Weekly Bible Notes, 22nd December 2002
(Fourth Sunday of Advent)
Year B. Colour: Purple
 Advent Wreath Lighting Service |
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Opening Verse of Scripture桰saiah 9: 6
Unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Collect Prayer for the Day桞efore we read we pray
All powerful God, let the splendour of your glory, rise in our hearts like the dawn, that the darkness of the night may be scattered and the coming of your only Son may reveal us as children of the light. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
First Bible Reading
2 Samuel 7:1-11,16 God's Promise to DavidAfter the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent." Nathan replied to the king, "Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you."
That night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying: "Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"
'"Now then, tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies.
''The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.' (This is the word of the Lord?b>Thanks be to God)
Second Bible Reading
Luke 1:26-38 The Birth of Jesus ForetoldIn the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you."
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. (This is the word of the Lord?b>Praise to Christ our Lord)
Post Communion Prayer
The day of the Lord is surely coming. Be faithful in worship, unwavering
in hope, fervent in the work of God抯 kingdom and all the more as you see
the Day drawing near. Amen
Commentary: Christmas Presents
At this time of year present-giving looms large in many people抯 minds. It is a mine-field梩o give a gift or not ? Whether to give a small, token gift, and get caught out when your friend/relative is much more generous ? What sort of present to give? These thoughts can paralyse the shopper as they stare across a huge department store. What can I give ?
Now I love buying presents. The pleasure of thinking about a loved one, and what they would like, anticipating their pleasure in receiving it, the pleasure of wrapping presents, listening to carols, makes me very happy. But what transforms the process of giving presents to family and friends you know and love very well is the certainty you have. The knowledge that you know what they want and that they will want what you have to give. It is this certainty which rings through Mary抯 words on hearing the Angel Gabriel抯 prediction.
The news that God demands something very important from you is not easy to receive! Mary, not unnaturally, at first questions the angel, 揌ow can this extraordinary thing happen ??On being told that nothing is impossible to God, she accepts and gives herself entirely and humbly to God. Yet in that self-giving there is utter certainty in being accepted and wanted by God.
I think many of us feel, in our secret hearts, that God can抰 possibly accept anyone as flawed as us. And so we hold back from God, perhaps trying to deceive Him and ourselves about what we truly are or do. Mary抯 words can inspire us to offer ourselves to God anew. Perhaps like her, we can find a new certainty that God wants us just as we are, that He knows and loves us just as we are. The only thing God wants for Christmas is you! The Reverend Dr Joan Crossley.
Meditation: Take the Pressure Off
Christmas has a mass of 搈usts?attached to it: I 搈ust?send cards to everyone; I 搈ust?buy presents for everyone; I 搈ust?decorate the house/invite the neighbours/ buy mountains of food. At this time of year, the pressure mounts, and for many busy people the anticipation and joy of Christmas is ruined.
I have observed that many of the older members of the congregation have a lot to teach us younger ones about enjoying Christmas. They accept that they can no longer do everything, and just do what they can! They enjoy the less energetic and demanding aspects of Christmas 杔istening to carols on the radio, sitting quietly at home rather than rushing about. Because they have had to give up doing certain Christmas tasks, they find that they can do without them, and Christmas happens梛ust the same!
Perhaps we younger ones can try and simplify, and cross off a few tasks from our lists.
Hymns (Mission Praise)
- Lo, he comes with clouds ascending. 424
- Lord the light of your love 445
- Joy to the world. 393
- Praise my soul the King of Heaven. 560
- A messenger named Gabriel (On notices)
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead.
| God of all hope and joy, open our hearts in
welcome, that your Son Jesus Christ at his coming, may find in us a
dwelling prepared for himself, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.
Come Lord Jesus, rule in our hearts, our minds, our actions, our days, and in our work. Amen |
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Mary 18 B.C.?-A.D.
48
History's most venerated mother
Though Mary plays a key role in the birth stories of Matthew and Luke, she is scarcely mentioned in the other two Gospels and not at all in the New Testament letters. Yet Mary today is the most venerated woman in history, and the only woman mentioned in the Koran.
During her childhood she lived in Nazareth where she was put into an arranged marriage with the carpenter Joseph. Gospel references begin when she was a little over 12 years old. Luke reported that while Mary was living with her parents in Nazareth, an angel visited and told her she would give birth to a holy child who would be called "the Son of God." Being pregnant out of wedlock was dangerous, Mary might even be stoned to death.
Though the stories began with a miracle, Mary later appeared confused or in doubt about Jesus' mission. She was once convinced he had gone mad, and tried to get him to stop preaching and come home.
Christian tradition asserted that Mary was a virgin all of her life. The first reference is the apocryphal Protevangelium of James, an embellished story of Jesus' infancy. Early church leaders such as Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria believed Mary remained a virgin, and Athanasius wrote extensively on the "ever virgin" Mary.
The Gospel accounts record that Jesus had brothers and sisters, but Roman Catholics, following the lead of many early church leaders, argue they were Jesus' cousins or Joseph's children from a previous marriage. Protestants have taught Mary was a virgin only until the birth of Jesus, after which she and Joseph conceived James, Joses, Judas, Simon, and unnamed daughters.
Mary was present at the Day of Pentecost, but then she disappears from history. One tradition says she lived in Jerusalem until she died, in A.D. 48, at about age 66. Another says she moved to Ephesus. Still another, asserted by Gregory of Tours (d. 593) based on earlier apocryphal writings, says that when she died, her body was "borne on a cloud into paradise, where it was reunited with her soul and now rejoices with the elect."
Mary may have died not long after Jesus?death and resurrection. Even if she was very young when she gave birth to Jesus she would have been in her forties, at the youngest, at this stage, which is already very good by ancient life expectancy, especially for a woman who抯 given birth.
Mary slowly grew in importance to early Christians; at first she was considered the new Eve. By the fourth century, she was given the title theotokos, the "God bearer," and was increasingly seen as a compassionate intercessor to whom believers could pray. By the Middle Ages, English historian Eadmer taught that Mary was herself conceived without original sin. This belief, along with that of her "Assumption" (rise to heaven) grew to such an extent in Roman Catholic circles that today they are part of that church's official doctrine. Today, many people (not just Roman Catholics and Orthodox) claim to experience visions of Mary, and she remains an important object of devotion for millions.