Week 17 Child
Matthew 2:1-12
Epiphany
 
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202%3A1-12&version=NRSVUE
  
This coming Sunday is Epiphany Sunday, the day that we celebrate the magi following the star to find the child. Scholars say Jesus was probably around two years old when this took place. He was not the newborn baby like is portrayed in all the Christmas plays, cards, and decorations. They were searching for a child. Yes, the child “who has been born king of the Jews,” but their leading question was “Where is the child?” (v.2).
 
The word “child” was used four times in this passage, and “Messiah or Christ” was only used once when Herod inquired where the Messiah was to be born. After that, even Herod referred to Jesus as a child when he told the magi to “go and search carefully for the child” (v.8). King Herod was threatened by this new King of the Jews, as he did not want to lose his power to another king. Ironically, Herod is threatened by a child.
 
Herod would do anything to remove this threat. He schemed and plotted to learn of the whereabouts of the child. When the magi outsmarted him, Herod was so angry he murdered all the children two years old and younger. The power this child held caused grown men to spiral and turn to violence when the threat still loomed.
 
Dietrich Bonhoeffer also understood the power this child held. He wrote in God is in the Manger, “A child has our life in his hands.”[1] The magi traveled a long distance searching for such a child, who has our lives in his hands. Yet, we don’t often think about Jesus as a child who has the power to upturn kingdoms and our lives. We don’t often think children are that powerful. We think children could grow into powerful people, but we don’t view children themselves as powerful, especially powerful enough to hold our lives in their hands.
 
Children are powerful though. They are just as powerful as adults in their own right, and we could learn from children if we listened to them. I’ve learned some wonderful lessons from my own children who have shown me a different perspective from my own. One of my favorite pieces of preschool artwork from one of my son’s is a stick figure of me smelling flowers. One thing he noticed about me on our walks together was that I would always stop to smell the roses when I walked by them. When he gave it to me, it was a great reminder for me to always make time to stop and smell the roses, literally and figuratively. I’m sure he meant this as a literal representation of what he observed about me, but it holds so much more power than that. I still have it framed and hanging in my office fifteen years later as a reminder to always make time to enjoy the things that bring me joy.  
 
Children are powerful, and the Jesus child already holds the power in his tiny hands. As a newborn and as a toddler, he held the power to overturn death, kingdoms, and our lives. He had the power to make grown men fall to their knees in worship and awe. Jesus as a weak, vulnerable child, one who was not considered valuable or important in their society, was [and is] exactly the king we need. The magi understood that and trusted that this child they were searching for was powerful enough to be their king.
 
God became a child. Jesus was not another adult king who would strategize against or compete with the current ruler. He was a child who came to save the weak, the vulnerable, all the ones who are oppressed by the rulers of their society. To truly be saved by our situations and the people who oppress us, and to truly acknowledge that a child holds our lives in his hands, we too must become weak, vulnerable, and child-like. We too must hold the power of Christ’s love in our tiny hands, and offer it to a huge world in need. This is how we will become more like Christ and carry on Christ’s work. It is not by being a tyrant wielding power. We too must become a child to overcome the threats of the world.
 
Reflection Questions:
How do you view children? Do you see them as powerful?
Has a child ever taught you an important lesson?
How can you become weak, vulnerable, and childlike to become more like Jesus? Do you see this as necessary to carry on Christ’s work? Explore this concept in a journal or your own reflection.
 
Pray:
Show us, Jesus, where we need to be more childlike and less tyrant-like.
 
Action:
Show a child how much you appreciate them this week.
 
 
*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God is in the Manger, Westminster, 2010, 56.

1 John 4:7-19
Fourth Sunday of Advent
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%204%3A7-19&version=NRSVUE 
 
This coming Sunday is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, a time when many churches light the candle of love to celebrate Christ’s profound and transformative gift. Love is one of Christ’s most extraordinary gifts—not just because it comes from God, but because it is God. As 1 John 4:16 reminds us, “God is love.” Every time we receive or give love, we are experiencing God’s presence. This verse also promises, “Those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” When Christ gives us the gift of love, it’s not something external we hold or admire—it’s something we take into ourselves.
 
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in God is in the Manger, “God became a human being like us, so that we could become divine. God came to us, so that we could come to him.”[1] All because of love! God loved us so deeply that he became human, stepping into our world so we could be united with God in love. And through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are invited into an eternal story—a love story that binds us together forever.
 
