Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming (Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3) J G White

This little piece of the big text we call Isaiah is filled with images of hope for the people. We have ‘the garments of salvation’ and a groom and bride all dressed up. (I will see this very thing today, when I conduct a wedding here.) We have ‘a garden’ causing shoots to grow up. We have a bright, ‘burning torch.’ And we have the renaming of the people as a sign of new life and hope.

In the first part, some prophet is rejoicing in God. In the second, God’s voice is heard, giving various promises. There is so much happening here: a preacher’s head spins! For this reflective moment, let's just look at the earth bringing up shoots and a garden growing.

Regularly in the pages of Isaiah we come across such images - speaking of a new era for the people and the planet. With the birth of the Messiah, a few centuries later, the promises seem sure.

An Advent carol we sing starts off, Lo, how a rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung, of Jesse’s lineage coming, as those of old have sung. Jesus as a rose, blooming in a cold world. He is a descendant of Jesse and his son, King David. So beautiful and filled with life is Jesus Messiah.

Around the front of our sandstone building, I planted a few bulbs, back in the fall, in a few select places. Won’t it be a fun surprise, in the spring, to see things peeking out, and later discover what grows and what colours bloom? As I get to the end of one year, and the start of the new, I wonder what new things might happen. What things we have been planning will come to fruition. What new steps we wondered about will be taken. Where will the Spirit lead?

Well, that’s our first of four Bible texts, and the first mini- sermon. A few more to come.

Heaven and Nature Sing (Psalm 148) J G White

The sun and the moon have been lovely over Christmastime. The moon grew full, and many sunsets on cloudy evenings were vibrant pink and orange. I tried a bit more birding yesterday, and saw beautiful winged creatures such as more white-winged crossbills, and otters playing in a slushy Lake. I saw more landscapes than birds - the flats and rolling hills of West Brook, the gurgling of Halfway River, the snow-sparkling red spruce and yellow birch trees.

Every Sunday of each year has a Psalm to recite or sing - or sometimes other Bible poetry. When we turn to Psalm 148, we are getting to the finale of the whole collection, and they are all about praising God. The English words ‘Praise the Lord!’ can also be translated, simply, as ‘Hallelujah!’

Like Psalm 98, which inspired the carol ‘Joy to the World,’ Psalm 148 lists many critters and claims they are praising God. After the angels, the sun and moon and stars, and clouds. Sea creatures and waters, and all the dramatic weather above the sea. Mountains and all the timber upon them, and the animals therein, domestic and otherwise. (Even the turtles?) And humans, of every rank and status, age and experience.

There are many Christmas legends about animals and plants that suddenly flourish when Jesus arrives. I have heard tales and songs about the first poinsettia, the first nightingale song, and the first Christmas tree, of course. You may know the story of the animals in barns, every Chrismtas Eve, bowing down, because of the Christ child. We love these legends. They continue the human experience of not being alone in knowing the Creator, and bowing, and rejoicing!

All this opens our eyes to wonder at our place in the world, a world that also enjoys God. Perhaps you have your own, personal legend about some creature or special place that seems to be sacred and holy, that seems to shout, ‘Hallelujah!’ That cabin in the woods, that waterfall along the stream, that northern cardinal that flies in. Join them in giving thanks for all God’s blessings.

The Babe, the Son of Mary (Galatians 4:4-7) J G White

OK, my first two homilies were a bit too long. Next, from this small bit of a New Testament letter, some short comments.

‘The babe, the son of Mary’ is celebrated again. He is just like us, and yet not the same at all. Jesus is both. The tradition of two candles on an ‘altar’ can represent these two natures of Christ: human and divine.

These three little sentences from Galatians 4 say a lot about children and parents. Like many of our relationships, that of Jesus to Mary and Joseph is not simple or normal. But He still belongs. He is still loved. He is still one of them, and one of us.

All the Bible writers keep getting at this one fact: the arrival of Jesus Messiah changes things in our lives. The author here claims that other people get to be counted as children of Creator, and heirs of all the blessings that we’d expect the Son of God to get. We have millions of people to share an inheritance with!

I wonder now, after all the Christmas gifts I got - chocolates, sweets and cookies, a Bible, two party games, twelve days of cheese, a windshield wiper - what do I inherit with Jesus my brother? What do I value most?

Two Turtledoves (Luke 2:22-40) J G White

I get a kick out of singing ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas,’ and I love the twelve posters an artist friend prepared for me, years ago. I think it is mere coincidence that day two has two turtle doves, which was the simple offering those new parents brought to the Jerusalem Temple a couple thousand years ago. Apparently they couldn’t afford the usual lamb, as a worship gift in honour of their first-born son.

Our Bible stories are filled with some ordinary, down to earth people. Nothing super special about Joseph, about Mary, or about these old folks at the Temple they met, that day. Old Simeon and Old Anna were very devout Jews, but it seems they too lived very simple lives.

The stories of infant Jesus end soon, with Matthew’s tales of Magi visiting the toddler, and then of the holy family fleeing danger and becoming refugees in Egypt. This ‘new born King’ takes a very humble approach, from the very beginning. All these centuries later, we are still learning our lessons from this.