First Sunday After Christmas
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle B
Object:
Seasonal Theme
God putting on human flesh in the person of Jesus and coming unto the world to demonstrate God's love for us.
Theme For The Day
Like Old Simeon and Anna, we, too, can see the Christ in our church and our faithfulness.
Old Testament Lesson
Isaiah 61:10--62:3
The People Prepare For The Lord
Because God had blessed them, the saved remnant will celebrate. Salvation and righteousness are mentioned as clothes which these saved wear. And as a bridegroom and bride wore special things to represent their joy, so these saved by God are decked out. As we begin chapter 62, we see an expanding of chapter 40 and the preparation being made for the coming of the Lord. The Lord announces he will work for the people of Jerusalem until her righteousness is recognized by the rest of the world. And those who live there will be like a crown of the Lord by the way they live (v. 3)
New Testament Lesson
Galatians 4:4-7
The Spirit Of His Son
Paul's proof we are God's children is the instinctive cry from our hearts when we are desperate. We call out to God as a child does to a parent. And Jesus' birth is God's action to adopt all of us as God's children. Even more beautiful is the fact that God has sent the spirit into our own hearts (v. 6). All this changes our status from slaves to children of God, which makes us God's own heirs.
The Gospel
Luke 2:22-40
Simeon And Anna See Jesus
Jesus' parents now take their firstborn son up to the temple in Jerusalem to do the things good Jewish parents were required to do, like offering a sacrifice. In the temple was one of those old deeply spiritual saints named Simeon. He had wished to see the Messiah before he died. His words of worship for this privilege are verses 29-32 from which we get our liturgical Nunc Dimittis. No doubt Simeon's words to them about their son, they remembered later (vv. 34-35). Next Anna appears and also recognizes Jesus as special. What beautiful, devout people hanging around there in their church to whom God reveals the special nature of Jesus. Then, it's back to Mary's hometown where Jesus grew into adulthood.
Note: There are several customs the Holy Family would have carried out during their trip to Jerusalem. On the eighth day, Jesus would be circumcised and then given the name announced by the angel Gabriel. The other Old Testament ritual carried out was the purification of Mary as put forth in Leviticus 12:2 ff. Forty days after childbirth, the mother is to offer a sacrifice and then is considered "clean" again. This was often called "the churching of women."
One might summarize the entire passage with the words, "... salvation has come," and that it is for all people. Simeon and Anna announced that the hope of salvation will be worked in this very special child. We can now add to the Christmas story and shepherds, inn keeper, Mary and Joseph -- two old temple faithfuls: Simeon and Anna.
Preaching Possibilities
Depending on what you have done thus far in your preaching the Christmas story there are at least four ways to go this Sunday.
A. Use the Old Testament Lesson by itself as an exegetical sermon.
B. Use the New Testament Reading by itself as an exegetical sermon.
C. Use the two above with the following outline:
1. The clothing of the saved (Isaiah)
2. Living like a crown on the head of God (Isaiah)
3. Being an adopted child of God (Galatians)
4. No longer slaves, we are God's children
D. Simeon and Anna see their Savior.
If you have already covered the Christmas story well in narrative, consider simply going through the Galatians reading verse by verse. It is pregnant with gospel.
Galatians 4:4 -- God's love is so great, he sent his son to us.
Verse 5 -- This is God's plan begun at Christmas to save us and adopt us into God's family.
Verse 6 -- God touches our hearts with God's spirit.
Verse 7 -- We are freed from slavery and become heirs in God's family.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
Title: Jesus Goes To Church or Simeon's Song
A. Begin by recounting the last few days of Christmas in your home. Then tell of Christmas in the lives of Mary and Joseph.
B. Now explain the story is not over yet. Luke tells us what happened next. Read Luke 2:22-32.
C. Tell about the temple requirements that Mary and Joseph had to carry out.
D. Then introduce Simeon -- his hopes and faithfulness. He was so filled with joy he could now die content. You sing the Nunc Dimittis or have someone ready to sing it for you.
