Second Sunday After Christmas
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle B
Second Sunday After Christmas
Revised Common
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Ephesians 1:3-14
John 1:1-18
Roman Catholic
Sirach 24:1-2, 8-12
Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18
John 1:1-18
Episcopal
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a
Luke 2:41-51 or Matthew 2:1-12
Seasonal Theme
God putting on human flesh in the person of Jesus and coming into the world to demonstrate God's love for us.
Theme For The Day
God's word has put on human flesh and given to us grace upon grace.
Old Testament Lesson
Jeremiah 31:7-14
The Return Home
With great joy the Israelites return home from all over. I find great hope in the promise that no one will be too far away for God to restore him. And no one will be too insignificant either (v. 8b)! The trip God will make easy also (v. 9b). This is another exodus, this time into Israel. Then Jeremiah uses the father/son relationship to demonstrate God's great love for God's people. (See Hosea 11:1, 8.) And God will increase their material blessings. It will be like the abundance of a lush, well-watered garden (v. 12b). All this will produce their mourning into joy (v. 13).
New Testament Lesson
Ephesians 1:3-14
A Song Of Praise
This passage from verse 3 to 14 is all one sentence in the Greek! We ought consider it a lyrical hymn of praise. For preachers, perhaps it is most helpful to list the basic truths contained in Paul's long, run-on sentence.
1. We are blessed with spiritual gifts.
2. God chose us to be God's servants.
3. God chose us to be holy and blameless.
4. God adopted us as God's own children.
5. We are redeemed and forgiven through God's grace. (The word here for "redeemed" means to ransom us. It is the purchasing of a prisoner of war for his freedom.)
6. Jesus brought us also wisdom and common sense.
7. The experience of the Holy Spirit is a promise of the joys of heaven.
The Gospel
John 1:1-18
The Word Became Flesh
In the beginning of his Gospel, John states that only in Jesus is it made clear to us how God is and always will be. Jesus also reveals to us how God feels toward us. In Jesus is life for us which the world has not extinguished. Verses 6-9 are there because in Ephesus there were people who only knew John the Baptist's baptism. Verses 10-12 reminds us that the Christ was not recognized by many when he came in flesh. But for those who did recognize him, God gave great power to become God's own children. And we cannot make ourselves children of God; we must enter into the relationship God offers us.
Now the great verse of the fourth Gospel: verse 14. It's a new idea about God. God would become a human being. That this God would appear in creation in a form we could see God. This idea was fought by the Docetists who tried to teach that Jesus was just a shadow or ghost; God, but not real flesh and blood. There are three great theological words in this verse: glory, grace, and truth. Verse 16 seems to have an added punch of abundance of grace: "... grace upon grace"!
Preaching Possibilities
A lot depends on what you did Christmas Eve and the first Sunday after Christmas as to what will go well today.
With the John 1:14 verse, we have an excellent opportunity to speak of the theological truths of what it meant for God to put on the body of the human Jesus. If we have covered the "Christmas Message" well enough by now, you might want to do an exegetical sermon on the New Testament reading. Since, in its original form, it was all one sentence, we would do well to take it a phrase at a time and tell what that truth means to us. Or, you could do a sermon based on "Great 'verb words' of the Bible."
Old Testament: Proclaim, praise, save, ransomed, comfort
New Testament: Blessed, chose, adopted, redeemed, gather, destined, believed, and promised
Gospel: Witness, testify, the light shine, so all might believe, came to his own, gave power, became flesh, have received grace
Using all three readings we could take one thought from each: Old Testament -- God gathers us too and invites us back home. New Testament -- God has redeemed us and made us God's own children. Gospel -- God has become a human and lived among us.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. Introduction: We have survived another Christmas season. We have reveled again in the beautiful story of the birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph. So, now that we have felt Jesus in our hearts, it's time to understand what God was trying to accomplish in all this.
