Twelfth Day of Christmas

Today is the the last day of Christmas.  We made it.  In many ways, it was more difficult than Lent.  Today, my true love gave to me Twelve Drummers Drumming.  It is the consummation of the essentials of the Christian faith.  For the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and other self described "non-creedal" churches, this may be the most difficult day.  The word "creed" comes from the Latin word "credo" and simply means, "I believe."  To call the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) "non-creedal" or worse, "anti-creedal" is incorrect.  We do believe in something!  Our creed is that which most scholars believe is the basis of all creeds.  Peter responds to Jesus' question of who he is with the statement, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:16)  From that, we ask all converts this question: "Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and do you accept Him as Lord and Savior?"  This questions may differ from congregation to congregation, but it is essentially our creed even though we call it the Good Confession.  The founders of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) were never opposed to creeds.  They were opposed to creeds being used as a test of fellowship, although our Creed or Good Confession is used as such.
The twelve drummers remind us of the twelve points of the Apostles' Creed. Below is the Apostles' Creed divided into the 12 basic parts with the Scripture references that speaks to the points.

1. I believe in God, the Father (Ephesians 4:6) almighty, creator of heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1ff; John 1:1ff; 1 Corinthians 8:6).
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord (John 3:16-18).
3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35) and born of the virgin Mary (Mathew 1:18).
4. He suffered under Pontius Pilate (Mark 15:15), was crucified, died, and was buried (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). ["He descended to the grave" was added much later and is not in the earliest manuscripts of the creed.  It is often omitted by Reformed Protestants. Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans argue that Ephesians 4:8-10 proves this phrase.]
5. On the third day he rose again (1 Corinthians 15:4).  He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father (Luke 22:69; Acts 1:9, 2:32-34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1).
6. He will come again to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42).
7. I believe in the Holy Spirit (John 15:26),
8. the holy catholic (universal) Church (Romans 12:5; Colossians 1:24),
9. the communion of saints (Acts 2:42)
10. the forgiveness of sins (Mathew 26:28; Acts 2:38; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:22),
11. the resurrection of the body (Matthew 28:6-7; 1 Corinthians 15:13-14)
12. and the life everlasting (John 3:15; Jude 1:21).

Legend proposes that the Apostles' Creed was written by the Apostles themselves on the Tenth Day after Christ's ascension.  The truth about the Creed is that the Apostles never wrote or contributed anything to the Creed.  Many, both inside and outside of the Church, believe that the Creed is of equal authority or supersedes Scripture.  The Creed was never intended to be the only statement of the essentials of the Faith.  However, from the earliest years of the Church, local assemblies outlined what was essential to the Faith that was confessed by all candidates for baptism.  As is the case in most human communities, these statements were often applicable to the local context of issues.  If a Christian community was dealing with a particular heresy in or near where they lived, their statement of faith might focus more intensely on countering those teachings.  As the Church began to grow and an understanding that a rule of faith needed to be standardized, many influential elders or bishops would draft a Rule of Faith that would be in conversation with other Rules of Faith.  One of the earliest creeds we have is attributed to Hippolytus who lived at the end of the third century.  Hippolytus was a disciple of Irenaeus who was a student of Polycarp who was a student of the John the Apostle.  Hippolytus' creed is called the Interrogatory Creed.

Dr. Joe Jones (a Disciple of Christ), retired Professor of Theology from Christian Theological Seminary, makes the case that the Creeds in general and the Apostles' Creed in particular, are not so much tests of fellowship but serve as a grammar of faith.  That is, they teach us how to talk about the Faith.  In the early Church, complete copies of the Scriptures were rare.  The Apostles' Creed served as a brief statement of the essentials of the Christian Faith.  As humanity went through the Enlightenment with further education and available copies of the Scriptures, more and more people were able to read for themselves the written revelation of Jesus Christ.  However, in today's society, Biblical illiteracy is at epidemic levels.  Perhaps the creeds serve as a starting point for the new believer.  Perhaps they give us a "grammar of faith." What do Christians believe? What does the Church teach as true about Jesus Christ? The best solution would be to sit together and read through the New Testament. As we are doing that, perhaps the creeds help us to begin to consider what Christians before us have taught for almost 2,000 years.  Augustine said that the Apostles' Creed was the first and greatest statement of the faith.  Tertullian said that the Creed was not something different from the Gospels, but as a summary of the Gospel.  Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther said, "Christian truth could not possibly be put into a shorter and clearer statement." Protestant Reformer, John Calvin, said that it was an admirable and truly Scriptural summary of the Christian faith.  Even our own founder, Alexander Campbell, based his Christian System outline on the Apostles' Creed.

What do Christians believe? We believe what the Bible teaches.  What does the Bible teach? One place to begin is the Apostles' Creed. It is the oldest statement of what Christians have believed.  What do you believe?

