Peace and love are not passive.
Feast of the Presentation, December 31, 2023
Helen Weber-McReynolds, RWCP
Numbers 6: 22-27; Ps. 98; Ephesians 2: 11-19, 22; Luke 2: 25-38
I recently learned a song called Crowded Table, by the Highwomen. It depicts a big house where everyone is welcome, where everyone works together to make the world better and more inclusive and fair for everyone. It says that creating this home will be hard work, but if we band together we can create it. It also says that everyone is a little broken, but everyone belongs, no matter who they are.
Taken together, I think the ideas in our readings today add up very similarly. The idea that God joined humanity in the human form of Christ, to help teach all people how to build a world of love is a simplistic but true encapsulation, I think. The beauty of these readings is that they display many of the subtle facets of this story. And they also point out that building peace and community is not easy, and that the Christ’s victory will exact a high price.
In the first reading, from Numbers, God instructs Moses on how Israel’s leaders are to invoke God’s blessing on their people. God conveys that God loves the people and wishes always for their well-being and wholeness, their shalom. They are invited to pray frequently to God for God’s love to be with the people. This is listed as a duty of the priests of Israel.
The second reading emphasizes the wider scope of God’s love. Not only are the community of Israel included, but non-Judeans as well. The idea that God’s love included all the nations was previously heard in Genesis, Isaiah, and other parts of the Old Testament. But this follower of Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus, confirmed that the new Christian community welcomed both Jews and Gentiles. The letter reminds its readers that Jesus preached peace to all- belonging, community, friendship, and inclusion. He preached blessing from a God who loved all.
In the Gospel, Luke depicted a beautiful blessing in the Temple in Jerusalem, on Jesus, whom Mary and Joseph had brought for the customary rituals for new babies and parents. The elder Simeon and the prophet Anna, holy people who fasted and prayed daily and worked in the Temple, are described as recognizing Jesus as destined to save his people. Luke’s composition included Simeon’s prescient statement that Jesus will be a provocative, contentious sign, and that the family’s life will be touched by sorrow. Simeon quoted Isaiah’s statement that salvation will be for Gentiles as well as Jews. It all adds up to another picture of incarnation for us, of God come to earth to be part of all of us, to a promise of love and inclusion in the form of a vulnerable child. Added to the Christmas passages of angels and shepherds, it is once again the birth of Hope in the infant Jesus.
The life of a child carries with it the hope of a world transformed, and the life of Jesus obviously held extraordinary hope. Over the course of his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus showed us the ultimate example of love, and the way to achieve peace and inclusion for everyone, if we are brave enough to follow it. Unfortunately, over 2000 years later, we still have not completed the project, and probably never will, though many have made progress. Juxtaposed with the Christmas manger images in our minds are those of children and families starving, dying, and fleeing their homes, in wars, climate crises, and efforts to escape extortion. Even in the very land where Jesus was born, bombing which seems indiscriminate or even targeted at civilians, has killed, injured, or displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Shalom for all seems very far away.
Our love is our hope. Jesus, love incarnate, is our example. The solstice has passed, and we know the darkest part of this winter is over. Incorporating the non-violent, revolutionary love of Jesus in all our human encounters is the way we will make the world less violent and more loving. Refusing to give in to bitterness and despair is a big part of the effort. Peace is not passive. We will all have to work at creating it every day. But if we all work together, we can inch our way toward a world of love. One relationship at a time, one kindness, one protest, one outreach project, each crowded table dinner— these are the basis of our Christmas hope.
Feast of the Presentation, December 31, 2023
Helen Weber-McReynolds, RWCP
Numbers 6: 22-27; Ps. 98; Ephesians 2: 11-19, 22; Luke 2: 25-38
I recently learned a song called Crowded Table, by the Highwomen. It depicts a big house where everyone is welcome, where everyone works together to make the world better and more inclusive and fair for everyone. It says that creating this home will be hard work, but if we band together we can create it. It also says that everyone is a little broken, but everyone belongs, no matter who they are.
Taken together, I think the ideas in our readings today add up very similarly. The idea that God joined humanity in the human form of Christ, to help teach all people how to build a world of love is a simplistic but true encapsulation, I think. The beauty of these readings is that they display many of the subtle facets of this story. And they also point out that building peace and community is not easy, and that the Christ’s victory will exact a high price.
In the first reading, from Numbers, God instructs Moses on how Israel’s leaders are to invoke God’s blessing on their people. God conveys that God loves the people and wishes always for their well-being and wholeness, their shalom. They are invited to pray frequently to God for God’s love to be with the people. This is listed as a duty of the priests of Israel.
The second reading emphasizes the wider scope of God’s love. Not only are the community of Israel included, but non-Judeans as well. The idea that God’s love included all the nations was previously heard in Genesis, Isaiah, and other parts of the Old Testament. But this follower of Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus, confirmed that the new Christian community welcomed both Jews and Gentiles. The letter reminds its readers that Jesus preached peace to all- belonging, community, friendship, and inclusion. He preached blessing from a God who loved all.
In the Gospel, Luke depicted a beautiful blessing in the Temple in Jerusalem, on Jesus, whom Mary and Joseph had brought for the customary rituals for new babies and parents. The elder Simeon and the prophet Anna, holy people who fasted and prayed daily and worked in the Temple, are described as recognizing Jesus as destined to save his people. Luke’s composition included Simeon’s prescient statement that Jesus will be a provocative, contentious sign, and that the family’s life will be touched by sorrow. Simeon quoted Isaiah’s statement that salvation will be for Gentiles as well as Jews. It all adds up to another picture of incarnation for us, of God come to earth to be part of all of us, to a promise of love and inclusion in the form of a vulnerable child. Added to the Christmas passages of angels and shepherds, it is once again the birth of Hope in the infant Jesus.
The life of a child carries with it the hope of a world transformed, and the life of Jesus obviously held extraordinary hope. Over the course of his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus showed us the ultimate example of love, and the way to achieve peace and inclusion for everyone, if we are brave enough to follow it. Unfortunately, over 2000 years later, we still have not completed the project, and probably never will, though many have made progress. Juxtaposed with the Christmas manger images in our minds are those of children and families starving, dying, and fleeing their homes, in wars, climate crises, and efforts to escape extortion. Even in the very land where Jesus was born, bombing which seems indiscriminate or even targeted at civilians, has killed, injured, or displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Shalom for all seems very far away.
Our love is our hope. Jesus, love incarnate, is our example. The solstice has passed, and we know the darkest part of this winter is over. Incorporating the non-violent, revolutionary love of Jesus in all our human encounters is the way we will make the world less violent and more loving. Refusing to give in to bitterness and despair is a big part of the effort. Peace is not passive. We will all have to work at creating it every day. But if we all work together, we can inch our way toward a world of love. One relationship at a time, one kindness, one protest, one outreach project, each crowded table dinner— these are the basis of our Christmas hope.
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