Christmas
December 30, 2014
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-14
They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
and they shall never languish again.
Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,
says the Lord. — Jeremiah 31:12-14
During our Christmas Eve service, I sat near the front of the church between dear friends and truly relished rejoicing in the coming of the Christ Child. It is a simple service of lessons and carols. Scriptures long written on our hearts with songs we know so well that everyone sings robustly, at least the first verse. This is perhaps a tiny taste of the joy when the Kingdom of God is fulfilled.
With the memory of the fulfillment I experienced at our Christmas Eve service in the background, I was struck by the last verse of our scripture today. We live in a culture that teaches us to never be satisfied. We are to be always a little hungry for more—more success, more wealth. Yet descriptions of God’s Kingdom seem to suggest that all are to experience the state of having enough.
What is enough? That is the tough question. Enough starts with being in right relationship with God—being whole, which is a life-long quest. As we grow in spirit and truth we shed layers of brokenness, but we accumulate new ones, which we then must also shed. A life centered on our relationship with God enables this quest. As we get closer to finding the meaning of wholeness for ourselves we are drawn into Christ divine plan to be in community with others where we share in a desire that all can be whole and all can have enough and be satisfied with it.
Prayer: Lord, reframe our purpose in life to find your meaning of enough and help us rejoice in the satisfaction that your enough brings. Amen.
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.