First Sunday After Christmas
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III, Cycle C
The Church Year Theological Clue
Just as Easter is a 50-day celebration that culminates in Pentecost, so Christmas is a 12-day festival that reaches its climax on Epiphany, January 6. Unfortunately, Christmas, as a short season, fades away and disappears rather quickly for most of us, except for the Orthodox Christians who continue to keep the feast of the Nativity of our Lord on January 6. The 12-day season is, for all practical purposes, wrapped up in the one-day celebration of Christ's birth on December 25.
Nevertheless, up to two Sundays may occur within the short Christmas season and before Epiphany. The theological function of these Sundays is to deepen the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus, the Son of God. The two gospels in Cycle A and B do this, telling the "Flight to Egypt" story (Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23), in Matthew's year, and the stories of the encounters with Simeon and Anna, in Luke 2:25-40, Cycle B, when Jesus was taken to the temple for his circumcision. In Cycle C, the only reference to Jesus' life in the years between his birth and his baptism - the visit to the temple when he was 12 years old - is appointed as the Gospel for the Day; John 1:1-18, which is the same gospel read at the third service of Christmas day, is read again in the Second Sunday after Christmas. Preachers ought to think of these Sundays from a Christmas perspective, as "the First Sunday of Christmas" and "the Second Sunday of Christmas," rather than the First and Second Sundays after Christmas, thereby taking advantage of the opportunity to proclaim the wonder and mystery of Jesus; incarnation more fully (it would have been well to name the two Sundays "of Christmas," just as the Sundays in Eastertide have been designated).
The Roman Catholic ORDO calls for the observance of the Feast of the Holy Family on the First Sunday after Christmas, drawing this theme from the Luke 2:41-52 gospel, rather than highlighting Jesus' response to Mary's remarks in the temple, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" There is something of a commentary on the "modern family" in that incident, which, from another perspective, expands the conception of the human race as the Family of God.
It should be noted that the Episcopal Church, in its Services For Trial Use, the forerun-ner to the revised Book Of Common Prayer, offered only one set of pericopes, and set John 1:1-18 on the First Sunday after Christmas. The Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, in a kind of "trial run" lectionary of about the same vintage as the Episcopal "trial services," appointed Luke 2:25-38 (Simeon and the Nunc Dimittis) for that Sunday, assigning John 1:1-18 to the Second Sunday after Christmas, which is the present practice. It would also seem more appropriate to place the Luke 2:25-38 on January 1, the octave of Christmas and the Feast of the Name (and Circumcision) of our Lord.
Incidentally, there is always a First Sunday after Christmas, because it takes precedence over the festivals of St. Stephen, St. John, and the Holy Innocents Day, which might fall on the Sunday after Christmas. This means that the story of the slaughter of the boys of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:13-18), at Herod's order, will not be read on Sundays in most con-gregations. One is tempted to read this gospel on the Sunday designated as Holocaust Remembrance Day, at least in some years.
The Prayer Of The Day
The LBW prayer picks up the "wonder of Christmas" theme and, subtly, suggests the part that the incarnation of Jesus plays in the restoration of human beings after the Fall in the eyes of, and by the grace of, God. It reads, in part: "Almighty God, you wonderfully created and yet more wonderfully restored the dignity of human nature ..." The Book Of Common Prayer speaks more to the "new light" that has come into the world in Jesus' incarnation, part of the theme of the John 1:1-18 gospel. The collect for The Holy Name, January 1, links the incarnation to our salvation, asking God to "Plant in every heart ... the love of him who is the Savior of the world." The prayer (The Book Of Common Prayer) for the First Sunday after Christmas reads: "Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen."
The Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 111 (LBW) and 147 (E) - also used twice by the ORDO, on the Fifth Sunday of Year B (147:1-6), and on Corpus Christi (147:12-20).
Psalm 111 (L) - "You who worship the Lord, obey him and do what he commands in the world" seems to be the theme in this psalm. The main reason for using this psalm of praise and thanksgiving surfaces in verse 9: He sent redemption to his people; he commanded his covenant forever; holy and awesome is his name.
Psalm 147 (E) - The Psalmist, grateful for all that God has done and is doing in the world, sings this magnificent song of praise to him who is in charge of all things. He praises the God who restored Jerusalem, gathered the exiles, comforted the broken-hearted. This God is "mighty in power" and possesses wisdom that knows no limits.