But here’s the challenge: we don’t always see God as love. Many imagine God as angry or punishing, a strict disciplinarian waiting to catch us in a mistake. Yet, if we take an honest look, isn’t it often humanity—not God—that embodies anger, punishment, and division? Anne Lamott puts it perfectly: “You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
 
When we understand that God is love, it reshapes not only how we see God but also how we see ourselves. Love is not just something we feel—it’s who we are and who we’re created to be. Yet, fear so often holds us back. Fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of the other. Fear whispers that love is dangerous or costly, but here’s the truth: fear is the opposite of love. It’s fear that fuels hatred, distrust, and division. But when we let God’s love flood our hearts, fear loses its power. Love shatters the walls fear builds and opens us to something divine.
 
What would our world look like if we truly understood God as love? If our decisions, our actions, even our votes, weren’t rooted in fear but in love—for God and for our neighbors? It would look more like heaven, wouldn’t it? A world transformed by the divine, radiating God’s love in every corner.
The writer of 1 John puts it beautifully: “No one has ever seen God; [but] if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us” (v.12). God’s love becomes visible and tangible when we love one another. Whether it’s the love shared with a spouse, parent, child, or friend—or even the love poured into a calling that serves others—love is the very presence of God among us. Richard Rohr calls this a “Christ-soaked world,” where Christ’s love permeates everything and everyone.
 
So on this Fourth Sunday of Advent, let’s ask ourselves: What fears are keeping us from receiving the love Jesus offers? What walls can we let God’s love break down in our hearts? The love of Jesus is waiting to be born within us, ready to fill every corner of our life. Cast off fear and open your heart to receive the gift of Christ’s love, the love that transforms us and the world.
  
Reflection Questions:
What is your understanding of God? Have you experienced God as love?
What fears prevent you from fully loving like God loves?
How can you allow God/Love to abide in you?
 
Pray:
God of Love, come to us and abide in us, so we can make the world, a Christ-soaked world, where love permeates through everything.
 
Action:
Love someone this week – particularly someone who is hard to love!
 
*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 
[1] Dietrich Bonhoffer, God is in the Manger, Westminster, 2010. 

Luke 1:39-45
Third Sunday of Advent
​
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201%3A39-45&version=NRSVUE
 
What does “leaped for joy” look like? At this time of year, we may recall The Twelve Days of Christmas where ten lords are leaping. Why are lords leaping, and does it look like a dancer leaping through the air? That’s often what I think about when I hear the word “leaping” – a ballerina leaping with pointed toes and outstretched arms. Many of us aren’t lords or ballerinas who can leap like that. The baby in Elizabeth’s womb could not leap like that. So, how did John the Baptist (Elizabeth’s baby) leap in her womb?
 
Movement. The baby moved at the sound of Mary’s greeting. What was Mary’s greeting? What did she say? Scripture doesn’t tell us specifically what she said, but traditional Jewish greetings were “shalom.” Shalom was a greeting of peace, but it was more like a blessing that meant “May God cause all to be well with you.”[1] It was as if this blessing for wholeness and wellness came straight from the baby in Mary’s womb through Mary’s words. Words from Jesus caused a movement of joy. Leaping is an expression of joy.
 
This blessing also caused Elizabeth to be filled with the Holy Spirit. As a response to a greeting of shalom, the child leaped AND Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (v.41). Elizabeth’s words give us a deeper understanding of who Jesus is, and the baby’s movement gives us a deeper understanding of what Jesus can do in our lives. Words from Jesus fill us with his holy spirit, and we are moved with joy but also have a revelation of the divine within us. The words spoken and the nearness of presence both cause one to leap for joy AND understand the cause of that joy.
 
Elizabeth’s response to this expression of joy moved her to “exclaim with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb’” (v.42). She returned the blessing with a blessing. Elizabeth felt blessed to receive a visit from Jesus, so she responded with a blessing for Mary, the vessel who is growing Jesus within.
 
Elizabeth did not physically “leap for joy” as her baby within her did. Her expression of joy was to respond with a blessing to acknowledge the divine near her. This was a baby-to-baby connection that indicates that the Holy Spirit goes deeper within us. The power of Jesus’ words and the filling of the Holy Spirit can be felt on a deeper spiritual level that is expressed with a movement of joy from within.
 
