ST JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH - 2 CHRISTMAS

For thus says the Lord:
Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘Save, O Lord, your people,
the remnant of Israel.’
See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
those with child and those in labour, together;
a great company, they shall return here.
With weeping they shall come,
and with consolations I will lead them back,
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;
for I have become a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.

(Jeremiah 31:7-9)

Thy Kingdom come...

Time for the shepherds and sheep to move along and make way for the Magi.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - WALTER BRUEGGEMANN

Jeremiah and Second Isaiah taken together, poets of pathos and amazement, speak in laments and doxologies.  They cannot be torn from each other.  Reading Jeremiah alone leaves faith in death where God finally will not stay.  And reading Second Isaiah alone leads us to imagine that we may receive comfort without tears and tearing.  Clearly, only those who anguish will sing new songs.

Walter Brueggemann - The Prophetic Imagination, 2d ed.