December 2021 – A Preacher’s Ponderings

Delight

First Sunday after Christmas; 26 December 2021; Christmas 1C (RCL); Isaiah 61:10 – 62:3; Psalm 147:13-21; Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7; John 1:1-18.

The passage from Isaiah speaks of the vindication of God’s servant, and the institution of a new covenant with the servant’s followers (61:8-9 speak of that covenant). This new people is now clothed with salvation and righteousness, that is, they are invested with the covenant. Note that in the restoration of Jerusalem in this passage, no mention is made of the Temple. It is the people clothed with righteousness who shine out to the nations. And the people of this new covenant (of forgiveness and restoration after the period of punishment) will be a crown of beauty in the hand of God.

The world on its head

Fourth Sunday of Advent; 19 December 2021; Advent 4C (RCL); Micah 5:2-5a; Psalm 80:1-7; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-55.

Who is the woman who is to give birth in Micah’s prophecy? Obviously, Christians have read her as Mary. I suspect that Micah was thinking about the people in Exile. Hosea sees Israel/Judah as God’s wife, and I think Micah is thinking along the same lines. While their present circumstance is difficult (Exile), it is comparable to a woman in labor. The outcome will be joyous.

A new people

Third Sunday of Advent; 12 December 2021; Advent 3C (RCL); Zephaniah 3:14-20; Canticle 9; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18.

Zephaniah, like so many of the prophets of the exile, imagines the restoration of Jerusalem and the return of the captives. A common theme in all the songs of restoration is the presence of God in the midst of God’s people. Even Canticle 9, a poem from the period before the exile, imagines God present in the midst of God’s people. Both imagine God as a warrior protecting the people. Canticle 9 picks up the theme of security (draw water with rejoicing from the springs of salvation — the wells are inside the walls).

Make the way straight

Second Sunday of Advent; 5 December 2021; Advent 2C (RCL); Baruch 5:1-9; Canticle 16; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6.

The image of a straight highway through the desert is woven throughout exilic and post-exilic literature. When God restores the fortunes of Zion, then the people will return, not wandering forty years in the wilderness, but along a broad, straight highway. There will be water aplenty along the road, and shade trees. The lame will be carried (or walk again), and not even fools can go astray.