Fourth Day of Christmas

“On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, four calling birds...”

Scripture

Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 7:21-23; John 20:30-31

For reflection

Still celebrating Christmas?  Still reveling in the afterglow of the Word become flesh?  As you put away Christmas decorations, and as the gifts you have received merge into your wardrobe or take their place in the household to become part of the fabric of living, keep the candle of Christmas glowing.  You have received greater gifts!  And you are yet to receive more!

Open the gifts for the fourth day of Christmas: the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Calling birds, indeed!  Good News like none other.  Told from four different perspectives, it is a story above all other stories.  It’s a meta-narrative in which we can find ourselves and through which we can live our own stories authentically.

Pay close attention to the Scripture readings today.  Isaiah 61 describes the year of Jubilee, a comprehensive and radical personal and social reordering of life according to God’s reign.  Jesus proclaimed Jubilee fulfilled in his coming.   Luke 7:21-23 offers confirmation to the followers of John the Baptist that, in fact, Jesus is the Good News for which generations of people had longed.  John 20:30-31 makes clear that the Gospel writers did not, could not capture it all.  It also makes clear the intent of the Gospel writing itself: that we may believe and have life through Jesus Christ.

What Christmas promises and implies, the Gospels write large by walking us through the life of Jesus with heart-opening, gut-wrenching lucidity.  The Gospels document and detail the evidence that the hopes and fears of all the years were, indeed, met in Jesus Christ.  The “birth narratives” in Matthew and Luke conspicuously hint at the broad, troubling, and grace-bearing impact Jesus would have.  And John’s eloquent introduction sets the stage for a story in which the Word came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  But to as many as received him, to those who believed on his name, he gave the right to become the children of God.

The four Gospels make no attempt to reconcile differences in details or to paint a seamless, air-brushed picture of Jesus.  Each is written from a different perspective for a different audience at a different time and from a different place.  The fact that they are individually so raw and make no pretense at orchestrating events so as to present a united front adds to their authenticity and believability.  Though incredibly diverse, the common threads and penetrating message of the Gospels witnesses to something that has forever changed the world.

I grew up saturated with stories from the Gospels.  It was a gift unappreciated and taken for granted.  I didn’t awaken to the radical nature of the Gospel message and its claims upon my life and the community of faith until I was well into my twenties.  I am still waking up to this gift, still being converted by the challenging invitation, still being apprehended by the call.  I am still realizing this is, indeed, Good News for all humanity, for every person, for even me.

The Gospels are Good News on their own terms, not mine.  Only as I let go of my flimsy excuses, shallow attachments, grandiose notions, self-serving interpretations, and uncertain certitudes, the Gospel finds me and I find my home in the Gospel.  Our own stories are significant when they find their place in the Story.  Every person takes his or her place in the Gospels.  We must to decide how the Gospels tell our own stories.

Journaling/prayer possibilities

Recall one story from one of the four Gospels.  Explore the various places you might take in the story: a well-intentioned Pharisee, an accused sinner, a seeking Zacchaeus, a lost sheep, a hired hand, a confounded disciple, etc.  Let the Gospel be gift to you by receiving the grace expressed in the story: forgiveness, hope, a sense of place, dignity, personhood, healing, comfort, faith, love.  Offer thanks for the gift of the Gospels.  Seek to listen and explore them more fully, letting their radicality lead where it may.

Song

May the Mind of Christ, My Savior by Kate B. Wilkinson

May the mind of Christ, my Savior,

Live in me from day to day,

By His love and power controlling

All I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly

In my heart from hour to hour,

So that all may see I triumph

Only through His power.

May the peace of God my Father

Rule my life in everything,

That I may be calm to comfort

Sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me

As the waters fill the sea;

Him exalting, self abasing,

This is victory.

May I run the race before me,

Strong and brave to face the foe,

Looking only unto Jesus

As I onward go.

May His beauty rest upon me

As I seek the lost to win;

And may they forget the channel,

Seeing only Him.

Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.  Amen.  Numbers 6:24-26

Graphic by Sara Tyson (www.saratyson.com)