Good morning.
Today is Tuesday,
January 5th,
2021.
It is the 12th day of Christmas.
Oh Lord,
Let my soul rise up to meet you as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to God,
The three in one,
Creator,
Redeemer,
And sustainer.
As it was in the beginning is now and will be forever.
Amen.
Come let us sing together.
Come let us worship and adore Christ the Lord.
Remind yourself that you are in God's presence.
Notice how God may be speaking to you today.
Let yourself dwell on any word or phrase that catches your attention and let your heart simply respond to God in prayer.
Please repeat these words.
Oh Lord,
We give you thanks and we anticipate your deliverance.
Look to verses 36 through 40.
There was a woman named Anna,
The daughter of Fanyuel,
Who was also a prophet.
She had lived a long life,
Seven years with her husband and then as a widow to the age of 84.
She never left the temple,
Worshiping day and night,
Fasting and praying.
Coming up at that moment,
She gave thanks to God and talked about the child to all who prophesied the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When the couple had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of God,
They returned to Galilee and their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew in strength and size.
He was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was with him.
Please repeat these words.
Oh Lord,
We give you thanks and we anticipate your deliverance.
I invite you now to hold someone's name before the Lord.
One that the Spirit of God leads you to think about right now,
Hold that person before God.
Don't worry about diagnosing the person's needs or telling God what to do.
Simply hold this person before God,
Our Creator and the one who loves us more than we could possibly imagine.
And as we hold those we love before God,
Let's reflect led by these words from Walter Brueggemann,
A short passage called A Village Nine Miles Away.
In Upware England,
There is a pub called Five Miles from Anywhere.
Bethlehem is like that.
Nine miles from Jerusalem.
Nine miles from Importance or Power,
Little among the clans of Judah.
Now it is filled with fearful Palestinians on watch because of ominous Israeli surveillance.
This little town of Bethlehem is replicated in many out of the way places where nobody important ever goes.
Where there are no possibilities or hopes but only subsistence,
Vigilance and fear.
We know about such places that are remote from significance,
Forgotten and vulnerable.
On this 12th day of Christmas we give you thanks that in such a place the wondrous gift is given.
The gift is the wonder of the Christ child,
The miracle of new possibility,
The spectacle of opening a new future,
All given in silence.
Bethlehem does not remain unvisited.
The vulnerable are not forgotten.
The future is not closed.
Little Bethlehem is the matrix of God's newness.
We pray all of this in the name of Jesus who taught us to pray.
Our Father which art in heaven.
Eternal God,
Earth maker,
Pain bearer,
Life giver,
Source of all that is and all that shall be.
Not only Father but Mother of us all.
May the hallowing of your name echo through the universe.
May the way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world.
May your heavenly will be done by all created beings.
May your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another,
Forgive us.
In times of temptation and test,
Strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure,
Spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil,
Free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love now and forever.
Amen.
And so my friends let us go from this place proclaiming that we have seen the glory of God.
Believing that there is a light that shines in the darkest places.
A brightness that will never be overcome.
And may the love of the creator,
The joy of the spirit and the peace of the Christ child be with you this last day of Christmas and forevermore.
Amen.
Go in peace.
