Christmastide
Rejoice! Advent, the season of waiting, has given birth to the joy of Christmas. Christmas is not a single day but a season of twelve days. Twelve days to linger over the mysterious and shocking reality that God has come, but not as we would have expected. The incarnation, that the eternal Son of God has come in humility as a baby, is at the heart of Christmas. Jesus was born, given to us as a gift, the gift of his life to save our own. Jesus, fully God and fully man, will forever have a body like ours. May we never doubt God’s commitment to rescue his creation. Rejoice!
- Calling -
O Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim Your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia!
Alleluia. Unto us a child is born:
O come, let us adore him. Alleluia!
- Constitution -
Read/Listen, Meditate, Pray, and Contemplate on God’s Word, remembering that God is with you and ready to speak to you because he loves you.
Praying the Psalms
Psalm 119:1–48
Aleph
[1] Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD!
[2] Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
[3] who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
[4] You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
[5] Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
[6] Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
[7] I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.
[8] I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!
Beth
[9] How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
[10] With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
[11] I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
[12] Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes!
[13] With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
[14] In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
[15] I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
[16] I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
Gimel
[17] Deal bountifully with your servant,
that I may live and keep your word.
[18] Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
[19] I am a sojourner on the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!
[20] My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.
[21] You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments.
[22] Take away from me scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your testimonies.
[23] Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
[24] Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.
Daleth
[25] My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to your word!
[26] When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes!
[27] Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
[28] My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!
[29] Put false ways far from me
and graciously teach me your law!
[30] I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your rules before me.
[31] I cling to your testimonies, O LORD;
let me not be put to shame!
[32] I will run in the way of your commandments
when you enlarge my heart!
He
[33] Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end.
[34] Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
[35] Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
[36] Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!
[37] Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.
[38] Confirm to your servant your promise,
that you may be feared.
[39] Turn away the reproach that I dread,
for your rules are good.
[40] Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life!
Waw
[41] Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD,
your salvation according to your promise;
[42] then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me,
for I trust in your word.
[43] And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
for my hope is in your rules.
[44] I will keep your law continually,
forever and ever,
[45] and I shall walk in a wide place,
for I have sought your precepts.
[46] I will also speak of your testimonies before kings
and shall not be put to shame,
[47] for I find my delight in your commandments,
which I love.
[48] I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.
Old Testament Reading
2 Chronicles 32
[1] After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself. [2] And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to fight against Jerusalem, [3] he planned with his officers and his mighty men to stop the water of the springs that were outside the city; and they helped him. [4] A great many people were gathered, and they stopped all the springs and the brook that flowed through the land, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?” [5] He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it, and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. [6] And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, [7] “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. [8] With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
[9] After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria, who was besieging Lachish with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, [10] “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting, that you endure the siege in Jerusalem? [11] Is not Hezekiah misleading you, that he may give you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he tells you, “The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? [12] Has not this same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, “Before one altar you shall worship, and on it you shall burn your sacrifices”? [13] Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand? [14] Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? [15] Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!’”
[16] And his servants said still more against the LORD God and against his servant Hezekiah. [17] And he wrote letters to cast contempt on the LORD, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand.” [18] And they shouted it with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, in order that they might take the city. [19] And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands.
[20] Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven. [21] And the LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword. [22] So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies, and he provided for them on every side. [23] And many brought gifts to the LORD to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time onward.
[24] In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD, and he answered him and gave him a sign. [25] But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. [26] But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
[27] And Hezekiah had very great riches and honor, and he made for himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of costly vessels; [28] storehouses also for the yield of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds. [29] He likewise provided cities for himself, and flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great possessions. [30] This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. [31] And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.
[32] Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. [33] And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper part of the tombs of the sons of David, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
New Testament Reading
Revelation 18
[1] After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. [2] And he called out with a mighty voice,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
She has become a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
[3] For all nations have drunk
the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”
[4] Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
[5] for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.
[6] Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,
and repay her double for her deeds;
mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.
[7] As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
and mourning I shall never see.’
[8] For this reason her plagues will come in a single day,
death and mourning and famine,
and she will be burned up with fire;
for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”
[9] And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. [10] They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,
“Alas! Alas! You great city,
you mighty city, Babylon!
For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
[11] And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, [12] cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, [13] cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.
[14] “The fruit for which your soul longed
has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
are lost to you,
never to be found again!”
[15] The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
[16] “Alas, alas, for the great city
that was clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!
[17] For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.”
And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off [18] and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,
“What city was like the great city?”
[19] And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,
“Alas, alas, for the great city
where all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
For in a single hour she has been laid waste.
[20] Rejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and apostles and prophets,
for God has given judgment for you against her!”
[21] Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
“So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence,
and will be found no more;
[22] and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
will be found in you no more,
and the sound of the mill
will be heard in you no more,
[23] and the light of a lamp
will shine in you no more,
and the voice of bridegroom and bride
will be heard in you no more,
for your merchants were the great ones of the earth,
and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
[24] And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
and of all who have been slain on earth.”
- Communion -
Pray for yourself, others, our church, our neighbors, and the world.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer & the collect of the week:
Our Father who art in heaven...
O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
- Commission -
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be with you, and remain with you always.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and our neighbors.