Christmas
December 26, 2017
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 61:10-62:3
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.
The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. –Isaiah 62:1-3
Love will prevail. No matter how much God’s followers mess up, God always, always delivers a message to us that Love will win out over any evil and we will do a new thing because of God’s response to our shortcomings. Like a parent seeing a baby attracted to and reaching toward a shining, wiggly candle flame, God’s strong hands whisks us up and sets us in a safe place. God’s salvation may scare the devil out of us, and we may cry out in fear, perhaps anger or disappointment at having to give up what seemed so enticing to us, but God will soon quiet us and turn us in a new direction if we let God.
The message of Christmas in 2017 is strong and sure. If we do not repent of our ways that differ from God’s ways and turn back to God, God will intercede, and we will pay the price for our negligence.
I was acquainted with the following scripture from Isaiah when I attended some years ago a retreat held by the Children’s Defense Fund targeted at helping people of faith learn new ways to do justice for children.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:19)
I had never sung it in song before. I fell in love with the following little chorus at that retreat and on returning home taped it to my bathroom mirror to remind me of God’s persistent will that we learn the act of loving one another as the best way of being. The paper yellowed or time and the tape stiffened so one day I removed it while cleaning the mirror. I am creating a new copy today and returning it to the mirror. I invite you to join me in letting God lead us into a new thing in love.
“I will do a new thing in you;
I will do a new thing in you;
Whatever you ask for, whatever you pray for,
nothing shall be denied.”
saith the Lord; saith the Lord! *
Prayer: Lord, forgive us for our failures to love one another. Do a new thing in us. Amen.
I Will Do a New Thing in You by Audrey Byrd see at https://hymnary.org/hymn/AAHH2001/568