Mary and Elizabeth were probably experiencing a lot of fear and sorrow from the scandal and gossip both of their pregnancies caused them, yet at this moment, when they experienced Jesus near them, they responded in joy and blessing. In this divine experience, they exchanged any hesitation for praise for their Lord and for each other.
 
On this third Sunday of Advent, what sorrow or hesitation can you exchange for the joy Jesus brings? Trust the movement within you. The bubbling up of joy comes from Jesus and the Holy Spirit within you. How will you express this joy? In what ways, can you share this joy with others?   
 
Reflection Questions:
What does leaping for joy look like to you?
Do words from Jesus move you to joy? How do you express it?
How do you respond when you receive a blessing from Jesus?
What sorrow or hesitation can you exchange for the joy Jesus brings?   
 
Pray:
Come near us, Lord, and fill us with your Holy Spirit. May we feel your joy leaping within us.
 
Action:
In response to a blessing you have received from Jesus, bless someone else with a kind word, a tangible act, or an act of service.
 
*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 
[1] NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Zondervan, 2019.

Luke 1:69-79
Second Sunday of Advent
 
Peace can mean different things to different people. To some, it could mean the absence of war, conflict or disagreement. To some, it could mean the absence of noise or busyness by enjoying some “peace and quiet.” To some, it could mean, “Could I get a moment of peace?” when one feels bombarded by interruptions or challenges that never seem to let up. The word “peace” in verse 79 is the Greek word εἰρήνη eirēnē which reflects the meaning of the Hebrew word “shalom.” Shalom is a traditional greeting or farewell that means wholeness and wellbeing as when one has peace with God.
 
The gift of peace that Christ brings is one that reflects shalom, a lasting harmony with God instead of a temporary reprieve from strife. This gift of shalom becomes a way of life, or the way to live our lives to become whole and to nurture our wellbeing. This way of peace is the center of John the Baptist’s calling as prophesied by his own father, Zechariah, in this text, upon John’s birth. Zechariah lost his voice when he couldn’t understand Gabriel’s prophetic message about his son, yet he regained it after his son’s birth and this passage was what he said.
 
Zechariah prophesied that his own son had a special purpose: to “go before [Jesus] to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge…[and] to guide [their] feet into the way of peace” (v.76-77, 79). In other words, John the Baptist’s calling was to prepare the people to receive Christ, and it involves knowledge of who Jesus is but also taking steps to live into Christ’s way of peace.
 
What is Christ’s way of peace and how do we guide our feet toward it? We take active steps toward Christ’s way of life. We confess the times we step away from God or turn away from those in need. We then receive Christ’s forgiveness to realign our steps. We open our hearts to receive the inbreaking of God’s light that shines upon us while we “sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (v.79). The peace of Christ is not a temporary fix, but a lifelong path that we travel with Christ. This active walking with Christ brings a wholeness and overall wellbeing to our lives.
  
The path to peace is long and jagged where we will encounter many challenges to stay on the path. Anxiety, in particular, paralyzes us, and we feel weighed down no matter how hard we try to take a step on our own. When we feel our anxiety overtaking us, we can exchange it for Christ’s peace. Every time we feel it creeping in, we can make peace with God and our situations and allow the inbreaking of God’s light shine upon us and guide us to receive the help we need. Christ’s peace can settle our spirits as we lean into Christ’s strength.
 
This is quite the prophecy placed on a newly born babe, but it continues on today. John the Baptist was not the only one God used to prepare people to receive Christ’s peace. God uses many people to prepare us in our lives, and once we receive Christ’s peace, God uses us to prepare others. This is the way of peace. God “guides our feet” by sharing it with others along the path (v.79). We do not keep shalom to ourselves. It is meant to be shared. It is meant to be a way of life, for the whole world’s wholeness and wellbeing. For all of us to be truly whole and well, each of us helps one another into the way of peace.     
 
On this second Sunday of Advent, may we exchange our anxiety for Christ’s lasting peace. May we live a life of shalom with every person we meet.
 
Reflection Questions:
What does peace mean to you?
Have you received Christ’s gift of shalom? How would you describe it?
How can you guide your feet into Christ’s way of peace?

Pray:
We pray for the inbreaking of God’s light while we sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Action:
Take one active step this week that shares the gift of shalom with someone in need of Christ’s peace.
 
*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.