Psalm prayer (111 - LBW) - "Merciful and gentle Lord, the crowning glory of all the saints, give us, your children, the gift of obedience, which is the beginning of wisdom, so that we may be filled with your mercy and that what you command we may do by the might of Jesus Christ our Lord."
Psalm prayer (147 - LBW) - "God our Father, great builder of the heavenly Jerusalem, you know the number of the stars and call each of them by name. Heal hearts that are broken, gather those who have been scattered, and enrich us all from the plentitude of your eternal wisdom, Jesus Christ our Lord."
The Readings
Isaiah 61:10-62:3 (E) - This reading is the same in all three years of the Episcopal lectionary; it was commented upon in the previous LPWs.
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 (RC) - A practical expression of the "honor your father and your mother" commandment (Deuteronomy 5:16) is spelled out in this pericope. Ben Sirach speaks of respect in terms of "atonement for (one's) sins," and kindness as "reparation for your sins." These come only through Jesus and his cross; ben Sirach is talking about obedience to the commandments of God; children are to show their respect in "deed as well as word" and, in this way, obey the commandments of God. The reading appears to function as a commentary for the Gospel for the (Holy Family) Day, when Jesus raises this command-ment to a new and higher level in doing his Father's business."
Jeremiah 31:1-13 (L) - Jeremiah 31, which celebrates the return from the Babylonian exile, finds its way into the several lectionaries at two other places in Cycle/Year B, the Fifth Sunday in Lent and the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Thirtieth Sunday of the Year in the ORDO), has long been viewed by the church from a gospel perspective. It speaks, to all of those who have known "exile" from God, of a time when he "will turn their mourning into joy, ... will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow." Christmas is the time when this has happened for those who welcome Christ as the Son of God and the savior of the world; it is a time when "the maidens (shall) rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry." The Christ came for everyone; all people should rejoice and give thanks to God for his love and grace.
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 (C) - The birth of Samuel, after Hannah had prayed to God for a child, has similarities to and differences from the story of Jesus staying in the temple after his parents had begun their homeward journey. Hannah "lent" Samuel "to the Lord" and to Eli when he was not much more than a baby; Jesus was about 12 when he attempted to stay in the temple. Both were about the business of the Lord God, in different ways, but both of them grew "in stature and in favor with God and with (human beings)." Luke adds "in wisdom" in 2:52 of his gospel, giving additional meaning to a statement that could have been inspired by 1 Samuel 2:26. Samuel served the high priest, Eli, but Jesus engaged in a dialectic with the teachers of the temple. 1 Samuel 2 prompts readers/hearers to engage in serious reflection on Luke 2:41-52.
Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7 (E; RC - 4:4-7 only) - This reading finds multiple use in the Episcopal and Roman Catholic lectionaries and has received homiletical commentary in the Lectionary Preaching Workbook III, Cycles A and B. The Roman reading is assigned to the Solemnity of Mary, January 1.
Hebrews 2:10-18 (L) - These verses were included in the longer reading for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, Cycle B, and were commented upon in the LPW III.
Colossians 3:12-17 (C); 3:12-21 (RC) - This reading could have been assigned to Epiphany, which was - and is, for some churches - a secondary day for baptisms (if scholars are correct about the "put on," or baptismal, exhortation at the beginning of the pericope). Should this reading have been connected to baptism, it might have referred to the candidates putting on white robes after emerging from the water. However, for most Christians today, it shapes a response to the mystery of Christ's birth - what a Christian should be, as well as what a Christian should do: "and above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts ... and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." Christians live in perfect obedience and harmony with the Lord and his Word, because they have "put on Christ" at baptism. Verses 18-21 give specific instructions to members of a family on being a Christian. Although they were in the original version of the LBW lectionary, they have now been eliminated from it.
John 1:1-18 (E) - See the comments and sermon suggestions for the Second Sunday after Christmas - next Sunday - in this workbook.
Luke 2:41-52 (RC, L, C) - This is the only event between the birth of Jesus and his appearance at the Jordan that is included in the gospels. In the Roman ORDO, it is the gospel reading for the Feast of the Holy Family, which is set on this First Sunday after Christmas, because it highlights the religious character of the Holy Family; they made the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem every year to keep the feast of Passover. It was in a good and pious family that Jesus was reared and, at 12 years of age, prematurely began his ministry. If this gospel reflects upon the religious poverty of contemporary family life (but our churches were "filled" on Christmas [and will be on Easter, too], weren't they?), there is something else that is terribly contemporary in this lection, too: That the Holy Family would start their homeward journey without checking on the presence of Jesus reminds us of the "lost" children of this age, and how they get lost.