E. Introduce Anna as another character in the Christmas story.
F. Now tell what this beautiful story teaches us this Sunday in our own church.
1. We, too, can see Jesus by being in his church.
2. There is great joy in faithfulness and devotion to our church.
3. This infant was destined to do great things on God's behalf in Jerusalem and in our town and church also.
4. Our challenge is the same as Nazareth's.
We must grow him up far beyond a baby in a stable to one filled with wisdom and with God's favor upon him (Galatians 2:40). G. Now frame the sermon by returning to your opening sentences about the celebration of Christmas in your home and your church.
Prayer For The Day
Keep the spirit of Christmas alive in us and in our congregation, dear Holy Parent. Might we, like Simeon and Anna, know the joy of Jesus' presence in our church and our daily lives. And help us to grow him large here that he would be much more than a cute baby in a cow stall. Fill our hearts with your spirit that we might also worship the one who has come to save us. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
In the made-for-television show, Inside The Third Reich, a little boy saw soldiers at the train station coming back from the front. So he slept on the hard floor in order to sympathize with them. After this discovery, the father said, "Son, I hope I can always remember how much I love you right now." The God person comes incarnate to sympathize with the human existence.
Julie Walters, 34, an actress making the film She'll Be Wearing Pink Pajamas, announced during a nude scene that a new ruling by the Screen Actors Guild was that all technicians must also get nude during the filming. The naked truth was that it was a bluff; she told them after they had done it. Jesus came to earth to strip down just like us and share what it's like to be fully human -- it's called the incarnation.
In Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part One, Falstaff claims he is still capable of changing his ways and says: "I have not forgotten what the inside of a church is made of."
John H. Blough writes: "The track of a three-toed dinosaur has been found on the top of a coal strata high up on the cliffs near Grand Junction, Colorado. People have never seen the animal itself, but they have seen its footprint. People have never seen God; but God has left his imprint, evidence of God's creatorship, upon the face of the world. The Babe of Bethlehem is the greatest evidence of the real character of God" (Speakers' Illustrations for Special Days).
God putting on human flesh in the person of Jesus and coming unto the world to demonstrate God's love for us.
Theme For The Day
Like Old Simeon and Anna, we, too, can see the Christ in our church and our faithfulness.
Old Testament Lesson
Isaiah 61:10--62:3
The People Prepare For The Lord
Because God had blessed them, the saved remnant will celebrate. Salvation and righteousness are mentioned as clothes which these saved wear. And as a bridegroom and bride wore special things to represent their joy, so these saved by God are decked out. As we begin chapter 62, we see an expanding of chapter 40 and the preparation being made for the coming of the Lord. The Lord announces he will work for the people of Jerusalem until her righteousness is recognized by the rest of the world. And those who live there will be like a crown of the Lord by the way they live (v. 3)
New Testament Lesson
Galatians 4:4-7
The Spirit Of His Son
Paul's proof we are God's children is the instinctive cry from our hearts when we are desperate. We call out to God as a child does to a parent. And Jesus' birth is God's action to adopt all of us as God's children. Even more beautiful is the fact that God has sent the spirit into our own hearts (v. 6). All this changes our status from slaves to children of God, which makes us God's own heirs.
The Gospel
Luke 2:22-40
Simeon And Anna See Jesus
Jesus' parents now take their firstborn son up to the temple in Jerusalem to do the things good Jewish parents were required to do, like offering a sacrifice. In the temple was one of those old deeply spiritual saints named Simeon. He had wished to see the Messiah before he died. His words of worship for this privilege are verses 29-32 from which we get our liturgical Nunc Dimittis. No doubt Simeon's words to them about their son, they remembered later (vv. 34-35). Next Anna appears and also recognizes Jesus as special. What beautiful, devout people hanging around there in their church to whom God reveals the special nature of Jesus. Then, it's back to Mary's hometown where Jesus grew into adulthood.
