Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 105; Zechariah 14:12-21; Matthew 20:17-28; Ephesians 1:3-14
In reading today’s Psalm, I was reminded once again that God doesn’t enter our life in broad, generic ways. God enters into our stories in very specific, very concrete ways. The psalmist makes this abundantly clear as – after assuring us God remembers God’s covenants or age-old promises in Psalm 105:8 – he proceeds to spell out the very specific, very concrete ways in which God was present in the lives of the people. This is the same point that the Christmas story makes for us as well. For each Christmas we are reminded the Christ child didn’t appear in a broad, generic way; the Christ-child appeared at a specific time, in a specific, place, to a specific set of people. Of course the notion of the healing and reconciling spirit of Christ's appearance doesn't have to be limited simply to a geographical place. That appearance can be within a location of an individual's life as well: within a relationship, within a piece of one's self image, etc. This year, as we embark upon the season of Advent and prepare our hearts to once again receive the Christ-child, I invite you to think about the specific, concrete area(s) of your life in which you seek to receive the healing, reconciling spirit of the Christ-child. May that Christ-child bring unprecedented levels of joy and peace into those areas of your life this year. Til next time…
In reading today’s Psalm, I was reminded once again that God doesn’t enter our life in broad, generic ways. God enters into our stories in very specific, very concrete ways. The psalmist makes this abundantly clear as – after assuring us God remembers God’s covenants or age-old promises in Psalm 105:8 – he proceeds to spell out the very specific, very concrete ways in which God was present in the lives of the people. This is the same point that the Christmas story makes for us as well. For each Christmas we are reminded the Christ child didn’t appear in a broad, generic way; the Christ-child appeared at a specific time, in a specific, place, to a specific set of people. Of course the notion of the healing and reconciling spirit of Christ's appearance doesn't have to be limited simply to a geographical place. That appearance can be within a location of an individual's life as well: within a relationship, within a piece of one's self image, etc. This year, as we embark upon the season of Advent and prepare our hearts to once again receive the Christ-child, I invite you to think about the specific, concrete area(s) of your life in which you seek to receive the healing, reconciling spirit of the Christ-child. May that Christ-child bring unprecedented levels of joy and peace into those areas of your life this year. Til next time…
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