The Eleventh and Twelfth Day of Christmas

The Eleventh Day of Christmas: Eleven Pipers Piping

Eleven Faithful Apostles: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James bar Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas bar James (not Judas Iscariot).

The Twelfth Day of Christmas: Twelve Drummers Drumming

Twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles' Creed: 1) I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. 2) I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 3) He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. 4) He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell [the grave]. 5) On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 6) He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 7) I believe in the Holy Spirit, 8) the holy catholic Church, 9) the communion of saints, 10) the forgiveness of sins, 11) the resurrection of the body, 12) and life everlasting.

Source: http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html

Copyright © 2006 CRI/Voice, Institute

The Tenth Day of Christmas

The Tenth Day of Christmas: Ten Lords Leaping

Ten Commandments: Have no other gods; Don't make idols; Don't use God's name vainly; Remember a day of rest; Honor your father and mother; Don't murder; Don't commit adultery; Don't steal; Don't lie; Don't covet.

Source: http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html

Copyright © 2006 CRI/Voice, Institute

The Ninth Day of Christmas

The Ninth Day of Christmas: Nine Ladies Dancing

Nine fruits grown by the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace,

Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Self-control

Source:http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html

Copyright © 2006 CRI/Voice, Institute

The Eighth Day of Christmas

The Eighth Day of Christmas: Eight Maids Milking

Eight Characteristics of Those Who Are Blessed: 

Spiritually poor

In Mourning

Humble

Desirers of Right Living

Merciful

Pure in Heart

Peacemakers

Persecuted for Right Living

Source: http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html

Copyright © 2006 CRI/Voice, Institute

The Sixth and Seventh Days of Christmas

The Sixth Day of Christmas: Six Geese A Laying

Remember your Creator: Six days of creation

The Seventh Day of Christmas: Seven Swans Swimming

Seven gifts of the Spirit: 

Prophecy, Service, Teaching, Giving,

Exhortation, Leadership, Compassion

Source: http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html

Copyright © 2006 CRI/Voice, Institute

The Fourth and Fifth Days of Christmas

The Fourth Day of Christmas: Four Calling Birds

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John:

Four writers who tell the story of Jesus.

The Fifth Day of Christmas: Five Gold Rings

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy: Five books that tell the story of the created world and the rise of a Godly nation.

Source: http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html

Copyright © 2006 CRI/Voice, Institute

The Third Day of Christmas

The Third Day of Christmas: Three French Hens

Faith

Hope

Love

Source: http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html

Copyright © 2006 CRI/Voice, Institute

Joseph, Mary and Jesus Stained Glass

Image: http://www.stainedglassphotography.com/CalvaryAlbum/slides/Nativity%20window%20Mary%20Joseph%20Jesus%20close-up%20by%20Powell.htm

Mary and Jesus Carving

Image: http://www.ancientsculpturegallery.com/258.html

Mary and Jesus Mosaic

Mosaic: http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=3703

Jesus is Born

Icon: http://ihor5.freeyellow.com/mjicon.html

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

Here is another of my favorite Christmas songs. This one is appropriate for the JOY theme of this past week.

Joyful, joyful, we adore thee,

God of glory, Lord of love;

Hearts unfold like flowers before thee,

Opening to the sun above.

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,

Drive the dark of doubt away;

Giver of immortal gladness,

Fill us with the light of day.

All thy works with joy surround thee,

Earth and heaven reflect thy rays,

Stars and angels sing around thee,

Center of unbroken praise.

Field and forest, vale and mountain,

Flowery meadow, flashing sea,

Chanting bird and flowing fountain,

Call us to rejoice in thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving,

Ever blessing, ever blest,

Wellspring of the joy of living,

Ocean depth of happy rest!

Thou our Father, Christ our Brother,

All who live in love are thine;

Teach us how to love each other,

Lift us to the Joy divine.

Henry Van Dyke

Mary's Magnificent Monologue

Here is Mary's magnificent monologue from The Message:

"I'm bursting with God-news;

I'm dancing the song of my Savior God.

God took one good look at me, and look what happened--

I'm the most fortunate woman on earth!

What God has done for me will never be forgotten,

the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.

His mercy flows in wave after wave

on those who are in awe before him.

He bared his arm and showed his strength,

scattered the bluffing braggarts.

He knocked tyrants off their high horses,

pulled victims out of the mud.

The starving poor sat down to a banquet;

the callous rich were left out in the cold.

He embraced his chose child, Israel;

he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.

It's exactly what he promised,

beginning with Abraham and right up to now."

Luke 1:46-55

Oh, JOY! Mary said, "Yes."

My thoughts today come from Luke chapter one:

“Greetings, favored one! The LORD is with you.”

Such a greeting! Such an honor to be favored by the LORD! And Mary gives the angel such gracious replies. This interchange between Mary and Gabriel strikes me as extremely intimate—intimacy between God and Mary—something shared between God and a woman.

