First Sunday After Christmas
Unifying Theme: |
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| Scripture | Theme | Hymns |
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| Isaiah 61:10-62:3 | The Lord makes righteousness and praise spring up before all nations | 58: Glory to God, and Praise and
Love 189: Fairest Lord Jesus |
| Psalm 148 | Praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted | 280: All Glory, Laud, and Honor 686: O Gladsome Light |
| Luke 2:22-40 | The servant has seen the Lord's salvation | 156: I Love to Tell the Story 369: Blessed Assurance 384: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling |
| Galatians 4:4-7 | When the time had fully come, God sent his Son | 267: O Love, How Deep 472: Near to the Heart of God |
Have you ever looked into the sky at night and stood in awe of God's creation? The Bible talks about it at the very first verse: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." The writer of Genesis knew how to begin a story! Those simple words capture our imagination today as much as they must have in the days of oral traditions before the story was finally written down.
I remember staring at the stars with my own son. We were standing in a field far away from cities or any other lights. The sky was black--as black as night--and the stars stood out brilliantly. We could see so many stars! It was unlike anything that we had ever seen from our back yard in the city. He pointed out everything he recognized, and I pointed out other things that I was familiar with. (My part of this discussion didn't last very long!) Together we learned that being able to see so many stars actually made it more difficult to recognize the few stars that we did know. Yet, seeing the big picture with all of those stars made "our" stars seem even more special. It made us feel like we were part of something much, much bigger than we had thought about before.
This week's featured hymn, O Gladsome Light, dates back to the fourth century or earlier. It is fascinating to imagine what must have been going through the minds of the first Greek Christians who wrote and sang the hymn. The Greek culture was well known for its philosophy and intellectual development. It was important to them to understand and be able to explain "the big picture" of the world and the universe around them. Many of the New Testament epistles were written to churches founded in Greek cities. In this environment the Christian faith grew.
What were the "stars" in the Christian faith that so captivated these "big picture" people? The teachings of love? Of hope? Of joy? Certainly all of these were wonderful to the early Christians in Greece. In the words of this hymn, though, we find another theme--the theme of adoration for the Creator, the giver of life. In this Christmas season, read these words and take them to heart.
| 1. O gladsome light, O grace of our Creator's face, the eternal splendor wearing; celestial, holy blest, our Savior Jesus Christ, joyful in your appearing! |
2. As fades the day's last light we see the lamps of night, our common hymn outpouring, O God of might unknown, you, the incarnate Son, and Spirit blest adoring. |
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Enjoy the stars. Feel the warmth of the sun. But even better, revel in the gladsome light of the Creator.
God bless you--
Lection at HymnSite.com
God bless you!
| Passages suggested are from The Revised Common Lectionary: Consultation on Common Texts (Abingdon Press, 1992) copyright © by the Consultation on Common Texts (CCT), P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville TN 37203-0003. Reprinted with permission of CCT. |