But the heart of all of this is Jesus' almost impertinent reply to his mother, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" He really sounds like a 20th-century preteener, doesn't he? The truth of the matter is that Jesus knew who he was - his true identity - but he waited some 18 years more before he received a direct answer from that Father, "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (the LBW uses Psalm 2:7 as an antiphon on this Sunday - "You are my son; this day I have begotten you". In a religious society that allowed no one to address God as Father, Jesus' answer about his "Father's house" was absolutely amazing; had the teachers of the temple heard his remark, some of them might have branded Jesus as a blasphemer right then and there and attempted to do something to change his mind. We will never know if anyone beside his mother heard what he said, but we do know that what he said reveals that he was prepared - and preparing - for his life as a very special child of God, one who would be called the Son of God by all genera-tions of people. And Jesus honored his father and his mother by returning obediently to Nazareth with them, rather than rebelling and refusing to leave the temple of God.
Sermon Suggestions, Synopses, Sketches, Stories
Luke 2:41-52 (RC, L, C) - "The Son Who Makes The Family Holy." The first church building in what could be called contemporary religious architecture was Antonio Gaudi's Church of the Holy Family, in Barcelona, Spain; it was begun in 1896, and is still being built - almost 100 years after construction began - in the slow and deliberate pace that cathedrals were built nearly 1,000 years ago. There is a depiction of the Holy Family above the main doors of the church, a permanent "manger scene" of the birth of Christ. I suspect that by the time the building is completed, another statuary, or other work of art, will be prepared and put in place to show the Holy Family in Jerusalem for Passover, particularly the part of the incident that is told in the Gospel for the Day. It is an event that ought to be highlighted, if for no other reason than that it is the only record we have of Jesus between his birth and his baptism.
This would have been an interesting story, if Mary and Joseph had simply returned and found Jesus in the temple, embracing him and then getting on with their return journey to Nazareth. Had that happened, the incident would probably have been forgotten, or relegated to the category of those things that are, at best, vaguely remembered. It is what Jesus said to his mother - "my Father's house" - that makes the situation unique. He knew God as his Father, and he knew the temple as the "House of God," the place where he is to be known as Father of all people - not a distant God, but a God who loves his people as a good parent should. How could Mary and Joseph or even the teachers in the temple have understood such a remark?
It is so easy to say, "My God" and people say it so often, but to say, "My Father and my God" says so much more about one's understanding of what God is like and, in the case of our Lord, of what Jesus was like. It is the Incarnate One who says "My Father," and he could say "Father" because he knew himself to be the Son of God. And he not only made people aware of the parent-nature of God; he also gave us permission to address God with the same title he used when he was asked by his disciples, "Lord, teach us to pray." He directed, "When you pray, say, 'Our Father in heaven....' " On the cross, he showed us that God is the forgiving Father, crying out, as he hung there with spikes through his hands and feet, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Dare we ever think about the Father-God without remembering that Christ is his beloved Son? Dare we ever pray to God, without remembering that he, who as a 12-year-old boy knew God to be his heavenly Father, first prayed that our sins might be forgiven? Dare we ever forget that the 12-year-old Son of God, at that moment when his mother and father found him in the temple, became the Lord, the head of that family, of all families who believe that he is truly the Son of God?
His parents didn't understand the meaning of what he said in the temple, and Luke says that he was "obedient to them" and that "Mary kept all these things in her heart." In time, she understood - perhaps only when he said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." We know who he is right now - at Christmas - and that he is God's Son, our Lord and Savior forever.
I think I know the type of symbol - and the picture of that young boy Jesus we might have in our hearts and minds - that the Church of the Holy Family, in Barcelona, needs when it is completed; it could be a mural, with the boy Jesus in the middle of it and his family surrounding him, listening to what he has to say. Beyond them, one could paint in concentric rings of people, gathered families, all of them being transformed into holy families by the presence of the Lord and the teachings of his holy word "before the throne of God, our heavenly Father."
Hebrews 2:10-18 - "The Son Of God Is High Priest Of All."
1. Jesus, who called God his "Father," demonstrated his love and trust for God by putting his life in his hands when he willingly went to his death on the cross.
2. By his sacrifice, Jesus enlarged the scope of the Fatherhood of God; he proclaimed his name to be the Father-God when that tree was planted in the middle of the world.