Eleventh Day of Christmas

Today is the Eleventh Day of Christmas and my true love gave to me Eleven Pipers Piping.  The Eleven Pipers represent 11 of the original disciples or as it is sometimes called, the eleven faithful disciples.  This would include Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot (a Canaanite), and Judas the son of James or Thaddaeus.  Judas Iscariot is not included in the list as he was the one who betrayed Jesus.  These eleven disciples (listed in Acts 1:13-14 after the Ascension of Jesus) were not Jesus' only disciples, but they were the inner group who would later become the apostles.  Joined by Matthias (Acts 1:23-26), these twelve (later joined by Paul who declared himself an apostle in 1 Corinthians 1:1 [his third letter]) became the original patriarchs of Christ's Church.  The word "apostle" literally means "one who is sent."  What could these men actually teach us as we wind down the Christmas season.

Several years ago, I was a student pastor of a congregation in a small community in Bourbon County, Kentucky.  There were five congregations in that community: a Baptist Church, a Presbyterian Church, a United Methodist Church, a Disciple of Christ Church, and a Christian Methodist Episcopal (historically African American denomination) Church.  The community decided to celebrate the observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day hosted by the CME Church.  The pastor of that congregation assembled the pastors of the other four congregations just moments before the service to go over the liturgy. The CME pastor began telling each of the other pastors where they would be preaching in the service.  This, of course, was the first time I was aware that we all would be preaching.  I interrupted the CME pastor to tell him that I had not come prepared to preach.  A silence fell on the room as he stared at me in disbelief.  The United Methodist pastor chuckled under his breath as the CME pastor looked over his glasses at me and remarked, "You mean you have to prepare to preach?" The other pastors in the room all looked at me and back at the CME pastor as if they were watching a tennis match.  I stuttered and stammered.  "No, I'll preach, don't worry about it," I exclaimed with false confidence.  We finished our planning and I reached into my pocket where I kept my New Testament.  As we walked toward the chancel with the organ playing to begin the service, I uttered a brief prayer.  "Lord, I promise I won't ask for anything else if you help me to come up with a sermon before I reach the chancel."  As we sat down in our assigned pew, I flipped through the Gospels and landed on Matthew 10:2-4.  At that moment, the CME pastor introduced me and asked me to take the pulpit to bring the word.  I stepped to the pulpit, took a deep breath and read the the three verses.  I closed the text and began to speak.  I don't remember the words I said, but essentially I spoke about how Jesus took these 12 men from varied backgrounds to be his closest disciples.  Through preaching, teaching, miracles and walking the hills of that ancient land, these 12 people were joined together as Christ's Apostles.  From these 12 very different people, God began the work of building His Church and began the evangelism of the world.

These 12 men were fishermen, a tax collector and an anti-Roman revolutionary.  Ethnically they were diverse ranging from a Greco-Roman Jew, a Canaanite and hard working Jewish fishermen.  These were men who would not have socialized together and the tension between Matthew and Simon the Zealot would have been intense.  Matthew would have been considered a collaborator with the Roman occupiers of the land as Simon's friends would have engaged in what would be considered terrorist actions against the Romans and their sympathizers.

The call of these 12 very different men reminds us that the Church is not monolithic.  We are a people who share a faith, not an ethnicity, a nationality or a culture.  Worship, music and organizational structure may differ, but our faith is one, holy, catholic (universal), and apostolic.  If we confess Jesus as the Christ we are a part of the one Church.  To leave a congregation, a denomination or to split and divide over cultural or political issues is essentially impossible.  We can never divide ourselves from those who are also a part of the Body of Christ.  We are a people who are very different but we do share one thing in common.  We share Christ. We share our faith.  Tomorrow will be the last day of the Christmas season.  We will receive 12 drummers drumming tomorrow.  How fitting to end this festive season looking at that one thing the entire Church confesses as the essentials of our unified faith.  Incidentally, I now always have a spare sermon or two in the margins of my Bible.  I am grateful to my first lessons taught to me by that CME pastor on always being prepared to preach and the unified diversity of Christ's Church.

Tenth Day of Christmas

Today is the Tenth Day of Christmas.  As we begin to look toward the end of the Christmas season, we receive Ten Lords A-Leaping.  The Ten Lords remind us of the Ten Commandments.  Traditionally, the Ten Commandments are listed in Exodus 20:1-17.

