This date has been important in African American churches dating back to gatherings known as “Freedom’s Eve,” on December 31, 1862, when people gathered to await news that the Emancipation Proclamation had become law. When the news was received, there were prayers, shouts and songs of joy. This tradition has continued in many African American churches. This year at Caldwell, we will honor this tradition by opening the Prayer Room from 2-10 p.m. so we can reflect on what new thing God may do with your life and in the life of our congregation in 2015.
Drop by on your way home from work or errands, or on your way to whatever celebration you plan. Stay for a few minutes or for as long as you like. We will have special readings, invite participants to write a letter to God (to be revisited at later date) and explore ways for you to turn over old fears or self-defeating behaviors to God before you walk out the door and into a new year.
Dear Caldwell,
“How was your Christmas?”
By now, most, if not all, of us have answered that question. We may have reported on travel to see family, any special traditions we follow or maybe even a gift that stands out. These exchanges are all part of being in relationship with others – our friends, family, neighbors, co-workers. Their inquiry is genuine and we share some of our lives in return.
As we travel from Sunday to Sunday this week, we are moving toward the end of the Christmas season and the time of Epiphany, when we take full stock of just what Christ’s birth means for the world and for each of us. (I will have more to say on Sunday about what an “epiphany” Christ’s birth really is.)
Meanwhile, we might read Psalm 72 as a kind of Christmas report. A tribute to a king of Israel, it is just as applicable to Christ as the King. As our Christmas report, it reads in part:
May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.
May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor ….
For he delivers the needy when they call,
the poor and those who have no helper.
He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life;
and precious is their blood in his sight….
May all nations be blessed in him;
may they pronounce him happy.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name for ever;
may his glory fill the whole earth.Amen and Amen.
As the Christmas season moves towards its end at Epiphany (Jan. 6), our faith invites us to hold the sense of awe, joy and glory this psalm evokes. As we respond to the question, “How was your Christmas?”, what would it be like if our answer conveyed the same kind of true wonder in recounting what the season is really all about?
Look for CTW on Friday … and Happy New Year to you and yours. May blessings abound on you and your household.
In Christ,
John