's grace you will find increased wonder and amazement.

2. Find a quiet place of solitude on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and reflect on changes you are making. Can you see clear signs of those changes? Can others? Write your thoughts in your journal.

3. Exchange your "gifts to the world" which you wrapped two weeks ago. Unwrap the gifts and try to guess who chose the symbol and what it represents. Talk about actions you can take to give these gifts to the world. How can you make rough places smooth. Close with a prayer that all these gifts may be realized in the world.

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FIRST WEEK AFTER CHRISTMAS

Searching for Jesus

FIRST WEEK AFTER CHRISTMAS: I Samuel 2:18-20, 26; Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52

REFLECTION

Recently there have been many newspaper articles describing the decline in participation in Catholic and Protestant churches in Europe. At the same time another phenomenon is occurring: As the traditional parishes and congregations are becoming more empty, the shrines and the places of pilgrimage are filling up with standing-room-only crowds. Just recently someone told me of being in a small town in France where people passed by the local Catholic church, walking a mile further to the Benedictine monastery, to join the monks in prayer. In another part of France, people from all over the world and from all denominations visit Taizé, an ecumenical gathering place that is centered around prayer, devotions and celebrations that speak to people's desires to experience God-in-their-midst.

In North America, we are reading about the baby-boomers who are returning to church. Interestingly, though, they are not necessarily returning to the church of their youth or that of their parents. They are searching for places where they can be fed, where their longing for something more might be nourished. This brings us to today's gospel.

Mary and Joseph had been taught a pattern about religious practice. They inherited and continued a pattern of religious practice that involved certain assumptions, expectations and behaviors that indicated where they would experience God.

Following this pattern and passing it on to their son, Mary and Joseph took Jesus and went up to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. Unbeknownst to them, Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem after the party left for home. Assuming they would find Jesus with relatives, neighbors or friends among the group, Mary and Joseph went a whole day without being concerned. When Jesus could not be found where expected, they began to search for him elsewhere. Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple asking questions and listening.

What are our assumptions about where we are likely to find Jesus? Many times we get so used to our regular religious patterns-Sunday worship, monthly communion services, annual celebrations-that we, too, have to be jolted like Mary and Joseph. We realize that Jesus just might not be where we thought we could place him, or in the place where we tried to put him. We must begin our search for him all over.

Today's gospel leaves us with an important message: to be near Jesus, we must never stop searching for him. Notice how many times the phrase "looking for" or "searching for" Jesus is used in today's gospel. Even Jesus uses the phrase, "Why were you searching for me?" Why do we search for Jesus? Why do many people have trouble finding Jesus in the places where we might expect to find him, in our parishes and our congregations? Where can we find Jesus in our temples today? How can we, like Mary, find Jesus in our hearts?

Questions to Ponder:

  1. Jesus was not where Mary and Joseph first expected him to be. Where do you expect Jesus to be? Where else might you find Jesus?
  2. Why do you think attendance is declining in some churches? How can people better recognize Jesus' presence in the church? How do you find Jesus in your regular religious patterns?
  3. Did you assume Jesus would be present in your Christmas celebrations this year? Were you "jolted" this Christmas?

SERVICE

Lighting of the Candles:

Reader:
These candles are lit as a sign that God's promise is never lost, that Christ's presence is with us throughout the changing seasons, and that we must never stop searching for Jesus in our day to day lives. (Light the four Advent candles and the Christ candle.)
Reader:
Like Mary and Joseph we search for Jesus.
Reader:
We will look among our relatives, ask our friends and neighbors, retrace our journey and ask ourselves and all we meet, "Where is our God?" We will search the paths of our heritage and the familiar roads of religion; we will recite the old catechisms and prayers and ask, "Where is our God?"
Reader:
When we have trouble finding Jesus where we thought we could place him, we can open ourselves to finding him in unexpected places.
Reader:
We will question our usual practices, and challenge our assumptions. We will listen and testify to personal experience of the Holy in our midst. We will look for Christ among God's people, especially those who are poor and outcast, and we will look for God in our hearts.
Reader:
We will never stop searching for Jesus.
Prayer:
O Holy God, forgive us for our desire to keep you in one place for one time, in a little box at the front of the church, or folded within the pages of the Bible. The celebration of Christmas proclaims your life among us, unpredictable, spontaneous, full of joy and spirit. Help us to find you, that we, too, may be unpredictable, spontaneous, full of joy and spirit. We pray in the name of our teacher, the Holy Child, Jesus, Amen.

ACTIVITIES

1. Describe or write about a situation in which you were searching for something or somebody. How did it make you feel? Why were you searching for this thing or person? Did you find the person or object in the place where you expected s/he or it would be? If not, how did you overcome your assumptions about where the person or object would be and begin to search in unexpected places?

2. Where are you most likely to find Jesus? Draw a picture. Discuss how you can begin to find Jesus in both traditional and non-traditional places.