1. You shall not have any other gods before God. (Anything that would prevent God from being first in your life.)
2. You shall not make any graven images. (Presumably this means for the purpose of worship, as this could be rather stringent if taken literally.)
3. You shall not use the Lord's name in vain. (This would include any use of the Lord's name without proper respect and awe as well as claiming to be a follower of God yet not attentive to the call of God on our lives.)
4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. (The word Sabbath in Hebrew literally means, "to cease, to rest.")
5. Honor your father and mother. (This is the only commandment that includes a promise. Paul expounds on this commandment in Ephesians 6:1-4.)
6. You shall not kill. (This is obvious or is it? We assume this refers to people.  Does the prohibition include those who have killed? The unborn? The aged? The terminally ill? Jesus discusses this further in Matthew 5:21-22. This is an application of Leviticus 19:17.  John addresses the issue again in his first epistle, 1 John 3:15.
7. You shall not commit adultery. (Again, this is obvious.  Jesus addresses this commandment too in Matthew 5:27-28.)
8. You shall not steal. (According to the Code of Conduct for the United States Military Academy, if it doesn't belong to you, and you take it, it is stealing.  Therefore, even to pick up a penny on the sidewalk is stealing.  Cadets have been discharged from the Virginia Military Institute for such an infraction.  What do you think?)
9. You shall not lie about your neighbor. (Generally, this is universally applied as a "do not lie, period" commandment.)
10. You shall not covet. (To covet is to have an inordinate desire for something that belongs to another.  It is closely related to the definition of the word envy.  Well, there goes the American work ethic.)

The first four commandments outline our relationship with God.  The final six outline our relationships with others.  The Early Church Fathers suggested that the fullness of the Law is found in the teachings of Jesus, who said, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31 ESV)

Again, we are confronted with how we love God and how we love our neighbor.  One Early Church Father, Irenaeus, a second century bishop in Gaul (modern day France), answered the question of how we love God by simply quoting Moses.  "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul..." (Deuteronomy 10:12 ESV)  The Prophet Micah reminds us again of what the Lord requires of us but to do justice, love kindness or mercy and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).  It is not a matter of experience or emotional validation that shows our love to God, but rather a clear admonition that sometimes it is just as simple as acting justly, loving mercy and being humble.  

How might we love our neighbor? Augustine, a 5th century Bishop in North Africa, wrote, "'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' You love yourself best when you love God better than yourself.  What you aim for yourself you must aim at in your neighbor, that is, that your neighbor may love God with a perfect affection.  For you do not love your neighbor as yourself unless you invite him to the same good that you are pursuing.  For this is the one good that all have room to pursue along with you. From this precept comes the duties of human society." (my paraphrase, Augustine, Of the Morals of the Universal Church, chapter 26)

After the Reformation, especially in England, it was required that the Ten Commandments be read at the start of every worship service.  I like this! However, we need to be cautious at relegating the Ten Commandments to only a list of rules that we raise as a standard of a just society.  Across the United States the debate of whether or not the Ten Commandments should be posted in courthouses or schools rages on.  I agree that the Ten Commandments are important concepts that were integral in framing our culture's understanding of justice.  Consider for a moment that perhaps our application of the Commandments have been misappropriated.  As a colleague of mine, who was once a lawyer and is now a preacher, pointed out, American jurisprudence assumes that one party is telling the truth and the other is lying.  In criminal law, the effort is to discern one's guilt or innocence and if guilt is proven, a punishment is applied that fits the crime.  The context of the Ten Commandments, Jesus' teachings and the writings of the Early Church Fathers gives us another perspective.  Perhaps God's Law is not so concerned with who is right and who is wrong, but about relationships.  

What re-establishes relationships that have been broken?  As the Mosaic Law continues to be outlined, it is often understood as a complex outline of proper punishment for particular sins.  What if the Law is an outline of how relationships might be healed?  The healing of our relationship with God began with Jesus Christ and is professed by our confession and openness to His transforming Spirit.  

Our relationships with others are made right when the effort on behalf of the offender to rectify the wrong is coupled with the victim's call to show mercy.  True justice among the human race will never be truly known through punishment and recompense.  Only when mercy and kindness are as aggressively applied as punishments will the fruits of the final six commandments be known.  I am thankful that the only thing that is greater than God's justice and holiness is God's mercy freely given.  Let us live into God's vision for our relationship with Him and with others.

Ninth Day of Christmas

[Sorry for the initial post before it was complete]

Today is the Ninth Day of Christmas.  Nine Ladies Dancing reminds us of the nine fruits of the Spirit.  Paul outlines these fruits in Galatians 5:22-23.  Paul lists these fruits immediately after he lists the works of the flesh, 15 works of the flesh actually, to which he adds a 16th "and things like these."

