Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o'er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavenly song?
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Come to Bethlehem and see
Christ Whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
See Him in a manger laid,
Whom the choirs of angels praise;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
While our hearts in love we raise.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Why so silent, Night?
Not everyone can sing, yet this song is so lovely that almost anyone can sing it. Hear the music as you read the words:
Silent Night
Joseph Mohr
Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!
Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light;
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.
Silent night, holy night
Wondrous star, lend thy light;
With the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!
Praise God for the silence, and the angels, and the Christ child. I am thankful for this song, and the contemplative mood to which it leads me whenever I hear it. Silent night. Holy night.
Meditation on these words leads me to a question: Have you ever wondered why the night was silent?
There are all sorts of possibilities, but I have an explanation. I believe that this is the pause before the message. Watch a good speaker. There is an introduction, a description of this person and their personal attributes, education, and experience which make what the speaker might say relevant. There is the celebration of applause as the one making the introduction vacates the podium and the speaker arrives. Then there is the quiet moment where the speaker looks out, knowing what must be said, and waits for the audience to be ready to hear it.
For centuries, God's messengers have been preparing the people for this moment. They have described this person, this person's attributes, and this person's life. The introductions cease, and then the angels celebrate, praising the name of God in heaven and on earth. Now, just before the voice of the speaker is heard, there is silence. Deep, abiding quiet.
Under the light of a still star, the people of God hear the voice of God for the first time since Sinai. Not the deep, richly timbered voice that we might expect. It is, rather, the voice of a newborn clearing his throat for the first time. Is there anything more joyous than to hear the first, strong cries of a newborn baby? Perhaps not, but this is not exactly the voice we might have expected, is it?
What kind of message is this supposed to be? That will become clearer later in the story, but for the moment, this is the message: God is with us. Immanuel.
The word of God is profitable for much, but this child, the living Word of God, will eventually make clear what words fail to describe adequately. Jesus will fully show us who God really is, and at the same time, he will fully submit to the process of being human. Experiencing birth. Discovering food and drink. Learning to walk and talk. Going through growth spurts and life's hurts. Following his calling. Crying out at the feelings of abandonment and pain. Experiencing death.
But for the moment the message is: "I am with you. Being human is so important that I am not going to miss a single part of it, first breath to the last. I am with you, just as I always have been, but now you know just exactly what I'm willing to go through in order to have a relationship with you. I, the Creator who spoke the universe into existence, do not have words tonight. I, the possessor of the mighty arm that so long protected David, cannot control either my arms and legs tonight. Instead, I am wrapped tight in a blanket, cuddled in the arms of a mother still in her teens, experiencing for the first time the responsibility of being a parent. I have emptied myself of my power and made myself helpless, dependent upon humanity for nurture and nourishment. For you, to be with you, to understand you fully, I have stripped myself of titles and power and things that you cannot even begin to understand."
Sometime in your night tonight, find a moment of silence and hear the message once again: "I love you and I am with you forever."
Grace and peace through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Ron
Silent Night
Joseph Mohr
Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!
Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light;
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.
Silent night, holy night
Wondrous star, lend thy light;
With the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!
Praise God for the silence, and the angels, and the Christ child. I am thankful for this song, and the contemplative mood to which it leads me whenever I hear it. Silent night. Holy night.
Meditation on these words leads me to a question: Have you ever wondered why the night was silent?
There are all sorts of possibilities, but I have an explanation. I believe that this is the pause before the message. Watch a good speaker. There is an introduction, a description of this person and their personal attributes, education, and experience which make what the speaker might say relevant. There is the celebration of applause as the one making the introduction vacates the podium and the speaker arrives. Then there is the quiet moment where the speaker looks out, knowing what must be said, and waits for the audience to be ready to hear it.
For centuries, God's messengers have been preparing the people for this moment. They have described this person, this person's attributes, and this person's life. The introductions cease, and then the angels celebrate, praising the name of God in heaven and on earth. Now, just before the voice of the speaker is heard, there is silence. Deep, abiding quiet.
