Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, December 31, 2012 Read - Luke 2:39-52 Before he picks up Mark’s story Luke has one more story about the birth of Jesus to tell us. This story echoes the story of Hannah bringing her son, Samuel to the temple and belongs with Luke’s creative beginning of his gospel. So far we have been dealing with material which is only found in Luke’s gospel. Matthew will tell a story about the birth of Jesus too, but his story is quite different. It would be interesting to compare their stories but we won’t take time for that now. Mark did not think it was either necessary or useful to tell the birth story of Jesus. These first two chapters are the creative work of Luke. It is likely that he had some stories in hand about the birth of Jesus and the birth of John, but he has modified and shaped those stories to fit his template from the story of the birth of Samuel. The last story is about the visit of Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem when he was twelve years old. That he was twelve is significant since that was the age at which a Jewish boy was thought to become a man – the present Jewish practice of bar-mitzvah echoes this story. In his own creative way Luke foreshadows much of the rest of the story in this episode. Jesus is lost for three days. Jesus will be in the tomb for three days. Mary and Joseph seem to come to the temple as a last resort in their search for Jesus – perhaps they came there to pray – and then they find him. In his response Jesus reminds them that he must be in his father’s house. How might that have sounded to anxious parent? Who is his father? Oh, yes there is that business about his birth isn’t there? And Mary pondered all these things in her heart. The phrase echoes the birth story. Having set the story in the framework of the Old Testament story of Samuel Luke is now ready to move forward. And he is ready to pick up his chief source, Mark. His beginning is important. He has told us that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah and that there have been people who have been waiting for his appearance and welcomed him when he came. Luke has placed Judaism in a positive light through the characters he has introduced us to – Elizabeth, Zechariah, Simeon, and Anna. And his parents are faithful Jews. Luke has also placed Jesus on the side of the poor and outcast – the lowly ones. And he has served notice to the high and mighty. We are ready now to pick up the rest of the story.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, December 30, 2012 Read - Luke 2:21-38 The story about Jesus being brought to the temple for his naming and in order for Mary and Joseph to make the proper offerings really belongs with the template we have noticed with regard to the story of the birth of Samuel. We noted before that both Samuel’s and John’s fathers were priests who were attending to the temple when their sons were born. Here Luke is careful to tell us that Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple for the proper Jewish rituals. The temple and its proper use seem to be important to Luke. At the temple Jesus is met by two faithful Israelites – Simeon and Anna. Both are spoken of by Luke as Israelites who have been waiting and longing for the fulfillment of God’s kingdom. They are faithful Israel longing for the Messiah! As we were reading the Old Testament, especially as we were nearing the ending of that story, we noted how the longing for a Messiah was growing among the people of God. In the telling of these stories Luke is answering that longing. And Luke’s point is to drive home to his readers that there were some among Israel who did welcome the Messiah when he came! We have a tendency to think that Israel rejected the Messiah – but Luke wants us to know that was not true. So there are Elizabeth and Zechariah, Simeon and Anna, even Mary and Joseph to bear witness that there were those who were looking for the Messiah and welcomed him when he came! The words of Simeon are important to hear. He has been waiting for the promise of the Messiah and now his eyes have seen the salvation God promised – not only to the Jewish people but as a light to the gentiles! Simeon can depart in peace. God has kept his word.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, December 29, 2012 Read - Luke 1:67-80 As we have noted all three songs sung at the births of the three children in the telling of Luke’s gospel and in 1 Samuel have a common theme. God is blessing his people – but that blessing is not pleasant for the strong and self-sufficient. God is bringing down the mighty and raising up the lowly. and faithful stewardship of what is really not our own. We may have to work a little to really appreciate these songs for ourselves but they do point us to the grace of God. There may be another reason why Luke has chosen to begin his gospel with these songs about the lowly and the poor. More than any other gospel Luke has concern for the poor and the outcast. Luke How do we see ourselves? To be honest I think that sometimes I am the strong. Perhaps you see yourself in that light too – at least some of the time. Is there a word of hope and grace for us in these songs? I think there certainly is. While it is possible for the prosperity that we enjoy to become a burden for us, especially when we deny our real blessed position in this world, it is also possible to know the humility of having received everything as a gift for which we can be truly grateful. It is a matter of good stewardship that comes into play for us. When we realize that all we are and have is a gift of God to us then we are able to release it all into God’s hands and become good will talk about money and property more than any other gospel writer and Luke will call us into account. We will need to watch for that. It is a theme that begins here and flows throughout his gospel – one of the touches Luke makes in his creative venture.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, December 28, 2012 Read - Luke 1:57-66 The announcement of the birth of John the Baptist to his father, Zechariah, sounded a lot like the announcement of the birth of Jesus to Mary. The stories are parallel to one another. The one great difference is in the response of the hearer. Mary’s response was one of pure faith – she trusts God and is willing to do whatever God is asking of her. Zechariah doubts God and the result of his doubt is that he is made mute until the birth of the child he does not think will come. Is this punishment for Zechariah? Maybe, but it also could simply be the giving of a sign to him that the birth of this child is really special. He needed a sign and God gave him one. Without the sign Zechariah’s doubt may have persisted. With the sign he knows that God keeps his word. Perhaps it is better to think of his being mute as something of a gift rather than a punishment. Maybe God treats us that way at times too. We need wisdom to receive the gifts God gives.