Scholars debate why such fruits are listed.  Many suggest that as Christians were having to live in the midst of persecution and detractors from all sides, these gifts served as a model of life that no one, not even pagans, could disagree.  Other scholars argue that Paul is outlining a manner of life that stood in contrast with both the practice of pagan religion that was rampant with sexual immorality and the contemporary lifestyle that hasn't changed much in 2,000 years.  Things like enmity, strife, anger, envy, and division were, and remain, common to our human experience.  Our contemporary culture today thrives on envy (wanting what others have) and division (us against them, culturally, politically, religiously and ethnically).  What would be common in a contemporary reflection is an outline of how we (Christians) should live and an admonishment to start "living right."  No doubt, "holiness" preachers and other such Christians interested in cultural transformation articulate how we might implement and even legislate how we ought to live.  I agree that this desire is rooted in a positive desire.  That is, most of us want our culture to be transformed.  Jesus' teaching to remove the beam out of our own eye so that we might see the speck in our neighbors' eye (Matthew 7:1-5) gives us another perspective.

Yesterday was New Year's Day.  Let me ask you a question?  What kind of person do you want to be?  I think most of us want to be good people.  We want to be kind, slow to anger, gentle, gracious people who focus on positive things in life.  Now, not to sound too preachy, although I am a preacher, I am convinced that our lives can change, who we are can change, only if we allow the Spirit to transform us.  It isn't that we work to be what the Spirit is, rather we allow the Spirit to work through us so that we might become who God knows and wants us to be.  The Reformed Protestant heritage is that it isn't us who does that transformation, but that we allow ourselves to be open to God's Spirit so that the Spirit can transform us.

Unfortunately, we Protestants have allowed the Spirit to be that One who hangs out with us and does some magical tricks from time to time.  It is not that we are spectators to God's transforming Spirit but that we are the clay that is re-molded into a new creature.  Like clay, this transformation will take time, it will require God's hands to push, squeeze and bend us into this new vessel.  The heat of life, like the potter's oven, sets and cures us to be useful.  One Christian perspective is that the world is changed because we are changed.  Let me share a few things with you, things that I need to be reminded of myself from time to time.

1. We we can not be godly apart from the Spirit.  The power is from within us only when the Spirit is within us.
2. Left to our own devices, we are determined to have things our own way.  Even the best side of us can be self serving.  Outside of the Spirit, even when we do good works, we can often become focused on the credit we receive or become frustrated when we do not feel appreciated.  The Spirit calls us to desire goodness regardless of who gets the credit and even to celebrate when it is only God who knows our good deeds.
3. God's way is a very different way of living.  God's way is radical.  It requires all of you, your heart, mind, body, and soul.  It is God's Spirit that grabs you, cleans you up, grows the fruit in you, and makes you in the image of Christ.
4. Where there are fruits of the Spirit, the Spirit of God is at work.  Trust in that truth, regardless of who, what or where it might manifest.
5. Each person bears the same fruit as outlined in Galatians, but each bears that fruit differently.  However, the fruits will show themselves as God cultivates your heart and brings you to fruitfulness.
6. Finally, even though we are talking about individual fruit, remember that God's Spirit works corporately too.  As fruit trees are only productive when they are cross pollinated by other fruit trees, so will our fruits be plentiful only when we are in relationship with Christians, in relationship with Christ's Church.   

On this Ninth Day of Christmas, today is the day to resolve to open yourself to Christ and allow Him to make you into an integral part of His Body, His Church. Offer this prayer: God, make me into a new creature.  Mold me into the image of your Son. Give me strength to be the person you know I can be.  Give your Church the strength to be the Bride that you are calling us to be. In the name of Christ, your Son, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Eighth Day of Christmas

Finally, no more birds.  Today is the Eighth Day of Christmas.  The gift for today is Eight Maids A-Milking.  The Eight Maids refer to the Eight Beatitudes as found in the Gospel According to St. Matthew (Matthew 5:3-10).  Sometimes called the 10 Commandments of the New Testament, they open what is a rather long sermon by Jesus on a mountain. A similar sermon (The Sermon on the Plain) is found in the Gospel According to St. Luke (Luke 6:20-26). Read the eight beatitudes again here one at a time, slowly.  Think and feel each one and as you do, consider both where you see yourself and where you see your worst enemy:

(from the English Standard Version)

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  

3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons (and daughters) of God.

8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

How can we tangibly consider implementing the beatitudes in our daily lives?  That would make for a series of articles of their own, so for today, let us focus on the fifth beatitude, "Blessed are the merciful."  Although we aren't sure when the following teaching developed, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) outlined them definitively in his writings. In an effort to help people understand the fullness of what it meant to be merciful, the early church outlined two types of mercy, corporal acts of mercy and spiritual acts of mercy.  These were considered obligations or more accurately stated, marks of the true Christian.  It was not things you must do to be a Christian, but things that Christians naturally did.  If one was lax in these points, it was a marker for them to consider the fervency of their faith.  Most of these acts of mercy were outlined from Scripture.  Using Isaiah 58:6-10 and Matthew 25:37-40, the points become both obvious and very biblical.

