12-20-19

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS

December 20, 2019

Scripture: Luke 1:78-79

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Thought for the Day: These words are an echo of the ancient Prophet, Isaiah (42:6-7). Both the Prophet Isaiah and the Priest Zechariah (who is speaking here) recognize that divine revelation is what dispels the darkness. John, Zechariah’s son, will create the way for Jesus’ ministry as he proclaims repentance in advance of God’s Kingdom. Jesus is the embodiment of the Kingdom of Heaven, not so much a place, but a way of thinking and living. When Jesus shatters the darkness with his birth, the unhealthy and destructive ways people thought about God were turned upside down. For those who were burdened by guilt, for those who lived in grief, for those who acted out of a place of fear, for those who were devalued because of their age or race or gender or illness, or for those who didn’t do anything because of an emotional paralysis, religion justified their painful experiences as God’s punishment. Suddenly the birth of a child changed the narrative. Those who were rejected by the systems of religion and named as enemies of God were in fact the very ones for whom God was coming, for God so loved every single person!

Prayer: I am forever in awe of your love, O God who took on flesh. When the world seeks to blame and exclude certain segments of the population, you declare the value of every human being. May your light continue to dispel the shadows that so many wish to cast upon a few. Amen.

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