Note: There are several customs the Holy Family would have carried out during their trip to Jerusalem. On the eighth day, Jesus would be circumcised and then given the name announced by the angel Gabriel. The other Old Testament ritual carried out was the purification of Mary as put forth in Leviticus 12:2 ff. Forty days after childbirth, the mother is to offer a sacrifice and then is considered "clean" again. This was often called "the churching of women."
One might summarize the entire passage with the words, "... salvation has come," and that it is for all people. Simeon and Anna announced that the hope of salvation will be worked in this very special child. We can now add to the Christmas story and shepherds, inn keeper, Mary and Joseph -- two old temple faithfuls: Simeon and Anna.
Preaching Possibilities
Depending on what you have done thus far in your preaching the Christmas story there are at least four ways to go this Sunday.
A. Use the Old Testament Lesson by itself as an exegetical sermon.
B. Use the New Testament Reading by itself as an exegetical sermon.
C. Use the two above with the following outline:
1. The clothing of the saved (Isaiah)
2. Living like a crown on the head of God (Isaiah)
3. Being an adopted child of God (Galatians)
4. No longer slaves, we are God's children
D. Simeon and Anna see their Savior.
If you have already covered the Christmas story well in narrative, consider simply going through the Galatians reading verse by verse. It is pregnant with gospel.
Galatians 4:4 -- God's love is so great, he sent his son to us.
Verse 5 -- This is God's plan begun at Christmas to save us and adopt us into God's family.
Verse 6 -- God touches our hearts with God's spirit.
Verse 7 -- We are freed from slavery and become heirs in God's family.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
Title: Jesus Goes To Church or Simeon's Song
A. Begin by recounting the last few days of Christmas in your home. Then tell of Christmas in the lives of Mary and Joseph.
B. Now explain the story is not over yet. Luke tells us what happened next. Read Luke 2:22-32.
C. Tell about the temple requirements that Mary and Joseph had to carry out.
D. Then introduce Simeon -- his hopes and faithfulness. He was so filled with joy he could now die content. You sing the Nunc Dimittis or have someone ready to sing it for you.
E. Introduce Anna as another character in the Christmas story.
F. Now tell what this beautiful story teaches us this Sunday in our own church.
1. We, too, can see Jesus by being in his church.
2. There is great joy in faithfulness and devotion to our church.
3. This infant was destined to do great things on God's behalf in Jerusalem and in our town and church also.
4. Our challenge is the same as Nazareth's.
We must grow him up far beyond a baby in a stable to one filled with wisdom and with God's favor upon him (Galatians 2:40). G. Now frame the sermon by returning to your opening sentences about the celebration of Christmas in your home and your church.
Prayer For The Day
Keep the spirit of Christmas alive in us and in our congregation, dear Holy Parent. Might we, like Simeon and Anna, know the joy of Jesus' presence in our church and our daily lives. And help us to grow him large here that he would be much more than a cute baby in a cow stall. Fill our hearts with your spirit that we might also worship the one who has come to save us. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
In the made-for-television show, Inside The Third Reich, a little boy saw soldiers at the train station coming back from the front. So he slept on the hard floor in order to sympathize with them. After this discovery, the father said, "Son, I hope I can always remember how much I love you right now." The God person comes incarnate to sympathize with the human existence.
Julie Walters, 34, an actress making the film She'll Be Wearing Pink Pajamas, announced during a nude scene that a new ruling by the Screen Actors Guild was that all technicians must also get nude during the filming. The naked truth was that it was a bluff; she told them after they had done it. Jesus came to earth to strip down just like us and share what it's like to be fully human -- it's called the incarnation.
In Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part One, Falstaff claims he is still capable of changing his ways and says: "I have not forgotten what the inside of a church is made of."
John H. Blough writes: "The track of a three-toed dinosaur has been found on the top of a coal strata high up on the cliffs near Grand Junction, Colorado. People have never seen the animal itself, but they have seen its footprint. People have never seen God; but God has left his imprint, evidence of God's creatorship, upon the face of the world. The Babe of Bethlehem is the greatest evidence of the real character of God" (Speakers' Illustrations for Special Days).