Corporal Acts of Mercy are:

1. Feed the hungry.

2. Give drink to the thirsty.

3. Clothe the naked.

4. Shelter the homeless.

5. Comfort the imprisoned.

6. Visit the sick.

7. Bury the dead.

Let me give you some statistics:

• 150 million children under the age of 5 years old will go to bed hungry tonight and 13 million of those children live in the United States.  The world produces enough food for every human being to have 3,000-4,000 calories per day. The problem is that it would require the entire world working together...Feed the hungry.
• 2.3 billion people are presently suffering from a disease they acquired from poor drinking water...Give drink to the thirsty.
• It is estimated that of those convicted of a capital offense, 7% of them are innocent....Visit the imprisoned.
• Worldwide, 42 million babies die in the womb every year. That is equal to the population of Canada.  The United States accounts for 1.6 million each year....Bury the dead.

 Spiritual Acts of Mercy are:

1. Admonish sinners. (Luke 15:7)

2. Instruct the unbelievers. (Mark 16:15)

3. Counsel the doubtful. (John 14:27)

4. Comfort the sorrowful. (Matthew 11:28)

5. Bear wrongs patiently. (Luke 6:27-28)

6. Forgive offenses. (Matthew 6:12)

7. Pray for the living and the dead*. (James 5:16) [*Protestants generally argue that they do not pray for the dead, even though the funeral commendation done by most Protestant clergy asks God to "Give the departed an entrance in to the land of light and joy" or words to that affect.]

Now, with all of that, I'm still sitting here thinking how any of it helps me to be more merciful.  So, consider this.  In each situation in life, how would you want to be treated.  If you were hungry, thirsty, committed a crime, were sick, alone or close to death, what would you want others to do for or with you?  If you were questioning your faith, had insulted someone on purpose or by accident or were slipping into a life of destructive habits or behaviors, what would you want your best friends to do?  Now, go and do likewise.  Consider that the guy who cut you off  at the intersection wasn't paying attention because he can't stop thinking about the fight he had with his wife last night or that his child has entered a rebellious stage and is flunking 9th grade.  The store clerk is slow and you are in a hurry, but she has worked 7 and 1/2 hours a day for 14 days straight and still has no benefits because she isn't considered full time.  Listen for the people's attempts to hide their hurt or fear by getting angry, or there lack of self confidence by always criticizing others.  It IS still Christmas.  Let that spirit of Christmas, that spirit of mercy, fill each day.  In doing so, you too, shall receive mercy.

Seventh Day of Christmas

I know, I know...more birds.  Today is the Seventh Day of Christmas.  Seven Swans A-Swimming remind us of the Seven Gifts of the Spirit.  Now, all my Pentecostal friends are probably ready to wage war arguing that there are more than Seven Gifts of the Spirit.  1 Corinthians 12:4-11 mentions nine gifts.  More gifts, as well as those mentioned in 1 Corinthians, are mentioned in Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4:11-12 and 1 Peter 4:10-11.  Theologians will often divide these gifts between "administrative" gifts, "sign" gifts and "operative" gifts.
In the early Church, what we call the Old Testament was pretty much the only Scriptures that was used as the New Testament was being written.  Many early Church theologians developed much of their ideas about the Gifts of the Spirit from Isaiah.  According to the early Church Fathers, Isaiah 11:2-3 listed the gifts of the Spirit as those which were bestowed upon Christ.  When a person was baptized and brought into the mystical Body of Christ, the Church, all were bestowed the same seven gifts.  They are listed in Isaiah as wisdom, understanding, counsel, might (courage), knowledge and the fear (awe) of the Lord. In the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas, one of the most revered theologians listed these six plus the gift of piety or reverence.  These seven gifts were given to all believers.  They do seem to be universal gifts and are the marks that should be exemplified in the life of every disciple of Christ.
Too often, Christians will exonerate themselves from certain works by saying that they do not have certain gifts.  Elders will excuse themselves from teaching citing that they don't have the gift of teaching.  Though this might be true, all Christians have been given the gift of understanding and counsel.  The Spirit brings to us the gift of courage to stand for the Truth of the Gospel in all times and places.  This is an admonition given to us my many of the New Testament writers, notably, the Apostle Paul.  Would the New Testament call us to certain works unless there was a certainty that God, who has begun a good work in us, will see it to completion (Philippians 1:5-7).  Be encouraged. God is calling you by the power of the Spirit given to us liberally, to be an evangelist, a teacher, an encourager, a servant of the Kingdom.  Does that mean all are called to be Ministers, Elders or Deacons? No. However, God is calling you to live into your baptismal gifts.  Use your seven gifts to serve the cause of justice, peace and to call the world to the knowledge of God through Christ Jesus.  Use your seven gifts to the glory of God.