B. Text: John, the Gospel writer, helps us understand just what Christmas is good for, anyway. Read John 1:14.
C. Main Moves:
1. That which God had been promising, is put into action. Theory becomes reality.
2. God's Word took on human flesh so God knows what it is like and we know what God is like.
3. God lived with us humans on this earth, so is no longer detached and distanced.
4. God in flesh helps us understand the grace and glory of God.
D. Our Response: Like John the Baptist, we are witnesses to this new light in our still dark world. We can now celebrate the power we have to become God's children. We have grace upon grace, too!
E. Frame it by returning to your opening comment about getting through another Christmas season and understanding why the first Christmas was (and is) so important to us.
Prayer For The Day
Dear God who became a human being like us, we pray today a prayer of thanksgiving that we've made it through another Christmas season again this year. And so have you. For that we really rejoice. You know what it's like to be human like us. We also rejoice that the boy Jesus will grow up and become a savior for all our sins. We pray in his name. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
A group of professional people posed the question to a group of four- to eight-year-olds: "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined: "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." "God could have said magic words to make the nails fall off the cross, but he didn't. That's love." "There are two kinds of love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them."
I was seated on a plane today, wearing a black suit and clerical collar. Ron Zalenski came to me and wanted to sit in the empty seat next to me. He had driven out from his home in Wisconsin to go hunting. His wife called to tell him their twenty-year-old son, Stephen, was in a car wreck, barely alive in hospital. They were Roman Catholics. Seeing me on the flight, he asked, "Please, let me sit next to you. I'm afraid."
There is often a ministry of presence called for when words are of little use. Just be there and stay close.
At the training camp for the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton, Florida, there are four diamonds, a pitching machine, and a game going on with a junior college. And there are the old retired players who suit up and mingle with the young active players in the dugout and behind the home plate screen. They urge the younger ones on. So the incarnation when God suits up as Jesus, a human, and is with us.
In order to get a permit to teach in the People's Republic of China, I had to submit copies of my university degrees. And those copies had to be authenticated by a notary. Jesus is the authentication of God, how God is and what God wants for us. Now, can we be the authentication of Jesus? After seeing the original, can we be a copy?
Revised Common
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Ephesians 1:3-14
John 1:1-18
Roman Catholic
Sirach 24:1-2, 8-12
Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18
John 1:1-18
Episcopal
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a
Luke 2:41-51 or Matthew 2:1-12
Seasonal Theme
God putting on human flesh in the person of Jesus and coming into the world to demonstrate God's love for us.
Theme For The Day
God's word has put on human flesh and given to us grace upon grace.
Old Testament Lesson
Jeremiah 31:7-14
The Return Home
With great joy the Israelites return home from all over. I find great hope in the promise that no one will be too far away for God to restore him. And no one will be too insignificant either (v. 8b)! The trip God will make easy also (v. 9b). This is another exodus, this time into Israel. Then Jeremiah uses the father/son relationship to demonstrate God's great love for God's people. (See Hosea 11:1, 8.) And God will increase their material blessings. It will be like the abundance of a lush, well-watered garden (v. 12b). All this will produce their mourning into joy (v. 13).
New Testament Lesson
Ephesians 1:3-14
A Song Of Praise
This passage from verse 3 to 14 is all one sentence in the Greek! We ought consider it a lyrical hymn of praise. For preachers, perhaps it is most helpful to list the basic truths contained in Paul's long, run-on sentence.
1. We are blessed with spiritual gifts.
2. God chose us to be God's servants.
3. God chose us to be holy and blameless.
4. God adopted us as God's own children.
5. We are redeemed and forgiven through God's grace. (The word here for "redeemed" means to ransom us. It is the purchasing of a prisoner of war for his freedom.)
6. Jesus brought us also wisdom and common sense.
7. The experience of the Holy Spirit is a promise of the joys of heaven.
The Gospel
John 1:1-18
The Word Became Flesh
In the beginning of his Gospel, John states that only in Jesus is it made clear to us how God is and always will be. Jesus also reveals to us how God feels toward us. In Jesus is life for us which the world has not extinguished. Verses 6-9 are there because in Ephesus there were people who only knew John the Baptist's baptism. Verses 10-12 reminds us that the Christ was not recognized by many when he came in flesh. But for those who did recognize him, God gave great power to become God's own children. And we cannot make ourselves children of God; we must enter into the relationship God offers us.