As I reflected on God and Mary, I became acutely aware of something bothersome. I have worshipped in the Churches of Christ for more than 25 years and have never heard a sermon on Mary. As a matter of fact, there have been few lessons on Biblical women; and yet, the narrative of Jesus begins with women—Elizabeth, Mary, Anna.

These are honored women, favored women. As a woman, I pay attention to these women. They make me proud. Throughout ecclesiastical history, men predominate in the Christian institutions; but here I read that for all their power and authority, these "church" men would be nothing without the undergirding of a woman’s “yes” to God.

A woman made a choice that brought joy to heaven and to earth.

Oh, JOY! Mary said, “Yes.”

Joy and the Never-Ending Kingdom

As I read from Luke 1 today, I paused at these words from verses 31-33:

“You will name him Jesus . . . and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

A never-ending kingdom . . . Jesus has a kingdom. Frankly, I don’t know much about kingdoms and kings reigning. I have no experience with that vocabulary. That language speaks of an old era—a time in history that belongs to my ancestors. It speaks of Medieval Ages and the Renaissance, of King Henry and King James. It speaks of fairy tales, myths, and legends: King Arthur, Aslan, Aragorn and the Hobbits.

Yet with this language and all that it connotes, I get an inkling, an idea, a childlike longing for what it means to be in a kingdom, what it means to have a king, what sovereignty means, what royal power means, what rule and dominion mean. Despite my limited understanding, I like the notion of a never-ending kingdom. I like thinking about a Son-of-God king who rules the kingdom. I can celebrate that kind of a kingdom—a never-ending kingdom.

Oh, JOY! A Never-Ending Kingdom.

Oh, JOY! Good News

Today, I gleaned these words from Isaiah 61 verse 1:

“He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed.”

I like good news. There is something about it that brightens the day. It reassures the heart. It changes a mood. It awakens the spirit. It refreshes the soul. It cheers, encourages, and comforts.

What would be “good news” for the oppressed? What kind of news would be good for those who suffer under the weight of some sorrow or some unjust encumbrance?

Freedom comes to mind. Freedom from that pressed down feeling, freedom from the heaviness that threatens to crush the spirit. It would be freedom that lightens and lifts the burden that weighs on the heart, that confuses the mind, that saps the strength and weakens the spirit. It would be freedom that gives a reason to rejoice and celebrate. That kind of freedom would be good news.

Oh, JOY! Good news.

Garlands of JOY

For this week’s meditation on joy, I am reading from Isaiah 61 and Luke 1. Today, Isaiah brought joy to me. Verse 10 says

“He has covered me . . . as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland.”

Now, I don’t know much about grooms wearing garlands, but I do know that a wedding is a time of celebration. It is a happy affair that emanates the ending of one way of life and the beginning of another. The party is about relinquishing the old and welcoming the new. It is an event worthy of joy.

The idea of a garland-bedecked groom causes me to reflect on the evergreen garlands that hang in most places during this Christmas celebration. Since I was young, green garlands have fascinated me. They bring life indoors and spread their outdoor fragrance into our closed up living spaces. They remind me that the year is ending and a new one is about to begin.

These evergreen garlands symbolize what is fresh, what is alive, what is new, what is eternal.  They remind me that something is afoot, that a world-changing babe is about to be birthed, and that along with this babe comes a new way of living together with God.

God with us—Oh! JOY! 

Gaudete Sunday

Today is Gaudete Sunday. It begins the third week of Advent in which we celebrate with joy the first advent of Jesus and rejoice as we look forward to his second advent. It is a time to reflect on “God With Us”—Emmanuel.

God With Us—Emmanuel—gets my heart pounding a bit harder, my lungs breathing a bit faster, my thoughts thinking a bit louder, and my body tingling with a bit more energy. It is a bit like waiting for a long anticipated lover. And so he is.

God wants to be with me, and so he came to visit, to tell me that he wants to be with me and to tell me that although he had to leave for a while, he will be back. Now, he is with me unseen, but one day, he will be with me seen.

Oh! JOY!

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

I heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

 

I thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along the unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

 

And in despair I bowed my head:

"There is no peace on earth," I said,

"For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men."

 

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men."

 

Till, ringing singing, on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,

Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Imperfect Peace

These words from Psalm 85:10 have stayed with me all through this second week of Advent:

“Righteousness and peace will kiss each other.”

So in today’s reading they again were forefront along with 2 Peter 3:13.

“We wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.”

Imperfect peace comes to mind. The in-between time—that is, the time between the first advent and the second—is a time of imperfect peace. In this time, we don’t hear peace clearly. We don’t see peace fully. We don’t live peace completely. But a time is coming when we will have perfect peace, a time when living rightly will kiss peace and both will have a home.

Peace perfected and rightness realized.