3. That self-giving act of obedience destroyed Satan's hold on humanity, thereby delivering sinners from death and the grave.
4. Only a person who was truly human, as all other people, and, on the other hand, the divine Son of God, could accomplish this. He suffered with all people and depended on God to sustain him. He was tempted and sustained by his faith in the Father.
5. Reconciliation with God - and eternal life - can only come through Jesus, the Son of God and our Lord.
Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7 (E)
1. The pregnancy of Mary and the birth of Christ were no accident; God had planned this, according to Paul, from the beginning of time (he says, "But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his son, born of woman.").
2. Christ had to be born under the law - as a human being - in order to accomplish God's purpose, "To redeem those who were born under the law." This, Paul knows, will cost him his life.
3. Believers become "sons," or "children," of God by the sacrifice of Christ, and they are no longer slaves to Satan and sin. They are heirs, through Christ, of the kingdom of God, and they are able - through the Holy Spirit - to dare to address their God and Father, "Abba! Father!", in confidence and faith, as Jesus did.
Colossians 3:12-17 (C); 12-21 (RC)
1. Our first contact with Christ came when most of us were infants - at our baptism. At Christmas, we remember the One who came to us as a Savior - at his birth.
2. Our baptism is renewed - and the peace of God ours - when we turn to him in true faith with God's Christmas gift list: compassion, kindness, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and above all, love.
3. A faithful response is possible when we let the Word of God dwell in (us) richly ... and whatever we do, in word and deed, (we) do ... in the name of the Lord Jesus.
4. That's a large order for sinful creatures, especially at Christmas, but God will help us become what we should be and do what is pleasing to our Lord.
Jeremiah 31:10-13 (L) - "The Christmas Dance. " - Pastor M. Susan Peterson began an Easter sermon with a story about her grandfather, whom she called "the lord of the dance" when she was a little girl. She thought him to be the best dancer in the world, and she danced with him at every chance she got. She realized, as she grew up, that he was not the best dancer in the world, but she still loved him as though he were and, of course, she learned, in time, that the risen Lord is really "the Lord of the Dance." That's the sort of scene that Jeremiah paints for us in this passage of Scripture. God has restored his people, not only in Jerusalem, but in the life and death of his Son, Jesus Christ, and has given all believers a reason for being glad and dancing for joy.
He has given us more than a city; he has given us "heaven itself" - not on a platter, but on a cross and from an empty tomb. That fact, salvation in Jesus' death and resurrection, gives us hope no matter what may be going on in the world and no matter what may happen to us.
The dance began on the night that the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among (people) with whom he is well pleased." Join in and do the dance of life with the Lord.
Isaiah 61:10-62:3 - See the Lectionary Workbook III, Cycle B, for a sermon on this text.
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 - I would simply not preach a separate sermon on this text (and not simply because it is apocryphal), because it begs to be included in a sermon on Jesus' apparent disrespect for his parents (in Luke 2:41-52) over against the respect and honor he gave to his heavenly Father. Theological problems in the text ("reparations for sins" and "atonement") have to be addressed from the perspective of the gospel. Therefore, I would incorporate the "respect-honor-your-parents" theme in the sermon on the Gospel for the Day.
1 Samuel2:18-20 (C) - "A Loan To God." - A priest/professor friend of mine, Father Domenico Grasso, S.J., was born in the town of Monte Cassino, Italy. He, like Samuel, was "lent" to the Lord at an early age; in his case, he entered the monastery school to prepare for the priesthood before he finished elementary school. I am certain that his parents concurred in his intention to become a priest; they may have actually encouraged him, and maybe participated in his decision. They "lent" him to the church while he was yet a boy, but they never recalled their "loan;" it has been a "life-time" loan.
Unlike many parents today, who resist the call of God to their children to become full-time ministers of the gospel, Hannah "lent" her son, Samuel, to Eli, because she knew that she had borne him as a gift from God. Her loan was partial repayment of that gift. She knew that serving the Lord was the best expression of her gratitude for God's grace, so she put Samuel in the custody of Eli while he was yet a child. The decline in enrollment in the theological schools of this country, it has been said, has come about partially because par-ents have discouraged their children from entering the ordained ministry. Serving the Lord is not as honorable and respected a vocation as it once was.
In Holy Baptism, parents give their children to the Lord in response to his grace in the Lord and Jesus' command to baptize "in his name." God calls all of us - ordains us for service, if you will - in the waters of baptism, and it is "family business" to encourage young men and women to become full-time servants - ministers - of the gospel, who will preach, as well as do, the Word.
