Christmas
January 1, 2017

Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:13-23

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’ –Matthew 2:19-23

One of the characteristics of the prophets who speak to us through the Bible I most appreciate is that they never lose sight of God’s eternal message, “I’ve got this.” When the world is falling apart around them, this message resonates. I call them pragmatic optimists. They see the fault lines. They fully realize the implications. They trust God.

Joseph demonstrates the same characteristic in our scripture today. In looking back on my life, I now can see clearly when doors I wanted to enter closed before me, new doors opened. At the time, I mourned the inability to cross the thresholds of those old doors. Later, I thanked God for the opportunities that resulted and in some instances the disasters I averted.

We make decisions that matter every day often on the fly. We as Christ-followers must keep our spirits as fine tuned as skilled athletes hone their bodies and practice their specific sport. It enables us to let our spirit memories, like an athlete’s muscle memory, take over as needed when our lives would otherwise be spinning out of control.

Prayer: O God,
Where can I go from your spirit?
   Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
   if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
   and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
   and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
   and the light around me become night’,
even the darkness is not dark to you;
   the night is as bright as the day,
   for darkness is as light to you.  

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
   test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting*. Amen.

*Psalm 139:7-12, 23-24

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.