Sixth Day of Christmas

I don't know about you, but the bird theme is growing comical.  Six Geese A-Laying marks the Sixth Day of Christmas.  Generally, when we think about the creation narrative in the book of Genesis, most will tell you that God created the universe in 7 days.  Depending on how one wants to interpret the theme of the Creation Story, God actually created the universe in six days.  This is the teaching the six geese are to serve as a reminder.  For our reflection today, I would respectfully take issue with both the song and with you Bible scholars out there who might argue with me.  Consider for a moment that the reason the seventh day is included is that which God did is essential to the creative process.  That one thing? Rest!
In our current culture of cell phones, wi-fi internet and constant contact, rest is elusive.  I am told that one of the things that made the United States a great world power is the work ethic of her citizens.  We now have a work force that counts itself lucky if they are able to secure two weeks vacation per year.  The irony remains that European workers, who enjoy at least four weeks per year in vacation are considerably more productive per unit per hour than US workers. Perhaps the Creation Story reminds us of both an eternal paradigm as well as a global paradigm that rest is integral to productivity and creativity.  It is not a mistake that the Laws given to us by Moses call us to rest on the seventh day as did our God.  Consider that your preoccupation with work and "stuff" may actually be hindering you from being the creative and productive person to which God is calling you.  Work hard, do your best and take time to rest.  Enjoy your family, time alone in reflection, worship in Church, a good book or whatever it is that relaxes you.  God created us.  God knows all that we need.  Part of what is essential to our well being is rest. Remember the six days God worked and remember too the Seventh Day, when God rested.

Fifth Day of Christmas

Even if the majority of people can't remember the gifts from the other days, everyone knows what my true love gave to me on the fifth day.  Five Golden Rings represent the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, commonly known as the Pentateuch or the Torah.  For modern Christians, we often become enthralled with the history of God's people before the Exodus and are unable to get through the rest of the books as they outline, what for many, is a tedious outline of the Law and what the ancient Hebrews had to do to receive forgiveness of their sins.  For the Christian catechist, that is, the one who would have used this song to learn the Christian faith, the Torah is a symbol of humankind's fall from grace and, as Paul teaches, that which shows us our need for a Savior.  Romans 3:19-20; 5:12-12; 7:7-8; 10:4 and Galatians 3:15-25 outline the purpose of the Law as that which shows the need for a Savior.

In our culture, sin has become a series of offenses that violate our conventional beliefs of appropriate conduct. Throughout the history of the Church, theologians have debated the state of humanity.  Most all agree that sin is not only wrong actions, but a state in which humanity exists.  But what difference does it make to you and to me?

There is an old story.  If a gold coin is dropped on your head, will it kill you? The answer rests not in the size of the coin, but how far it drops before it hits you.  If it were to fall from a building and strike you on the head, it would be fatal.  The old adage is intended to confront us not with the size of our sin, but the height of God's holiness.  To use a modern perspective, the war is with our own humanity.  It is not that we sin, rather, we are born sinners.  Our propensity for self gratification and selfishness is overwhelming.  Biologists will tell you that survival and self preservation are integral to what it means to he human.  I couldn't agree more.  The model of God's love is the opposite of our human condition.  God in Christ exemplified self sacrifice.  The call of the Gospel is to view ourselves not as an end to be protected and glorified, but as a part of something bigger.  We are called to be a part of a larger Body, the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). Sin is that human proclivity to seek our own will and an open, virulent resistance to the Lordship of our Creator.  You mean you are calling me to submit to something outside of my own desires and needs?  Yes! I am asking you to consider something larger than yourself.  I am asking you to think of the eternal implications for not only your own self that ultimately ends in death and darkness, but the implications for others, for all of creation to which you are being called.

The holiness of God is the fullness of existence.  Unless you die to yourself, you will never live.  However, that death must be for Truth. Christ is Truth (John 14:1, 6; 18:37). The Torah reveals the height of God's holiness. Come out of the darkness and into the Light of Christ, His Body, His Church (Colossians 1:24), His bride (Luke 5:35; John 3:29).

The Fourth Day of Christmas

Four calling birds opens the fourth day of Christmas.  At this point, we become victims of modern English.  Anciently, the song spoke of four "colly" or "collie" birds.  Slang for "coal" a colly bird was essentially a European black bird, a counterpart to our American Robin and a member of the Thrush family.  What does this all have to do with anything? Colly birds were known for their beautiful singing.  Of course, at this point, I am refraining from telling you the legend of the American Robin, perhaps in a future posting.  The colly birds or calling birds represent the four Gospels in the New Testament.  Remember your Sunday School lessons.  There are four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  The first three are called the synoptic Gospels because they basically give a synopsis of the life of Jesus and by and large very similar.  The fourth Gospel, the Gospel of John, is more a theological treatise about Jesus.  The last Gospel to written and one of the later books of the New Testament, the writer uses Jesus' life and teaching to reveal Truths about Jesus.  Most poignantly is the teaching of Jesus' preexistence. "In the beginning was the Word (the second person of the Godhead...Jesus), and the Word was with God and the Word was God." (John 1:1 ESV)