Just as Easter is a 50-day celebration that culminates in Pentecost, so Christmas is a 12-day festival that reaches its climax on Epiphany, January 6. Unfortunately, Christmas, as a short season, fades away and disappears rather quickly for most of us, except for the Orthodox Christians who continue to keep the feast of the Nativity of our Lord on January 6. The 12-day season is, for all practical purposes, wrapped up in the one-day celebration of Christ's birth on December 25.
Nevertheless, up to two Sundays may occur within the short Christmas season and before Epiphany. The theological function of these Sundays is to deepen the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus, the Son of God. The two gospels in Cycle A and B do this, telling the "Flight to Egypt" story (Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23), in Matthew's year, and the stories of the encounters with Simeon and Anna, in Luke 2:25-40, Cycle B, when Jesus was taken to the temple for his circumcision. In Cycle C, the only reference to Jesus' life in the years between his birth and his baptism - the visit to the temple when he was 12 years old - is appointed as the Gospel for the Day; John 1:1-18, which is the same gospel read at the third service of Christmas day, is read again in the Second Sunday after Christmas. Preachers ought to think of these Sundays from a Christmas perspective, as "the First Sunday of Christmas" and "the Second Sunday of Christmas," rather than the First and Second Sundays after Christmas, thereby taking advantage of the opportunity to proclaim the wonder and mystery of Jesus; incarnation more fully (it would have been well to name the two Sundays "of Christmas," just as the Sundays in Eastertide have been designated).
The Roman Catholic ORDO calls for the observance of the Feast of the Holy Family on the First Sunday after Christmas, drawing this theme from the Luke 2:41-52 gospel, rather than highlighting Jesus' response to Mary's remarks in the temple, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" There is something of a commentary on the "modern family" in that incident, which, from another perspective, expands the conception of the human race as the Family of God.
It should be noted that the Episcopal Church, in its Services For Trial Use, the forerun-ner to the revised Book Of Common Prayer, offered only one set of pericopes, and set John 1:1-18 on the First Sunday after Christmas. The Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, in a kind of "trial run" lectionary of about the same vintage as the Episcopal "trial services," appointed Luke 2:25-38 (Simeon and the Nunc Dimittis) for that Sunday, assigning John 1:1-18 to the Second Sunday after Christmas, which is the present practice. It would also seem more appropriate to place the Luke 2:25-38 on January 1, the octave of Christmas and the Feast of the Name (and Circumcision) of our Lord.
Incidentally, there is always a First Sunday after Christmas, because it takes precedence over the festivals of St. Stephen, St. John, and the Holy Innocents Day, which might fall on the Sunday after Christmas. This means that the story of the slaughter of the boys of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:13-18), at Herod's order, will not be read on Sundays in most con-gregations. One is tempted to read this gospel on the Sunday designated as Holocaust Remembrance Day, at least in some years.
The Prayer Of The Day
The LBW prayer picks up the "wonder of Christmas" theme and, subtly, suggests the part that the incarnation of Jesus plays in the restoration of human beings after the Fall in the eyes of, and by the grace of, God. It reads, in part: "Almighty God, you wonderfully created and yet more wonderfully restored the dignity of human nature ..." The Book Of Common Prayer speaks more to the "new light" that has come into the world in Jesus' incarnation, part of the theme of the John 1:1-18 gospel. The collect for The Holy Name, January 1, links the incarnation to our salvation, asking God to "Plant in every heart ... the love of him who is the Savior of the world." The prayer (The Book Of Common Prayer) for the First Sunday after Christmas reads: "Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen."
The Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 111 (LBW) and 147 (E) - also used twice by the ORDO, on the Fifth Sunday of Year B (147:1-6), and on Corpus Christi (147:12-20).
Psalm 111 (L) - "You who worship the Lord, obey him and do what he commands in the world" seems to be the theme in this psalm. The main reason for using this psalm of praise and thanksgiving surfaces in verse 9: He sent redemption to his people; he commanded his covenant forever; holy and awesome is his name.
Psalm 147 (E) - The Psalmist, grateful for all that God has done and is doing in the world, sings this magnificent song of praise to him who is in charge of all things. He praises the God who restored Jerusalem, gathered the exiles, comforted the broken-hearted. This God is "mighty in power" and possesses wisdom that knows no limits.
Psalm prayer (111 - LBW) - "Merciful and gentle Lord, the crowning glory of all the saints, give us, your children, the gift of obedience, which is the beginning of wisdom, so that we may be filled with your mercy and that what you command we may do by the might of Jesus Christ our Lord."
