I started this post while moving house – the movers were packing our boxes and furniture into the truck while I sat in a corner on the floor typing! I finished it today, sitting in our new home – a beautiful apartment in Sea Point, Cape Town. So, although I had hoped to get this post out earlier in the week, I’m quite pleased that I got it out at all. All, going well, things will start to settle in the next couple of weeks, and I’ll be back into normal routines. Thanks for your patience.
Also, for those who subscribe to the email updates, I have tweaked things so that the email contains the whole post and not just the teaser with the link, as it was in the past. This post will test to see if it works. Please let me know if you prefer it this way, or in the previous, abbreviated, format. Thanks.
The Sunday after Christmas (this year it’s just a couple of days later – the 27th of December) is always a tough one to prepare for. Services, in my experience, are usually quite sparsely attended, and with all the energy that went into Christmas, it can be hard to find anything inspiring for this week. But, the readings are very challenging – a simple reflection on the Christ-child growing up in grace and stature, and the obvious question that is raised – what does the “good life” look like?
READINGS:
1 Samuel 2:18-20,26: Samuel grows under the care of Eli the priest, and his parents visit him annually when they come to the Tabernacle for the sacrifice.
Psalm 148: A psalm calling all of creation to praise the God who has strengthened God’s people.
Colossians 3:12-17: Instruction on how those who have been chosen and forgiven by God should live – in compassion, harmony and peace.
Luke 2:41-52: Mary and Joseph accidentally leave Jesus behind in Jerusalem, and return to find him in the Temple in discussion with the religious teachers. Jesus is obedient and grows in wisdom and stature.
REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
Like Samuel before him, and for those who seek to follow him, Jesus is the example of a life well lived – in humility, obedience, forgiveness, peace and growth in character, in spirit and in compassion. At the heart of this “good” life, is the constant attitude of reverence and praise for the God who guides and strengthens us to live the best life possible.
CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: The Western world has long chased the dream of “the good life”, and has called other nations and people to aspire to the same dream. However, the cost of this “good life” has been shown to be way too high – for the planet that cannot sustain our high levels of consumption and waste, for poorer nations who have given up resources and have given their bodies in cheap labour to sustain the lifestyles of the wealthy, and for the wealthy themselves, who have discovered, after attaining the “dream” that it fails to satisfy the inner longing, and is, anyway, a fragile and easily lost lifestyle – as the economic crisis has shown. Our world desperately needs to redefine what “the good life” really is – in the terms that were modelled by Jesus: simplicity, humility, compassion, peace and reverence.
LOCAL APPLICATION: Every community knows the pain, frustration and disillusionment of those who have chased “the good life” and “failed”, and of those who have “succeeded” and found only despair. The pain is material, relational, communal and, of course, spiritual. The Church has a calling and a privilege in being able to offer an alternative “good life” – a Jesus-modelled life. Perhaps this Sunday would be a good time to repent of the ways we have allowed the world’s view of the good life to infiltrate our places of worship and our spiritual teaching, while also committing again to live and share the kind of good life that Jesus offers and teaches.
RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
The Life That Is Truly Good
A Goodness Worth Pursuing
Hymns:
All Creatures Of Our God And King
Jesus, Lord, We Look To Thee
O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee
Dear Jesus, In Whose Life I See
Be Thou My Vision
(A gender inclusive version of the lyrics is available here)
And a contemporary version: Be Now My Vision
Give Thanks
Let Me Shine (You can download the chord chart here – scroll down for the link – and listen to a preview of the song here).
All The Way My Saviour Leads Me
What Can I Do
Shine
Liturgy:
A Liturgy for the Eucharist
Video:
Jesus: Man of the Streets
Follow Me
Images:
Forest Path
Praise God for all your hard work and devotion, and may the Lord continue to bless your ministries.
Thank you all so much!
John –
In the same week that I read an interview from Joel Osteen, full of “Your Best Life Now,” this is a refreshing reminder of the full extent of the Gospel! Thank you!!