Christmastide

December 30, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 147:12-20
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
   Praise your God, O Zion!
For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
   he blesses your children within you.
He grants peace within your borders;
   he fills you with the finest of wheat.
He sends out his command to the earth;
   his word runs swiftly.
He gives snow like wool;
   he scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down hail like crumbs—
   who can stand before his cold?
He sends out his word, and melts them;
   he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
He declares his word to Jacob,
   his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
   they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the Lord!

How do we describe God? Theologians use words like “omnipresent”—always present, “omnipotent”—all-powerful, “omnibenevolent”—all good, and “omniscient”—all-knowing. The writer of today’s Psalm wants us to understand that God is beyond our knowing, cooler than the coldest cold, hotter than the hottest hot. We know God by our ever-growing experience with God. If we are each uniquely created in the image of God, then we must have a unique relationship with the Lord. That also means that God has a unique relationship with all the children God created.

This Psalm seems to indicate that God, too, has unique relationships with nations or faith groups. Different groups with different backgrounds develop unique customs and rituals. In the USA, we have inherited a wide variety of those customs, tweaking them a bit or even combining them. Tex-Mex is not the same as native foods from Mexico. I can now buy burritos at my favorite middle eastern restaurant. I enjoy all of them. I had probably noted before that the USA’s indigenous people had little trouble recognizing the deity missionaries called God. The Great Spirit, the Creator, had been among them since the beginning of time also. We monotheist sometimes have a problem with needing to proclaim that our god is better than your god when God is ultimately the one who knows our hearts as individuals, faith groups, and nations.

While faith groups practice different customs and even follow various ordinances, it is amazing how closely our rules are alike. It is a God thing.

Prayer: Creator of all, enable us to commune together as your children while holding true to your will and your ways for all our lives. 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.