3. Discuss how our limited assumptions about where God is and isn't found narrows our image of God. Make a list in your journal of ways you can expand your image of God. Note ways you can find God's presence in expected places and situations.

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EPIPHANY

A Call to Conversion

EPIPHANY: Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12

REFLECTION

The heart of today's gospel reading deals with conversion. How can we respond to the realization that the reign of God has come to us in the form of Jesus Christ? There are two ways. We can be like Herod, remaining in our positions of privilege and denying the invitation to conversion the announcement of Jesus' birth-among-us brings. Or we can be wise, like the magi, and seek to find him.

If we look closely at today's scriptures, we can see that the magi followed a process of seeking, finding and giving. Conversion begins with seeking. The magi searched for something greater than themselves. Herod and his advisors searched for the newborn king so they could keep in control.

The next step in conversion, after seeking, is finding. While Herod and his advisors found the text about Bethlehem that said where the newborn king would be born, they never found him. The magi followed the star to the place where Jesus could be found.

Once the magi found Jesus, they gave up their gold, their frankincense, their myrrh. They reordered the very possessions that must have meant a lot to them. Why? Because what they found was better. The magi found in Jesus a power beyond their own position, their own possessions, their own prestige. They put all of these on the line when they bowed before this newborn child. It was a sign that they had come to believe him to be the one who would usher in the reign of God.

In light of our Christmas celebrations, with all the gifts and glimmer, let's examine what really rules over us: our gold, our frankincense and our myrrh or the reign of God. This Christmas season, do we bow before the newborn child or the things and positions we've acquired? How many of us are willing to open up our coffers like those first truly wise ones did?

Many North American Christians find it difficult to consider reordering our possessions in such a radical way. All during Advent we searched for the right gift and when we found it, we were willing to give up "X" amount of money to purchase the gift. Too often we follow the steps-seeking, finding, giving-and experience conversion to the consumer culture rather than the reign of God.

Matthew's story of the search for Jesus has a lesson for us today. On the one hand, we can be so caught up in material things, in our own power, and even in our religion that we miss Jesus altogether. On the other hand, we can make him so much the center of our experience that we are willing to reorder our dearest possessions in order to live in his presence.

It all depends on whether we will be wise in the ways of the Herods of this world or wise like the magi. Let's pray that we can find the one whom alone we will serve.

Questions to Ponder:

  1. How might you miss Jesus in your pursuit of other gods? in your pursuit of power and prestige? Do you more closely identify with the magi or with Herod?
  2. What role does God play in conversion? What are you called to give up? What are you called to receive in faith?
  3. The magi gave up costly possessions when they found Jesus. What role do possessions play in your life? What are the gold, the frankincense, the myrrh in your life?

SERVICE

Lighting of the Candles:

Reader:
Epiphany is a time of endings and beginnings. The traditional twelve days of Christmas are ended. The season of Epiphany is begun. When we welcome Jesus as the magi did, we experience endings and beginnings. When we seek Jesus, we end our emphasis on material things and our reliance on our own power. When we find Jesus, we begin to reorder the ideas and possessions we hold most dear so that we may live in the presence of Christ. As this season of reflection, worship and activities ends, let us consider how we can make Jesus the center of our experience. (Pause for a moment of silent reflection.)

Prayer:
One:
Jesus, Holy of Holies born in a stable,
All:
May you find your spirit in us.
One:
Jesus, who loves common people and those who are poor and outcast; Jesus, who feeds the masses with the bread of life come down from heaven; Jesus, weeping with those who weep and rejoicing with those who rejoice,
All:
May you find your spirit in us.
One:
Jesus, delighting in the lilies of the field, the birds of the air, and the companionship of people everywhere,
All:
May you find your spirit in us.
One:
Jesus, persecuted by priests, mocked by scholars and slain by politicians; Jesus, who used the weak to confound the strong,
All:
May you find your spirit in us.
One:
Jesus, loving the children, agonizing for the lost, calling us to forsake all that we have; Jesus, power revealed in those whom the world holds of no account,
All:
May you find your spirit in us.
One:
Jesus, who calls us to reorder our lives and possessions; Jesus, promising peace and joy that none can threaten,
All:
May you find your spirit in us. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy. (Share a brief period of silence.)

ACTIVITIES

1. Name one of your dearest possessions. Why is this item so special to you? Under what circumstances, if any, would you part with this possession? Talk about the role of possessions and material goods in this Advent/Christmas/Epiphany season. Is the role a proper or unbalanced one? What is the role of possessions in your life? What can we learn from the magi about reordering our possessions?

2. Review the giving suggestions in "What Can I Give?" and "Reclaiming Christmas: Alternative Giving." Were you able to incorporate any of these ideas in your Christmas giving? Did God call you to think differently about giving and your possessions? Consider practicing at least one of the suggestions in your year-round giving.

3. How has God called you to make changes this season? Discuss ways God has enabled you in this journey. Covenant together to make these changes lasting ones and to find new areas for growth. Write your thoughts in your journal.

 

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This page last updated 22 October 2012

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