Psalm prayer (147 - LBW) - "God our Father, great builder of the heavenly Jerusalem, you know the number of the stars and call each of them by name. Heal hearts that are broken, gather those who have been scattered, and enrich us all from the plentitude of your eternal wisdom, Jesus Christ our Lord."
The Readings
Isaiah 61:10-62:3 (E) - This reading is the same in all three years of the Episcopal lectionary; it was commented upon in the previous LPWs.
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 (RC) - A practical expression of the "honor your father and your mother" commandment (Deuteronomy 5:16) is spelled out in this pericope. Ben Sirach speaks of respect in terms of "atonement for (one's) sins," and kindness as "reparation for your sins." These come only through Jesus and his cross; ben Sirach is talking about obedience to the commandments of God; children are to show their respect in "deed as well as word" and, in this way, obey the commandments of God. The reading appears to function as a commentary for the Gospel for the (Holy Family) Day, when Jesus raises this command-ment to a new and higher level in doing his Father's business."
Jeremiah 31:1-13 (L) - Jeremiah 31, which celebrates the return from the Babylonian exile, finds its way into the several lectionaries at two other places in Cycle/Year B, the Fifth Sunday in Lent and the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Thirtieth Sunday of the Year in the ORDO), has long been viewed by the church from a gospel perspective. It speaks, to all of those who have known "exile" from God, of a time when he "will turn their mourning into joy, ... will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow." Christmas is the time when this has happened for those who welcome Christ as the Son of God and the savior of the world; it is a time when "the maidens (shall) rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry." The Christ came for everyone; all people should rejoice and give thanks to God for his love and grace.
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 (C) - The birth of Samuel, after Hannah had prayed to God for a child, has similarities to and differences from the story of Jesus staying in the temple after his parents had begun their homeward journey. Hannah "lent" Samuel "to the Lord" and to Eli when he was not much more than a baby; Jesus was about 12 when he attempted to stay in the temple. Both were about the business of the Lord God, in different ways, but both of them grew "in stature and in favor with God and with (human beings)." Luke adds "in wisdom" in 2:52 of his gospel, giving additional meaning to a statement that could have been inspired by 1 Samuel 2:26. Samuel served the high priest, Eli, but Jesus engaged in a dialectic with the teachers of the temple. 1 Samuel 2 prompts readers/hearers to engage in serious reflection on Luke 2:41-52.
Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7 (E; RC - 4:4-7 only) - This reading finds multiple use in the Episcopal and Roman Catholic lectionaries and has received homiletical commentary in the Lectionary Preaching Workbook III, Cycles A and B. The Roman reading is assigned to the Solemnity of Mary, January 1.
Hebrews 2:10-18 (L) - These verses were included in the longer reading for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, Cycle B, and were commented upon in the LPW III.
Colossians 3:12-17 (C); 3:12-21 (RC) - This reading could have been assigned to Epiphany, which was - and is, for some churches - a secondary day for baptisms (if scholars are correct about the "put on," or baptismal, exhortation at the beginning of the pericope). Should this reading have been connected to baptism, it might have referred to the candidates putting on white robes after emerging from the water. However, for most Christians today, it shapes a response to the mystery of Christ's birth - what a Christian should be, as well as what a Christian should do: "and above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts ... and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." Christians live in perfect obedience and harmony with the Lord and his Word, because they have "put on Christ" at baptism. Verses 18-21 give specific instructions to members of a family on being a Christian. Although they were in the original version of the LBW lectionary, they have now been eliminated from it.
John 1:1-18 (E) - See the comments and sermon suggestions for the Second Sunday after Christmas - next Sunday - in this workbook.
Luke 2:41-52 (RC, L, C) - This is the only event between the birth of Jesus and his appearance at the Jordan that is included in the gospels. In the Roman ORDO, it is the gospel reading for the Feast of the Holy Family, which is set on this First Sunday after Christmas, because it highlights the religious character of the Holy Family; they made the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem every year to keep the feast of Passover. It was in a good and pious family that Jesus was reared and, at 12 years of age, prematurely began his ministry. If this gospel reflects upon the religious poverty of contemporary family life (but our churches were "filled" on Christmas [and will be on Easter, too], weren't they?), there is something else that is terribly contemporary in this lection, too: That the Holy Family would start their homeward journey without checking on the presence of Jesus reminds us of the "lost" children of this age, and how they get lost.
