Reflection
on the Readings
by John G. Gibbs, PhD
Sometimes past
actions never die, but live on into today. These four texts
proclaim actions that do that. They show the enduring effects
of Christmas, the life-changing and world-saving (John 3:17)
consequences of Jesus' birth, the perennial impacts of the incarnation:
"…The people…have seen a great light." "The
Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?"
"…the kingdom of heaven has come near."
Some past actions
never die, for they even move through today into tomorrow. These
four texts proclaim tomorrow's good news, all rooted in God's
purposes and deeds yesterday and today: "…there will
be no gloom for those who were in anguish. "I believe that
I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."
"…there shall be endless peace … with justice
and righteousness from this time onward and forevermore"
(Is. 9:7). "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."
Third, there
are actions that bond souls and stars together – yesterday,
today, and forever. Inner life and outer ecology interact by
God's grace. "The Lord is the stronghold of my life"
(Ps. 27:1) because he is the "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Is. 9:6). There
can be Shalom ("peace") within only because there
is Shalom at large in the cosmos. That Peace, which at Christmas
brings God's "good will to humanity," brings illumination
to "lands of deep darkness," just as it once moved
beyond the arrest of John the Baptizer until brothers (and sisters)
followed the Prince of Peace in whom "the kingdom of heaven
has come near."
If Christmas
has done anything, it has brought together Community and Creation,
God's People and God's planet earth. What God has brought together,
let no one put asunder - perhaps especially in this case.
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