Dearest e-votees-
Merry Christmas to you and yours. I hope and pray that you are able to savor the gift of the manger surrounded by family and friends.
God has come into the world to bring all who are far back into restored relationship with God. This is indeed Good News.
Peace,
Karl
----------------
1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” 7 Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” 10 And, “In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like clothing; 12 like a cloak you will roll them up, and like clothing they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never end.”
God has been speaking to our ancestors, people who have preceded us in the family of faith, for a long time. In many and various ways God has sought to communicate to them and to us—many people, many forms of oration, demonstration and inscription, through demonstrations of power, miraculous interventions and faithful deliverance and provision. In spite of these efforts by God the message was often missed by our ancestors and by us. So God came to us as Jesus. When we look at Jesus we see God. Jesus bears “the exact imprint of God’s very being” and makes himself known to this world that is so often so sinful and so broken.
Jesus comes and makes his place among the shepherds and the sheep. Jesus comes and makes his place among the tax collectors and lepers and sinners and outcasts. Jesus comes and makes his place between the doubter and the denier and the betrayer. Jesus comes and makes a place for us too. And, when we decided Jesus was making things in a way that was offensive to us, we dispatched him. And Jesus made his place between two thieves on Calvary. Jesus made his place in hell—literal and figurative—for our sake. And we made a place for him in a rough hewn tomb in a garden.
Then Jesus rose and took his place again. Jesus rose and said “Not even death can keep me down”. Jesus rose and said “Take your place beside me—nothing, not even death, can separate us”. Jesus makes a place for us. “The exact imprint of God’s very being” is pressing us into that form as well. Jesus sustains all things—including us—by his powerful Word. He is the Word come into the world. He has come for us. He has made a place for us. He has called us to follow after him. This is, truly, “Joy to the World!!!”
God, thank you for all the ways you bless us. Most particularly we give you thanks for Jesus and how you have blessed us and the world through him. Help us be people who join all God’s angels in worship and praise of God made flesh—the Gift of the manger and the Savior of the world. Amen.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment