Christmas

December 25, 2021

Scripture Reading: John 1:10-14

[Christ] was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

The Bible is our primary source of human observation of the history of God, including the coming of the Christ child. Yet John is trying to tell us there is much more to the story recorded in the Bible or anything written since that shares human experiences with God. John describes Christ as the Word we are to follow. The measure of God’s message is determined by whether it passes the test of love. We, indeed, must immerse ourselves in the stories of God, Jesus’s teachings and example, his death, and resurrection that has been passed to us over the years. But, even with those, we must seek love’s path. Such study requires us to call on God to guide us and help us understand the meaning of “love” as Christ lived it as what John describes as the Word.

Today we celebrate the coming of the Word into the world. Let this be a time to recommit our lives to expanding our understanding of the Word and molding our lives to follow the Word more closely.

In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan
Earth stood hard as iron
Water like a stone
Snow had fallen
Snow on snow on snow
In the bleak midwinter
Long, long ago
Angels and Arc Angels
May have traveled there
Cherubim and Seraphim
Thronged the air
But only his Mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshiped the beloved
With a kiss
What can I give him?
Poor as I am
If I were a shepherd
I would give a lamb
If I were a wise man
I would do my part
But what I can I give him
Give him my heart
Give him my heart*

Prayer: Thank you, God, for sending your Son the greatest gift we will ever receive. Amen.

*Hymn In the Bleak Midwinter  by Christina Rossetti and Gustav Holst

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.