Now the great verse of the fourth Gospel: verse 14. It's a new idea about God. God would become a human being. That this God would appear in creation in a form we could see God. This idea was fought by the Docetists who tried to teach that Jesus was just a shadow or ghost; God, but not real flesh and blood. There are three great theological words in this verse: glory, grace, and truth. Verse 16 seems to have an added punch of abundance of grace: "... grace upon grace"!
Preaching Possibilities
A lot depends on what you did Christmas Eve and the first Sunday after Christmas as to what will go well today.
With the John 1:14 verse, we have an excellent opportunity to speak of the theological truths of what it meant for God to put on the body of the human Jesus. If we have covered the "Christmas Message" well enough by now, you might want to do an exegetical sermon on the New Testament reading. Since, in its original form, it was all one sentence, we would do well to take it a phrase at a time and tell what that truth means to us. Or, you could do a sermon based on "Great 'verb words' of the Bible."
Old Testament: Proclaim, praise, save, ransomed, comfort
New Testament: Blessed, chose, adopted, redeemed, gather, destined, believed, and promised
Gospel: Witness, testify, the light shine, so all might believe, came to his own, gave power, became flesh, have received grace
Using all three readings we could take one thought from each: Old Testament -- God gathers us too and invites us back home. New Testament -- God has redeemed us and made us God's own children. Gospel -- God has become a human and lived among us.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. Introduction: We have survived another Christmas season. We have reveled again in the beautiful story of the birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph. So, now that we have felt Jesus in our hearts, it's time to understand what God was trying to accomplish in all this.
B. Text: John, the Gospel writer, helps us understand just what Christmas is good for, anyway. Read John 1:14.
C. Main Moves:
1. That which God had been promising, is put into action. Theory becomes reality.
2. God's Word took on human flesh so God knows what it is like and we know what God is like.
3. God lived with us humans on this earth, so is no longer detached and distanced.
4. God in flesh helps us understand the grace and glory of God.
D. Our Response: Like John the Baptist, we are witnesses to this new light in our still dark world. We can now celebrate the power we have to become God's children. We have grace upon grace, too!
E. Frame it by returning to your opening comment about getting through another Christmas season and understanding why the first Christmas was (and is) so important to us.
Prayer For The Day
Dear God who became a human being like us, we pray today a prayer of thanksgiving that we've made it through another Christmas season again this year. And so have you. For that we really rejoice. You know what it's like to be human like us. We also rejoice that the boy Jesus will grow up and become a savior for all our sins. We pray in his name. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
A group of professional people posed the question to a group of four- to eight-year-olds: "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined: "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." "God could have said magic words to make the nails fall off the cross, but he didn't. That's love." "There are two kinds of love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them."
I was seated on a plane today, wearing a black suit and clerical collar. Ron Zalenski came to me and wanted to sit in the empty seat next to me. He had driven out from his home in Wisconsin to go hunting. His wife called to tell him their twenty-year-old son, Stephen, was in a car wreck, barely alive in hospital. They were Roman Catholics. Seeing me on the flight, he asked, "Please, let me sit next to you. I'm afraid."
There is often a ministry of presence called for when words are of little use. Just be there and stay close.
At the training camp for the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton, Florida, there are four diamonds, a pitching machine, and a game going on with a junior college. And there are the old retired players who suit up and mingle with the young active players in the dugout and behind the home plate screen. They urge the younger ones on. So the incarnation when God suits up as Jesus, a human, and is with us.
In order to get a permit to teach in the People's Republic of China, I had to submit copies of my university degrees. And those copies had to be authenticated by a notary. Jesus is the authentication of God, how God is and what God wants for us. Now, can we be the authentication of Jesus? After seeing the original, can we be a copy?
