Sunday, December 26, 2021
1st Sunday After Christmas

The Revised Common Lectionary passages for the Lord’s Day are:
– First Reading: I Samuel 2:18-20
– Psalm: 148
– Second Reading: Colossians 3:12-17
– Gospel Reading: Luke 2:41-52

The liturgical color for the day is: White

There is no lingering at the manger here.  From Christmas yesterday to today—there is twelve years of movement.  For us the manger is still warm, and we are looking for the wise ones with their star of wonder, star of might.

But not for the lectioners—when they gave us these lessons for the day, they knew that we had best not tarry too long in the stable of Bethlehem.

Today we have the only adolescent story of Jesus in the canonical Gospels.

Amber alert.  A child is missing.  Alas, they find him.  They find him in the Temple.

Mary and Joseph are learning quickly.  It is like Elkanah and Hannah—every year they would bring Samuel a new robe that his mother had made.  She was able to give Samuel over to the work of serving with Eli there in the temple.  She was able to let go of the idea that he was only hers.  Mary and Joseph would have to grapple with that too.

They would have to grapple with the clear urgency that is demonstrated in the young Jesus.  Of course, but of course, he would be in the temple.  There is no waiting.  There is an urgency to the times.  While most of his ministry is recorded a couple decades later in his life, the pathway is clear.  There is no time to wait.

Advent is complete—the waiting is over—the journey begins.  That journey begins where—in the Temple, in church—in the community where people encounter the Word together. 

It is the gift of the church—that we are in place where people can encounter the Word together.  Oh that we create such ministries that our 12 year old children are found among us, listening to us, and teaching us about the God-With-Us.

—

Rev. Dr. Daris Bultena
General Presbyter and Stated Clerk