A Partridge in a pear tree...

The season of Christmas is twelve days.  Therefore we have the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas."  Over the course of the season of Christmas, I will attempt to elaborate on the spiritual significance as represented by these days.  The song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England and is a memory device to aid school-aged children in learning the tenants of faith as outlined by the catechism. It is important that we realize that the true love who gives the gifts is not a suitor, but rather a reference to God, who is the giver of every good and perfect gift.

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree.  The partridge in the pear tree represents Jesus.  As the Nicene Creed tells us.  We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made of one being with the Father,  Through him all things were made.  Another example of these lines from the Nicene Creed can be summarized in the Gospel of St. John chapter 1:  In the beginning was the word, and the word was God and the word was with God.

I think that John 3:16-17 sums up our relationship with the partridge in the pear tree.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have everlasting life.  Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."  Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, God our true love has given us both the gifts of adoption into the holy family of God and salvation from our sins, the perils of this world and from ourselves.  The proper thing to do when we receive gifts is to say thank you and to share the gift with others.  "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree."

Peace,
Karsten

What a wonderful Child!

 

"Jesus, Oh Jesus, What a wonderful Child!

Jesus, Oh Jesus, so holy meek and mild!

New life, new hope to all he brings, 

listen to the angels sing!

glory, Glory, GLORY to the newborn King!"

Merry Christmas!  Happy Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ!  Happy Birthday, Jesus!  What a wonderful child!  Jesus is truly the reason for not only this Christmas season, but ALL seasons.  With Jesus' coming, he brought us new life.  All the old junk, drama and issues have been cast far away from us.  He brings to us new hope.  A new faith in the things that are hoped for, yet not unseen.  As a child, I used to love to hear the Young Adult Choir at Sycamore Hill Baptist Church sing this song during our worship.  Christ has come, and Christ will come again with all power in his hands.  He reigns forever!  Bless his holy name!  Merry Christmas!

Christmastide Blessings and Peace,
Karsten

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArJzPQ5728I&feature=related


 

Making Room...

It's Christmas Eve and the last day of Advent.  "Let every heart prepare him room..."  Sounds familiar huh?  It should.  That's part of the first verse of the Christmas carol "Joy to the World" by Isaac Watts.  My favorite version of this song is Whitney Houston's version from the Preacher's Wife soundtrack.  

I think that even the Grinch took heed to Isaac Watt's advise of preparing room in his heart.  My eight year old niece just reminded me that the Grinch's heart grew three times after he'd stolen Christmas from the residents of WhoVille, and later joined in the merriment.  I think that it is important that like the Grinch, we too take heed to Isaac Watts words and make room for Jesus in our hearts.  Our hearts may not physically grow exponentially as did the Grinch's, but I am sure that as we examine ourselves and the quality of our intent during this Christmastide and into the new year, we will experience spiritual growth as we strive to be more like Jesus each day.

My church has a twitter page, and earlier this week tweeted "Have you thought about what you are going to give Jesus for his birthday?"  Beloved, I believe that the best gift that we can give Jesus is the gift of ourselves, living in the power and might of his resurrection with earnest expectation of his second advent.  I am convinced that if you make room for Jesus in your heart and allow his nature to dwell within you, your world will be rocked in unimaginable ways.  That's not to say that you will not have trying or difficult times, but we can rest in assurance that God is there with us.  "Let EVERY heart prepare him room!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29_2vm3hKFo

 Peace and Advent Blessings,
Karsten

Magnificat!!

Well, I guess one could say that this is part III in my annunciation blog Series.  Part I was "Rocked My World."  Part II was "Be it unto me according to thy word!"  and now we have "Magnificat."  Magnificat, or Mary's song is simply: "My soul doth magnify the Lord."  In the first chapter of St. Luke's gospel, we have a series of connected and related events.  The birth of John the Baptist is foretold by the angel Gabriel.  John's father Zechariah was struck speechless because he did not believe the word of God as proclaimed by Gabriel.  After all, Elizabeth, Mary's cousin was way past child bearing years.  Luckily, Zechariah is able to speak again after John is born and named.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, Gabriel appears to Mary to tell her that she is to be Jesus' mother, even though she is an unmarried teenage virgin.  Gabriel was very busy in the first chapter of Luke. During Mary's perplexing visit with Gabriel, she learns that her cousin Elizabeth, the one said to have been barren was pregnant.  I believe that Gabriel told her this so that her faith might be made whole.  His words to her were "For with God, nothing is impossible."  After yielding herself to God's will, Mary visited Elizabeth.  Elizabeth gets the Holy Spirit, her baby jumps inside her and she asks her cousin Mary "Why has the mother of the Lord come to visit me?"

After Elizabeth's salutation, Mary immediately goes into her song of praise which is found in Luke 1:47-55.  At your earliest convenience, take time to read Mary's praise which opens up with "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant."  I was at an evening prayer and meditation service, the priest raised an interesting question, that I present to you today.  How does your life magnify God?  How does your vocation, ministry gifts and talents and relationships with others magnify God?  In the midst of the bustle of the Christmas season, while giving gifts, let's think on the ultimate giver and what gifts we will present to God almighty as our lives magnify him and we strive to become more like Jesus.  My Soul doth magnify the Lord!

