Intentional Faith

Christmas Day Prayer

Lord, teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart . . . Psalm 90

Help us do the things that matter this holy day,
not to waste the time we have.

Yes, the moments we have are precious, Lord,
see that we count them dear.
Teach us to number our days aright.
Fill us this Christmas day with your kindness,
that we may be glad and rejoice all the days of our life.

Family Thought for Micah 5:2

We cannot select our birthplace and circumstances, but Christ could. The Saviour came to teach humility, and to reverse the maxims of the world. Bethlehem was the city of David, and Christ was to be of the seed of David. We have also the description of Christ’s office. “Ruler in Israel.” He came to found a kingdom. The description of Christ’s person, the eternity of God the Son, is also contained in the text.

QUESTION: Do you know where you born? Have mom and dad share the story of your birth.

Thoughts on Today’s Text

Micah 5:2-5

If we think of this text only in terms of this coming one as Jesus, we might miss Micah’s message to his own people. We lose the scripture’s assertion — and the proclamation of the prophet — that YHWH (Hebrew for God) speaks in each moment of history to that particular time. If we think of Micah’s words only as foretelling a future savior, YHWH’s concern for the present is lost.
The speeches of the prophet we know as Micah are believed to refer to events around the eighth century BCE, a time of great unrest and turmoil for the northern kingdom and Jerusalem because of the domineering strength of the Assyrian nation. The people to whom Micah’s words were directed had no chance to match the warring might of their neighbors. Micah insisted that the only hope for them was to trust in YHWH’s power by remaining faithful.
The power of Micah’s image is not in its foretelling but in its truthfulness. The God who cared for “the little clans of Judah” still cares for the faithful needy ones. And we are everywhere.

Christmas Eve Scripture

Micah 5:2-5 (NIV)
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be their peace…

Today, O Lord, a young man or woman will write a song or poem about you. What they create will live long past a sermon. They are sharing their soul and faith with us. Help them to be near you and honest with you. Let their words and music speak to our souls when no sermon will. In your Son’s Name we ask it. Amen.

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

The reading from Luke follows on the heels of the summary of John’s preaching of a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” and the claim that his proclamation, which sets the table for the arrival of Jesus, was what Isaiah promised centuries prior.

John’s preaching is harsh and perhaps surprising; it is jarring, particularly as an approach to the Christmas season; and it is challenging. His preaching of repentance is a direct assault on human living that in any way ignores the appropriate orientation of the believer (any believer) towards her neighbor.

Broadly speaking, then, John’s action-oriented fruits of repentance have to do with depriving our neighbor of what they need. Repentance here is not just (or perhaps even primarily) about the dialectic of faith and sin; rather it is about how we are living out the love of our neighbor.

The question which John’s advent, John’s preaching, and by extension our own, encourage us to ask is just this: “What, then, should we do?” How shall we respond to the Advent of the Messiah, which our preaching hails? What are the fruits of repentance, which we might bear? How can we meet the promise of the season, with real, meaningful expectation (cf. Luke 3:15)?

Family Discussion of Today’s Text

When reading this passage for the day, do not place the emphasis on John’s call to repentance, but on his expectation of One who is coming from God; One so great that John is not worthy to tie his shoelaces; One who will baptize us with the Holy Spirit; and, yes, One who will judge us.

John’s sense of expectation might be compared to the way an eight-year-old would feel if Michael Jordan were coming to coach her basketball team, or if she were going to study with a New York ballet company. Joy, excitement, fear of higher standards, and hope for what she could become as she works with some of the best instructors in the world, would be all rolled up together. Expectantly, she would practice harder to be ready. With this as a frame of reference, children can sense John’s excitement that God is coming to live among us; they can understand John’s insistence that we get ready by working harder to live up to God’s standards.

CHILDREN: What famous person would you like to meet? Why? What would you have to do to be like them?

YOUTH: Do you remember the last time you weren’t prepared for school? How did it make you feel? Do you think you are prepared to explain yourself to God?

ADULT: When was the last time you made an honest confession to God? Not just an ‘Oh, sorry!’ What does it take to be truly repentant to God?

Scripture for the Day

Luke 3:7-18 (NIV)
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.”
12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely–be content with your pay.”
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ.
16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.

A Good Thought

This is the season of the cradle, not the cross, but we need the cross now. The cradle is bathed in too much light from Star and Angel. Radiant beams only hurt our eyes, which have recently become unwillingly accustomed to deepest dark. For now, we need the cover of night.

This is the season of the cradle, not the cross, but we need the cross now. In the cradle lies a child, and we are not ready to see him, he is so beautiful. The beauty of other children is a searing pain right now. How can we come on bended knee to this one, glad for his appearance when the rest are gone? If we bend now, we may break in two. For now, we need to stay away.

This is the season of the cradle, not the cross, but we need the cross now. The cradle puts glory on our lips, and the lyrics of lullabies. We need a word more adequate than these. We are poring over the lexicon to find a word with which to fashion inconsolable laments. What we find is the cross.

It is a word that offers no answers. It offers instead a common lot. It is the gathering place for all the world’s sorrows, all its wasted efforts, all its murdered children, its violence and catastrophe, its indifference, its evasive posturing and political cowardice, and all its stupefied silences. Sooner or later life deposits us all at the cross.

When we arrive at its foot, we discover its gift—a durable hope that comes not from assurances that the sun will come up tomorrow, or from the truth that God grieves with us, or even from our faith in a risen Lord; but simply from having a place to go; a place to gather so that we will not be alone, so that we will not get lost, when the pain is unspeakable and the sorrow beyond all bearing.

Carols will ring and light will shine and knees now doubled in pain will bend in awe, but not yet. First, and for a little while longer, and forever, we need the cross.

Prayer for the Day

Throughout your churches, O Lord, your people seek to remember and honor your entrance into our world. We pray that the words of our lips, the prayers of our hearts and the deeds of our hands please You this holy season. You changed our world that first Christmas. May we honor Yours this Christmas. Amen.