But the heart of all of this is Jesus' almost impertinent reply to his mother, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" He really sounds like a 20th-century preteener, doesn't he? The truth of the matter is that Jesus knew who he was - his true identity - but he waited some 18 years more before he received a direct answer from that Father, "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (the LBW uses Psalm 2:7 as an antiphon on this Sunday - "You are my son; this day I have begotten you". In a religious society that allowed no one to address God as Father, Jesus' answer about his "Father's house" was absolutely amazing; had the teachers of the temple heard his remark, some of them might have branded Jesus as a blasphemer right then and there and attempted to do something to change his mind. We will never know if anyone beside his mother heard what he said, but we do know that what he said reveals that he was prepared - and preparing - for his life as a very special child of God, one who would be called the Son of God by all genera-tions of people. And Jesus honored his father and his mother by returning obediently to Nazareth with them, rather than rebelling and refusing to leave the temple of God.
Sermon Suggestions, Synopses, Sketches, Stories
Luke 2:41-52 (RC, L, C) - "The Son Who Makes The Family Holy." The first church building in what could be called contemporary religious architecture was Antonio Gaudi's Church of the Holy Family, in Barcelona, Spain; it was begun in 1896, and is still being built - almost 100 years after construction began - in the slow and deliberate pace that cathedrals were built nearly 1,000 years ago. There is a depiction of the Holy Family above the main doors of the church, a permanent "manger scene" of the birth of Christ. I suspect that by the time the building is completed, another statuary, or other work of art, will be prepared and put in place to show the Holy Family in Jerusalem for Passover, particularly the part of the incident that is told in the Gospel for the Day. It is an event that ought to be highlighted, if for no other reason than that it is the only record we have of Jesus between his birth and his baptism.
This would have been an interesting story, if Mary and Joseph had simply returned and found Jesus in the temple, embracing him and then getting on with their return journey to Nazareth. Had that happened, the incident would probably have been forgotten, or relegated to the category of those things that are, at best, vaguely remembered. It is what Jesus said to his mother - "my Father's house" - that makes the situation unique. He knew God as his Father, and he knew the temple as the "House of God," the place where he is to be known as Father of all people - not a distant God, but a God who loves his people as a good parent should. How could Mary and Joseph or even the teachers in the temple have understood such a remark?
It is so easy to say, "My God" and people say it so often, but to say, "My Father and my God" says so much more about one's understanding of what God is like and, in the case of our Lord, of what Jesus was like. It is the Incarnate One who says "My Father," and he could say "Father" because he knew himself to be the Son of God. And he not only made people aware of the parent-nature of God; he also gave us permission to address God with the same title he used when he was asked by his disciples, "Lord, teach us to pray." He directed, "When you pray, say, 'Our Father in heaven....' " On the cross, he showed us that God is the forgiving Father, crying out, as he hung there with spikes through his hands and feet, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Dare we ever think about the Father-God without remembering that Christ is his beloved Son? Dare we ever pray to God, without remembering that he, who as a 12-year-old boy knew God to be his heavenly Father, first prayed that our sins might be forgiven? Dare we ever forget that the 12-year-old Son of God, at that moment when his mother and father found him in the temple, became the Lord, the head of that family, of all families who believe that he is truly the Son of God?
His parents didn't understand the meaning of what he said in the temple, and Luke says that he was "obedient to them" and that "Mary kept all these things in her heart." In time, she understood - perhaps only when he said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." We know who he is right now - at Christmas - and that he is God's Son, our Lord and Savior forever.
I think I know the type of symbol - and the picture of that young boy Jesus we might have in our hearts and minds - that the Church of the Holy Family, in Barcelona, needs when it is completed; it could be a mural, with the boy Jesus in the middle of it and his family surrounding him, listening to what he has to say. Beyond them, one could paint in concentric rings of people, gathered families, all of them being transformed into holy families by the presence of the Lord and the teachings of his holy word "before the throne of God, our heavenly Father."
Hebrews 2:10-18 - "The Son Of God Is High Priest Of All."
1. Jesus, who called God his "Father," demonstrated his love and trust for God by putting his life in his hands when he willingly went to his death on the cross.
2. By his sacrifice, Jesus enlarged the scope of the Fatherhood of God; he proclaimed his name to be the Father-God when that tree was planted in the middle of the world.
3. That self-giving act of obedience destroyed Satan's hold on humanity, thereby delivering sinners from death and the grave.