Under the light of a still star, the people of God hear the voice of God for the first time since Sinai. Not the deep, richly timbered voice that we might expect. It is, rather, the voice of a newborn clearing his throat for the first time. Is there anything more joyous than to hear the first, strong cries of a newborn baby? Perhaps not, but this is not exactly the voice we might have expected, is it?
What kind of message is this supposed to be? That will become clearer later in the story, but for the moment, this is the message: God is with us. Immanuel.
The word of God is profitable for much, but this child, the living Word of God, will eventually make clear what words fail to describe adequately. Jesus will fully show us who God really is, and at the same time, he will fully submit to the process of being human. Experiencing birth. Discovering food and drink. Learning to walk and talk. Going through growth spurts and life's hurts. Following his calling. Crying out at the feelings of abandonment and pain. Experiencing death.
But for the moment the message is: "I am with you. Being human is so important that I am not going to miss a single part of it, first breath to the last. I am with you, just as I always have been, but now you know just exactly what I'm willing to go through in order to have a relationship with you. I, the Creator who spoke the universe into existence, do not have words tonight. I, the possessor of the mighty arm that so long protected David, cannot control either my arms and legs tonight. Instead, I am wrapped tight in a blanket, cuddled in the arms of a mother still in her teens, experiencing for the first time the responsibility of being a parent. I have emptied myself of my power and made myself helpless, dependent upon humanity for nurture and nourishment. For you, to be with you, to understand you fully, I have stripped myself of titles and power and things that you cannot even begin to understand."
Sometime in your night tonight, find a moment of silence and hear the message once again: "I love you and I am with you forever."
Grace and peace through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Ron
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Angels we have heard on low ...
It has been a while, as far as we know, since any of the “sent out” have been sent out. Angels haven’t appeared to much of anybody for quite a while, and then all of a sudden they are popping up everywhere. Not just any angels; the legendary ones. The angel of the Lord appears to Zechariah in the temple in Jerusalem. Gabriel shows up at Nazareth to see Mary. And then the angel of the Lord makes another appearance to Joseph.
These angelic visitors have amazing credentials, impressive resumes, and direct access to God, and yet God sends them to unknown people, living insignificant lives in insignificant towns with insignificant assets and insignificant political power. Although they come from families with interesting histories, nothing in any of their stories sets them apart. They are unknowns. Nobodies. Nearly invisible.
Hear the word of God describe one of these visits:
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."
But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"
The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God."
Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
With this knowledge, can we imagine how Mary took care of herself during this pregnancy? Do we understand the care with which these humble people delivered these God-promised children, John and Jesus, into this world? Have we ever thought about how these called-out parents measured every word that they used to comfort, nurture, direct, and discipline these babies with such huge destinies? If it were our calling, how would we raise the prophet and herald of the King, and the King himself?
That is a sobering question, isn’t it? And yet it is not as irrelevant as it might seem at first. No, in fact, we have not been called to raise John or Jesus in our homes. Yet, despite the fact that we may be nobodies, too, might God have placed a child with an extraordinary calling in our care? Who knows? We might have a Sarah or a Samuel, a Mary or a Micaiah, an Elizabeth or an Elijah, an Abigail or an Amos, a Joanna or a Josiah or a Joshua … mightn’t we?
Remember the words of Jesus? “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”
Because of the amount of time that God may choose for our children to be in this world, they have, according to Jesus, the potential to lay at the feet of Jesus a larger body of work than that which Jesus had time to do. More significant? Certainly not. Important in the eyes of Jesus Christ? Absolutely. Through the power of Jesus? That’s what he said.
Every one of the children born to our care, and every one of the young men placed in our care, has this kind of potential. If God made a good creation when he made humanity, if Jesus spoke the truth, if we can trust his promises, then that potential belongs to all of these children. We can take the “if” out of all of those phrases, can’t we, because they’re all true. Now the “Ifs” are all in our court: if we will teach our children when we rise up and lie down, if we will show a child the way that is right when they are young, if we will not provoke a child to wrath, then we will have the possibilities that go with those practices. Will we take the “if” out of those? Will we try?
