Dear Peace family,
“When the fullness of time
had come, God sent his Son...” That passage from Galatians 4 was our text for
worship on New Year’s Day. It reminds us that in all things, we wait for God’s
timing. As much as we would sometimes like to hurry things along, we cannot do
that. Our life unfolds just as God directs.
We accept this naturally in
many areas of our life. When we are cooking a dish that takes two hours, we
normally don’t expect it to be ready in thirty minutes. When we are watching a
basketball game, we accept the fact that it must be played out to the end; it
isn’t going to stop after the third quarter. When we plant a seed, we are
anxious for it to sprout and grow; but we know it is going to take some time.
But in our life of faith,
sometimes we become terribly impatient. We want to grow in our faith, and in
our knowledge and love of God and of one another; but we are anxious for it
happen right now, quickly, before our eyes.
Christmas is a wonderful
reminder that it just doesn’t work that way. Think of Mary--told some nine
months before that she would bear the Christ child. As is generally the case
with mothers, she had to be “expectant” for a while. You can’t hurry things
along. Think of aged Simeon and Anna, the prophet and prophetess who stood in
the Temple waiting for the coming of Messiah. They had been waiting there for
years and years, expecting--and never despairing or giving up hope.
“How silently, how silently
the wondrous gift is given!” That phrase from “O Little Town of Bethlehem” also
speaks to our waiting. Silence is seldom a time when nothing is happening;
rather the most incredible things happen in silence--that seed sprouting, or
that child growing in the womb. Silence is a period of expectation.
In the Greek language, there
are two different words for “time.” One is chronos,
and it is the ordinary word, the word that simply means the hours and days that
pass. The other is kairos, and it
generally means “the right time”--the time when something incredible and
wonderful is to happen. It is the “fullness of time,” one might say--the moment
when God’s purpose and intention is revealed and comes to pass.
What will this new year
bring for you in terms of your spiritual life and growth? Will you find time
for silence, time for the Word to grow slowly, imperceptibly, in your heart?
Will you allow the time of God to unfold in you? I’ve always found January to
be a good month to reflect on these things. The rush of the holiday is passed;
the weather is often conducive to sitting by a warm fire and thinking. It’s a
good month to pray, a good month to ponder the things of God. Where are you
going this year? What is God bringing to fruition in you? What, in the fullness
of time, will God send you?
God’s
peace to you,
Pastor
Richard O. Johnson
Gracious and Eternal God, as we stand upon the threshold between the Old and the New, in this hour of new beginnings, awaken in us a thankful heart for Thy gracious ministry whereby we have been brought to this moment. As we enter upon the responsibilities and privileges of the coming days, strengthen us to live as those who have been awakened to the urgency of living, as those who would always adorn and never belittle the station with which Thou hast entrusted us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
–Donald Houston Stewart, 20th century
theologian
In
our present church calendar, the first Sunday after Epiphany is always
celebrated as a festival called "The Baptism of Our Lord." Since Epiphany falls on January 6, The
Baptism of the Our Lord occurs always on the second Sunday of January.
This
is a fairly new observance, which seems to have begun with the new calendar and
lectionary pioneered by the Roman Catholic Church at Vatican II in the 1960’s;
but a focus on the Baptism of Jesus is hardly new. In the early church, Jesus’ Baptism was seen as an extremely key event in his earthly life. It was, according to the synoptic gospels,
the beginning of our Lord’s earthly ministry--his first "public"
acknowledgment as Messiah.
The
Baptism of Jesus was thus one of the stories that was involved in the rather
complicated development of the Christmas and Epiphany festivals in the early
church. No one, of course, knows
precisely when Jesus was born. One
early tradition suggested that his birth took place on January 6. The observance of December 25 gradually
became popular in the Western Church, in part perhaps because there was a pagan
festival on that date which the church wished to "supplant" (though
there is earlier evidence for the December date, based on attempts actually to
calculate it from other known dates).
In
the Western Church, a kind of combination was made, which celebrated the
nativity of Christ on December 25, but the "Epiphany" or
"manifestation" of Christ on January 6. In the West, the dominant theme of that "Epiphany" came
to be the arrival of the Magi; but in some portions of the ancient world (especially
in Egypt), the focus was instead on the Baptism. Both these stories were seen as having similar meanings: in each, the identity of Christ is made
known to the world. Since
"Epiphany" means "manifestation," there were other stories
as well that became associated with the theme--such as the various miracles in
the gospels, especially the changing of water into wine at the wedding of
Cana. But the Magi and the Baptism were
the two most prominent stories connected to January 6.
When
the new calendar was adopted in the 1960’s, an attempt was made to accommodate
both traditions. The January 6 date was
to be observed as "Epiphany," with the focus on the Magi. But the next Sunday was to tell the story of
the Baptism. Ironically, one result of
this was that the story of Jesus’ Baptism became, in a way, more prominent in
the church’s calendar than the story of the Magi, since the latter is heard at
the Sunday liturgy only when January 6 falls on Sunday.
Yet
the Baptism is an important story. It
reminds us that in Christ, God fully shared our nature. Jesus had no real need to be baptized; he,
after all, was without sin. But as one
of the gospel stories has it, Jesus told John the Baptist that this was
necessary "to fulfill all
righteousness." In other words,
Jesus was fully taking on the identity of humanity. It is a story rich with symbolism concerning our own
Baptism. This is why Luther loved the
story: he saw in it a kind of
"picture" of what Christian Baptism means. He wrote a hymn which contemplates this:
To
Jordan came the Christ, our Lord,
to
do his Father’s pleasure;
baptized
by John, the Father’s Word
was
given us to treasure.
This
heavenly washing now shall be
a
cleansing from transgression
and,
by his blood and agony,
release
from death’s oppression.
A
new life now awaits us.
There
stood the Son of God in love,
his
grace to us extending;
the
Holy Spirit like a dove
upon
the scene descending;
the
triune God assuring us,
with
promises compelling,
that
in our baptism he will thus
among
us find a dwelling
to
comfort and sustain us.
What
a great year for the youth group. We
had an incredible trip to Mexico, a great confirmation camp and retreat, and an
awesome Christmas tree fundraiser that brought in over $2,300.
And
2006 looks to be another great year for the youth. With a couple of more confirmation retreats, a snow retreat and a
mission trip to San Francisco, the youth will continue to strengthen their
faith.
I
hope everyone continues to strengthen his or her faith and abound in joy in the
New Year.
Grace
and Peace,
Pastor Dean