Peace and Advent Blessings,
Karsten

Be it unto me according to thy word!

Yesterday, I blogged about the Angel Gabriel's visit to the Virgin Mary to tell her that she is to be Jesus' mother.  Mary's world as she knew it was rocked.  In that instance, everything changed for Mary.  Gabriel's parting words to Mary were "For with God, nothing is impossible."  After Mary came out of her stupor of shock and disbelief, Mary says to the angel "Behold the handmaid (servant) of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."

God has a sense of humor and often times rocks our world with happy events, joyous moments, tragic news, devastation, the illness or death of a loved one.  In all these times, it is important to remember that God is always there.  Just as Mary's life was changed and no longer her own, she spoke a profound word of faith to the angel "Be it unto me according to thy word!"

It takes a lot for one to yield themselves to God's plan and agenda.  Often times his thoughts are not our thoughts.  God may even have to remove us from certain people or things so that we can hear more clearly from him.  Sometimes, God's plan for us may defy all logic, intellect and common sense.  I bet that we would feel so much better if we would just surrender our will and our lives to God, and as Mary boldly told the angel Gabriel "Behold, the servant of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word." In this last stretch of Advent, let us boldly declare to God, that we are his servants and whatsoever will be with us according to his word, let it be.  I can hear the words of Isaiah's prophecy echoing ever so clearly.  "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."  Isaiah 55:11.

Peace and Advent Blessings!
Karsten

Rocked my world!!

Yesterday was the Fourth Sunday of Advent.  In churches across the country that follow the lectionary, the story of the annunciation was told.  The annunciation can be found in chapter 1 of the gospel of St. Luke.  This is the story in which the Virgin Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel and Gabriel tells her that she is to be Jesus' mother, he would save his people from their sins, he will be great and called the Son of the Most High.  There's just one problem!  Mary is a single teenage girl engaged to be married and is believed by those in her community to be a virgin.  Gabriel goes on to tell her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the child that she would bear would be holy.

I can only imagine that Mary in the back of her mind had already dreamed and envisioned the life that she and Joseph were to live.  But after putting herself aside.  She yielded to God's will for her and changed her life at that moment, as well as the trajectory of human history.  I can dig why the Catholics make such a big deal about the Blessed Mary.  She is the vehicle through and which salvation came down from heaven and dwelled among us.  Heaven's perfect and unblemished lamb came down through forty-two generations to commingle among the lowly and destitute.  To comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.  Glory to God!

In my Advent Sermon at St. Mary's School, I addressed a group of roughly 300 people, some of which were happy to be in chapel and others were probably just going through the motions.  In the moment, I told my mostly teenage audience, that Gabriel's visit to Mary rocked her world.  God took her world as she knew it and turned it upside down and inside out.  Her hopes and aspirations were not solely her own, but those of God for humanity.  I asked the students:  When was the last time God rocked your world?  How did you respond to this?  Gabriel's parting words to Mary were:  "For with God nothing is impossible."  In the last days of this Advent season, let us be ever mindful that with God NOTHING is impossible.  You can't do it, but God can.  Let go and Let God!

Peace and Advent Blessings!
Karsten

Got busy???

I don't know about you, but the last two months of 2011 have completely gotten away from me.  The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is normally a flurry of busyness.  The church observes this period and calls it advent.  The season of advent is a time in which we watch, wait, and remain hopeful for Christ's second coming as we revisit the prophetic foretelling of his birth, and relive through Bible stories the accounts of those who witnessed these events as they unfolded, the shepherds, magi, animals in the manger and a jealous king, who was threatened by the birth of the King of Kings and ordered an immediate infanticide. 

This advent, like others before it has been a time of busyness in my life.  Let me start with getting assigned to a church in which I will serve as a diaconal intern.  Then there were the four holiday parties that I felt socially obligated to attend, saying goodbye to my priest as she has been called to pastor and lead a congregation in Washington, DC, preaching my first sermon since announcing my call to Holy Orders, the two services of Lessons and Carols, the Christmas pageant, the Christmas parade, watching the Nutcracker and Langston Hughes' Black Nativity.  Did I mention working full time and the fact that I have not started Christmas shopping yet?  But at least the Christmas cards are in the mail.

In this great litany of busyness, I did manage to get in some  personal prayer and meditation time to truly reflect on the season.  Some days I was more intentional and successful than others.  On others, I did a quick cross and uttered up the Lord's Prayer and Psalm 23.  As we wait for Jesus during this season, let us also remember that he is waiting for us.  He's waiting for us to put aside all of the busyness that would distract us from having a meaningful relationship with him.  It is my hope that as we wait in hope, love joy and peace that we take time for ourselves and steal away to Jesus.  After all HE is the reason for the season.

Peace and Advent Blessings!
Karsten