The Gospels are revered writings of the New Testament, as they record what is considered the words of Christ.  In many churches, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) included, the people will stand as the Gospels are read in public worship.  Many Bible translators record those words using red print and scholars enjoy arguing about whether or not they really are Christ's actual words.  In that I am not a scholar, it isn't one of my favorite things about which to argue.  They are in the Canon of Scripture, so that pretty much settles it for me.  Each Gospel reveals Christ from a different perspective. Mark, the oldest, records Christ's life from his Baptism through his resurrection, although old copies of the Gospel end at the crucifixion.  Mark presents the acts of Jesus' life.  Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and that he is the Messiah.  Luke is the social justice Gospel and is considered by some to be the Gospel to the Gentiles.  In Matthew, Jesus the descendant of David, in Luke his lineage is traced to Adam, the father of humanity, and that we are all the sons and daughters of God.

Reading the Gospels is an invitation into the day to day life of Christ.  They allow the Christian to, like the disciples, walk with the Master.  In Greek education, the students would sit at the feet of the teacher and the Gospels allow us to sit and hear the teachings of Christ for ourselves.  I often am asked how we might know Christ better.  A good place to start is to simply read the Gospels.

The word Gospel in Greek comes from the same word from which we get the word "evangelist" and is closely related to the word "angel" which simply means "messenger."  The four calling birds remind us of the messengers of God who have us the teachings of Christ.  They also encourage us, in like manner, to be the messengers of God as we share the good news of God's love through Christ Jesus.  May the four calling birds invite you to learn at the feet of the Master, the Teacher of humanity and rise to share His good news with the world.

The Third Day of Christmas

It is only the Third Day of Christmas and already people are no longer turning on their Christmas Trees or their outside lights.  I even saw some folks taking their decorations yesterday.  Christmas continues though and today we receive three French Hens.  These are the three Theological Virtues.  From Paul's first letter to the Church at Corinth he writes, "And now, faith, hope and love abide, these three, and the greatest of these is love."  These are some of the most powerful tools in our part as co-laborers for God's Kingdom.

Hope is not wishful thinking.  A Biblical hope is confident expectation.  "For in this hope we are saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? For if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." (Romans 8:24-25 ESV)  Hope is the beginning.  It is for that which is not yet known.  Hope is the fuel to dreams.  It drives us to grab on to God's vision for creation.  It is the ability to see with God's eyes, if only for a moment.  It blinds us to the ruse that sin and darkness uses to draw us to wander.  It is the ability to see through the pall of pain and death that we might know that our present situation is only temporary.  Hope is temporary.  True hope ultimately leads to fulfillment.

Faith is not the counterbalance for blessings and success.  Too often, our contemporary pseudo-religious leaders herald to our culture that if we have enough faith, we will prosper.  Remember, our Faith is a Biblical Faith.  "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1 ESV) Faith is action on our part which is directly proportional to the one, or One, in whom we have hope.  If our hope is in God, faith drives us on in the face of the storms of doubt, trouble and persecution.  Faith is temporary.  True faith ultimately becomes sight.

Love is the most overused and misunderstood of the virtues.  In this verse from Paul's letter, this word translated "Love" is "agape."  Unlike the English, this kind of love is not a romantic or physical love.  This agape love is a self sacrificing love.  1 John 4:8 defines love in its clearest sense.  "Anyone who does not love, does not know God, because God is love."  God doesn't just love us, God IS love.  Everything God does comes from His person, His love.  The object of God's love, most notably, humanity, does not merit God's love, but simply is enfolded in it.  The clearest expression of this love is Christ's prayer in the Garden hours before his arrest and crucifixion.  "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." (Luke 22:42 ESV)  Christ did not FEEL this love.  He actually preferred to avoid it. This love was an act of the will, not of the heart or mere emotion.  It was not just an act of human will, but divine will.  Love, therefore is not only an act of the will, it is an act of God's will within us.  It is, according to Paul, the greatest virtue.  Unlike hope and faith, love is not temporary.  It is eternal.  It is of God, it is God.

