December 28, 2024 – Fourth Day of Christmas

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40

We are all rule-breakers by nature. You may not agree unless you consider your behavior while driving on the roads. How many times have you driven over the speed limit? How many yellow lights have you claimed to still be yellow as you drive through the intersection? I think most people have a hard time following all of the rules. It comes to us naturally — because we are human. The most well-known of G-d’s laws are the Ten Commandments that G-d gives to Moses. But, read on a little further into Deuteronomy and Leviticus, and you will find 613 commandments that comprise the whole Law of Moses. Some are commandments to do something—like when and where to celebrate Passover. Others state what not to do–like which foods to avoid or how to prepare a food item correctly.

To our twenty-first-century ears and eyes, some of these do’s and don’ts seem silly or just plain out-of-touch with life today. There are rules about when you’re not supposed to wear a garment made out of both wool and linen. Others seem to still be pretty good rules, like forgiving debts and taking good care of orphans and widows.

When Jesus begins his public ministry, he beings by standing up in the synagogue and telling the people that he has come to fulfill the law and the prophets, and to heal the sick and raise the dead. Jesus tells the people listening to him that obeying and honoring all the laws—all 613 of them—are rooted in two simple actions: love G-d with your entire heart, soul and strength, and love your neighbor with the same kind of compassion and generosity you extend to yourself. When we love G-d with our whole heart, and when we are loving our neighbors as ourselves, we spend a good portion of our time thinking about how our actions or inactions will affect them. Loving each other means that we pay attention to special requests or needs and do what we can with what we have.

On this fourth day of Christmas, as we read and study the example of Jesus’ life and love in the scriptures, we see how to love G-d with our whole hearts, and how to love our neighbors as our selves.

Let us pray: Guide us, Lord, to consider you and each person we interact with as we make decisions today. Help us to walk in your ways. Amen.

Pastor Dave

December 27, 2024 – Third Day of Christmas

“Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.” Luke 2:41 – 52

“Joseph and Mary search for Jesus for “three days.” When an early Christian heard the phrase “for three days,” one of their first associations would have been to think about Jesus and the “resurrection.” Jesus had been raised from the dead after “three days.” Virtually every first century Christian would have made this association automatically. Could this then indicate that the story of Joseph and Mary’s search for Jesus should be understood and seen in light of the resurrection story?

Joseph and Mary are searching for Jesus for three days which could indeed be a precursor of Jesus’ followers coming to the tomb three days after his death. In both searches, those who find Jesus meet something they did not expect. His parents find Jesus in the Temple where, he tells them, this is where I should be. And when the women meet “two men in dazzling clothes” outside the tomb, they are told “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” In his early life, Jesus is telling his family that their search for him should begin in G-d’s house.

Today, we believe the same. The search initially begins in G-d’s house, but once found, we learn that Jesus is, in fact, everywhere. We are taught to find him in the presence of believers, in the word, in the sacrament, in the Holy Spirit that blows throughout this world. Jesus is found in the face of suffering, in the homes of the oppressed, in the struggle of poverty, in the cries of the despairing. And, we hope, Jesus is found in the worship centers around the world. We still go to church expecting to meet Jesus – but we do not leave Jesus there. Jesus cannot be shut up in a church, or a box of theological principles, or in our minds.

My friends, there are many people in this world who feel like the parents of Jesus, searching and searching everywhere to find him. They are afraid to go to church to find him, because they think they will find all kinds of other things, like judgment, and persecution, and separation, and fear of outsiders. What they are greeted with is everything but Jesus.

On this third day of Christmas, let us remember that it should not take people three days, three years, or three decades to find Jesus – we should all expect to see Jesus, well, everywhere. When you and I are the hands and feet of Christ, we bear the image of Christ to others – and, hopefully, help others to find Jesus. And when they come into our midst let’s greet them with the love of Christ.

Pastor Dave