4. Only a person who was truly human, as all other people, and, on the other hand, the divine Son of God, could accomplish this. He suffered with all people and depended on God to sustain him. He was tempted and sustained by his faith in the Father.
5. Reconciliation with God - and eternal life - can only come through Jesus, the Son of God and our Lord.
Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7 (E)
1. The pregnancy of Mary and the birth of Christ were no accident; God had planned this, according to Paul, from the beginning of time (he says, "But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his son, born of woman.").
2. Christ had to be born under the law - as a human being - in order to accomplish God's purpose, "To redeem those who were born under the law." This, Paul knows, will cost him his life.
3. Believers become "sons," or "children," of God by the sacrifice of Christ, and they are no longer slaves to Satan and sin. They are heirs, through Christ, of the kingdom of God, and they are able - through the Holy Spirit - to dare to address their God and Father, "Abba! Father!", in confidence and faith, as Jesus did.
Colossians 3:12-17 (C); 12-21 (RC)
1. Our first contact with Christ came when most of us were infants - at our baptism. At Christmas, we remember the One who came to us as a Savior - at his birth.
2. Our baptism is renewed - and the peace of God ours - when we turn to him in true faith with God's Christmas gift list: compassion, kindness, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and above all, love.
3. A faithful response is possible when we let the Word of God dwell in (us) richly ... and whatever we do, in word and deed, (we) do ... in the name of the Lord Jesus.
4. That's a large order for sinful creatures, especially at Christmas, but God will help us become what we should be and do what is pleasing to our Lord.
Jeremiah 31:10-13 (L) - "The Christmas Dance. " - Pastor M. Susan Peterson began an Easter sermon with a story about her grandfather, whom she called "the lord of the dance" when she was a little girl. She thought him to be the best dancer in the world, and she danced with him at every chance she got. She realized, as she grew up, that he was not the best dancer in the world, but she still loved him as though he were and, of course, she learned, in time, that the risen Lord is really "the Lord of the Dance." That's the sort of scene that Jeremiah paints for us in this passage of Scripture. God has restored his people, not only in Jerusalem, but in the life and death of his Son, Jesus Christ, and has given all believers a reason for being glad and dancing for joy.
He has given us more than a city; he has given us "heaven itself" - not on a platter, but on a cross and from an empty tomb. That fact, salvation in Jesus' death and resurrection, gives us hope no matter what may be going on in the world and no matter what may happen to us.
The dance began on the night that the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among (people) with whom he is well pleased." Join in and do the dance of life with the Lord.
Isaiah 61:10-62:3 - See the Lectionary Workbook III, Cycle B, for a sermon on this text.
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 - I would simply not preach a separate sermon on this text (and not simply because it is apocryphal), because it begs to be included in a sermon on Jesus' apparent disrespect for his parents (in Luke 2:41-52) over against the respect and honor he gave to his heavenly Father. Theological problems in the text ("reparations for sins" and "atonement") have to be addressed from the perspective of the gospel. Therefore, I would incorporate the "respect-honor-your-parents" theme in the sermon on the Gospel for the Day.
1 Samuel2:18-20 (C) - "A Loan To God." - A priest/professor friend of mine, Father Domenico Grasso, S.J., was born in the town of Monte Cassino, Italy. He, like Samuel, was "lent" to the Lord at an early age; in his case, he entered the monastery school to prepare for the priesthood before he finished elementary school. I am certain that his parents concurred in his intention to become a priest; they may have actually encouraged him, and maybe participated in his decision. They "lent" him to the church while he was yet a boy, but they never recalled their "loan;" it has been a "life-time" loan.
Unlike many parents today, who resist the call of God to their children to become full-time ministers of the gospel, Hannah "lent" her son, Samuel, to Eli, because she knew that she had borne him as a gift from God. Her loan was partial repayment of that gift. She knew that serving the Lord was the best expression of her gratitude for God's grace, so she put Samuel in the custody of Eli while he was yet a child. The decline in enrollment in the theological schools of this country, it has been said, has come about partially because par-ents have discouraged their children from entering the ordained ministry. Serving the Lord is not as honorable and respected a vocation as it once was.
In Holy Baptism, parents give their children to the Lord in response to his grace in the Lord and Jesus' command to baptize "in his name." God calls all of us - ordains us for service, if you will - in the waters of baptism, and it is "family business" to encourage young men and women to become full-time servants - ministers - of the gospel, who will preach, as well as do, the Word.