If we’re raising our children differently than we would Jesus, why?
Blessings,
Ron
Luke 1:26-38; John 14:12-14 – NRSV
These angelic visitors have amazing credentials, impressive resumes, and direct access to God, and yet God sends them to unknown people, living insignificant lives in insignificant towns with insignificant assets and insignificant political power. Although they come from families with interesting histories, nothing in any of their stories sets them apart. They are unknowns. Nobodies. Nearly invisible.
Hear the word of God describe one of these visits:
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."
But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"
The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God."
Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
With this knowledge, can we imagine how Mary took care of herself during this pregnancy? Do we understand the care with which these humble people delivered these God-promised children, John and Jesus, into this world? Have we ever thought about how these called-out parents measured every word that they used to comfort, nurture, direct, and discipline these babies with such huge destinies? If it were our calling, how would we raise the prophet and herald of the King, and the King himself?
That is a sobering question, isn’t it? And yet it is not as irrelevant as it might seem at first. No, in fact, we have not been called to raise John or Jesus in our homes. Yet, despite the fact that we may be nobodies, too, might God have placed a child with an extraordinary calling in our care? Who knows? We might have a Sarah or a Samuel, a Mary or a Micaiah, an Elizabeth or an Elijah, an Abigail or an Amos, a Joanna or a Josiah or a Joshua … mightn’t we?
Remember the words of Jesus? “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”
Because of the amount of time that God may choose for our children to be in this world, they have, according to Jesus, the potential to lay at the feet of Jesus a larger body of work than that which Jesus had time to do. More significant? Certainly not. Important in the eyes of Jesus Christ? Absolutely. Through the power of Jesus? That’s what he said.
Every one of the children born to our care, and every one of the young men placed in our care, has this kind of potential. If God made a good creation when he made humanity, if Jesus spoke the truth, if we can trust his promises, then that potential belongs to all of these children. We can take the “if” out of all of those phrases, can’t we, because they’re all true. Now the “Ifs” are all in our court: if we will teach our children when we rise up and lie down, if we will show a child the way that is right when they are young, if we will not provoke a child to wrath, then we will have the possibilities that go with those practices. Will we take the “if” out of those? Will we try?
If we’re raising our children differently than we would Jesus, why?
Blessings,
Ron
Luke 1:26-38; John 14:12-14 – NRSV
Monday, December 22, 2008
Being found in human form ...
Today, scripture and prayer for our meditations.
If then there is any encouragement in Christ,
any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit,
any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete:
be of the same mind, having the same love,
being in full accord and of one mind.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,
but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.
Let each of you look not to your own interests,
but to the interests of others.
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death —
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:1-11 - NRSV
Prayers
Søren Kierkegaard
Our Father, you called us and saved us in order to make us like your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Change us, day by day, by the work of your Holy Spirit so that we may grow more like him in all that we think and say and do, to his glory. Amen
Yes, Lord Jesus Christ, whether we be far off or near, far away from you in the human swarm, in business, in early cares, in temporal joys, in merely human highness, or far from all this, forsaken, unappreciated in lowliness, and with this the nearer to you, do you draw us entirely to yourself.
Peace,
Ron
If then there is any encouragement in Christ,
any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit,
any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete:
be of the same mind, having the same love,
being in full accord and of one mind.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,
but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.
Let each of you look not to your own interests,
but to the interests of others.
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death —
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:1-11 - NRSV
Prayers
Søren Kierkegaard
Our Father, you called us and saved us in order to make us like your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Change us, day by day, by the work of your Holy Spirit so that we may grow more like him in all that we think and say and do, to his glory. Amen
Yes, Lord Jesus Christ, whether we be far off or near, far away from you in the human swarm, in business, in early cares, in temporal joys, in merely human highness, or far from all this, forsaken, unappreciated in lowliness, and with this the nearer to you, do you draw us entirely to yourself.
Peace,
Ron
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