The Second Day of Christmas

Today is the Second Day of Christmas.  In the calendar of the Church it is also the day we remember the martyrdom of St. Stephen.  A deacon of the first century Church and the first martyr, Stephen was stoned while Saul, later to become the Apostle Paul, held the cloaks of those throwing the stones.  Stephen is said to have uttered the same words as our Lord, "Father, forgive them." This day was made famous by the John Mason Neale's carol, Good King Wencelas. The King and his page go out to help a poor man on the "Feast of Stephen."  Considered the longest and coldest night of the winter in ancient time, this day is a day to ask ourselves about the sacrifices to which we are often called as followers of Christ.  Sometimes, disciples of Christ are called to give even their life for the cause of the Gospel.
As we continue in our reflections on The Twelve Days of Christmas, today we remember the gift of two turtledoves.  The two written revelations of God's love for the world, the Old Testament and the New Testament, we are reminded that though our faith is rooted in the person of Jesus Christ, we know of this revelation through Holy Scripture.  Scripture is the primary authority of our faith for those of us in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  Though we may use the traditions of the Church to interpret it in our own experiences using the gift of a reasonable mind, our faith is ultimately a Biblical Faith. Unfortunately, too many Protestants have abdicated the discipline to read and study Scripture for the much easier authority of our own personal experiences in search of an emotional high.
Imagine, if you will, what the thousands of Christians in other lands who pray each day for an opportunity to read and study Holy Scripture would say to many Christians in this nation as our Bibles gather dust on the bottom shelf of a coffee table.  It is not the leather clad pages that give us power and protect us from the darkness of doubt and fear, but the One to whom the writing on the pages bear witness.  It is Christ who is our Savior and Guide.  One of the most powerful ways to understand Him, to grow in deeper relationship with Him is to read the revelation of His ministry in the Gospels, the teaching of His person and work in the Epistles and His coming again in the Revelation to John.  Within the pages of the "first turtledove" we hear of God's creative power, His love for humanity and humanity's rebellion.  The Law and the Prophets lead us to promise of the Messiah.  Together, these two turtledoves, these two Testaments lead us to Christ and allow us to open our hearts to his word and in so doing, we become disciples of the Word, Jesus Christ.

The First Day of Christmas

Today is December 25, the First Day of Christmas.  It is properly called the Feast Day of the Nativity.  The seasons stretches from the celebration of the birth of Christ to the arrival of the Magi on Epiphany (January 6).  Historians argue about why Christmas is 12 days, some arguing the perfection of the number "12" and others proposing that it is a Christianized version of a 12 day pagan holiday pre-dating Christianity.  The days that follow December 25 speak to several themes in the daily readings as the Church encourages us to remember the Incarnation of God.  In this year's cycle in the Protestant lectionary there is also an emphasis on the childhood of Jesus, which is rather scant in the New Testament.
Perhaps the most famous and misunderstood song that outlines the 12 days of Christmas is, well, the song The Twelve Days of Christmas.  On the first day, the gift that my true love gave to me was a "partridge in a pear tree."  It is popularly considered that the partridge refers to Christ.  Popularized by Linus in the Charlie Brown Christmas movie, there is a reference to Christ as a mother partridge who protects her young.  "Jerusalem, Jerusalem! How often I would I have sheltered you under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but you would not have it so..." (Luke 13:34).
The problem with this perspective is that most scholars agree that the song was written by Roman Catholics trying to maintain their faith under Protestant England.  In Roman Catholic iconography and imagery, a partridge almost always represents Satan.  From 1 Samuel 26:20 and Jeremiah 17:11, the partridge is characterized as a negative symbol.  In 1 Samuel, the King of Israel actually goes out to hunt the partridge.  Many scholars propose that the King of Israel, Jesus Christ, hunts the partridge...Satan...and delivers him vanquished.  This first day, therefore, is a reminder that Christ has defeated Satan and the powers of darkness.
Regardless of your perspective, this first day is a focus on the One who is born, Christ Jesus.  He is the author and finisher of our faith.  We are Christians, followers of Jesus Christ.  We are a people who proclaim Him as "true God from true God."  Jesus is the Son of God, God the Son, the second person of the Trinity.  "In the  beginning was the Word (the capital "W" always means that the word is referencing Christ, not the Bible...a lower case "w" is the Bible) and the Word was with God and the Word was God." (John 1:1)
Remember Christ this Christmas Day. He is alive. He is here. He is within you. He is in the sacred mystery of our Lord's Supper. He is in the proclamation of the word, the sermon. He is in the world and it is through Him the world both came into being and remains to this day. Merry Christmas to all my fellow disciples of Jesus Christ.

The 12 days of Christmas

Ironic that a bunch of evangelical Protestants are singing a song written by Roman Catholics to celebrate their faith in England when Christmas had actually been outlawed by the Protestant Church and Government.  Not only does "The 12 days of Christmas" teach aspects of the Roman Faith, but allowed Roman Catholic Christians to remember that Christmas was not just a day but an entire season.  Eventually Martin Luther's brand of Protestantism brought other Protestants to their sense and we begin celebrating Christmas again.  That is, everyone except the Puritans.  Angered not only at the pagan origins of many of the Church's holidays, they were furious that the King of England was making it mandatory that every Christian only use his "Authorized Version" of the Bible, commonly known as the King James Version.  They left Europe and sailed for America where they established the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The irony? Modern day socially conservative evangelical Protestants (like the Puritans) will be using the King James Version at their Christmas Eve Services.  But then again, so will I.  Merry Christmas everyone.