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, December 27, 2012 Read - Luke 1:5-25 Beginnings and endings are important! All of the gospel writers made a choice about how they would begin their stories. Mark chose to begin with a very dramatic and powerful story of the baptism of Jesus when the heavens were ripped open, the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus, and God was “on the loose” in the world. Matthew chose to begin with the genealogy of Jesus to anchor Jesus into the Old Testament story. As I mention earlier, Luke decided to begin by telling the story of the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus following the template he found in the Old Testament in the story of the birth of Samuel. Luke places two pictures, one on either side of the picture of the birth of Samuel he found in the Old Testament. He did that so that we would compare and contrast these birth stories with one another. There is much they share in common. First of all there is something unusual about the mothers – Hannah and Elizabeth are barren, in contrast Mary has no husband – yet each will give birth to a special child. Hannah and Elizabeth share the fate of other important mothers in the story – Sarah, Rachel, the mother of Samson, all of whom were barren. God needs to overcome this barrenness and does! The men in the story are not viewed in the most positive light – at least not Elkanah and Zechariah (Joseph really has no role other than to be the one to whom Mary is engaged). The fathers of Samuel and John are priests who go to serve at the temple. In contrast Joseph is a carpenter, yet he will be diligent to bring the baby Jesus to the temple following his birth. All of the births are miraculous – Jesus’ birth is the most dramatic since Mary conceives without a man. Songs are sung to announce the births and the songs all sound the same – God is bringing down the mighty and lifting up the lowly! We have gotten ahead of ourselves by looking at the whole story but the point is that Luke chose to begin his gospel in this particular way to place the birth of Jesus in the midst these other two birth stories. He wants us to see them all together.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, December 26, 2012 Read - Luke 1:1-4 We are going to take a step backward now and think a bit about how we might approach our study of the Gospel of Luke. It is important that I share with you some of my own convictions about this gospel and how I intend to approach this study. The first four verses of Luke’s gospel may not seem to be very important. We are tempted to just skip over them and get to the real story. But these four verses are some of the most important verses ever written for those of us who seek to understand all of the gospel – and maybe the whole Bible. What do they tell us? First of all Luke tells us that he is not the first person to attempt to write a gospel. Luke is aware of others who have come before him in this endeavor. Why is that important? It is important because Luke tells us that he has other sources that he is using in the writing of his gospel. By telling us this Luke is confessing that his is not an original story – he is dependent upon others – but he is also telling us that he thinks some things need to be changed, added to, or subtracted from his sources – why else would Luke write his own gospel if he was satisfied with what he received? Luke also tells us that there were eye witnesses who stand behind the story. Luke is not one of them – and it is likely that all of his sources do not represent eye witness accounts either – more about that later. Finally, Luke tells us that his attempt is to tell the truth. So from this picture we can imagine Luke sitting down with the writings of others and attempting to construct an orderly account for his readers that proclaims the gospel to them. What might those sources have been? Anyone who has read the gospels for any length of time cannot help but notice that Matthew, Mark, and Luke sound a lot alike. In a previous congregation I had encouraged families to read through the New Testament during Lent. One mother told me that her little son protested one day as they were listening to Luke, “Mommy, can’t we just fast forward through this part, we’ve already heard it twice before.” He had been paying attention – listening to Matthew and then to Mark and by the time he got to Luke he thought he didn’t need to hear it again. What we discover is that both Luke and Matthew use almost all of Mark – in fact at least 95% of Mark is in one or the other of these two gospels and most often in both! So it is very likely that Mark was one of the sources for Luke – as he was for Matthew. What we also discover is that there are passages in both Luke and Matthew that are not in Mark. How might we explain that? It is likely that a second source for Luke as a document he shared with Matthew. That document no longer exists on its own – and we should rightfully say that while we can be quite sure that Mark is a source this second document is a matter of speculation and cannot be demonstrated as conclusively. I think this second source did exist and will proceed from that conviction – it’s the best explanation I know for why Luke and Matthew share some passage not found in Mark. There were likely some other sources, probably only short stories that Luke had gathered. And finally Luke is a creative writer on his own and likely constructed at least part of the story with the purpose of proclaiming his gospel. We need to back up one more step and talk about Mark as one of Luke’s sources. It is most likely that Mark was the first person to attempt to write a gospel. He had no models to go by. Mark only had a whole bunch of stories about Jesus and it was up to Mark to give them the order that he did. It is my conviction that the “storyline” of Mark’s gospel is Mark’s creation and does not necessarily represent the order in which things “really happened” except in a very general sense – the call of disciples logically comes early and the crucifixion and resurrection logically come at the end. In between Mark is responsible for the ordering of things. And Mark ordered them with a very distinct purpose. I have written a great deal about Mark previously and if you haven’t read it and are interested I can provide it to you. What becomes apparent once we understand Mark in this way is that Luke chose, for the most part to simply follow Mark’s ordering of things – we will notice that he does make some changes and the making of those changes is important but in general Luke was satisfied with Mark’s order. As far as the second source shared with Matthew is concerned it is harder to get a handle on what that source may have been like. A quick observation is that this second source appears to have been mostly the sayings of Jesus and was less about telling the events in the life of Jesus. Since we do not have this second source it is impossible to determine the original order but it is also less important since it is not events that make up this source but sayings. Luke an Matthew treat Mark a lot alike –not changing Mark’s order a great deal but they do use their second source in much more diverse ways – Matthew tends to gather things together in blocks and Luke tends to disperse things throughout the rest of the story. One last thing is important to be said about Luke and all the other gospel writers as well as the writers of the whole Bible. All of the writers were more concerned about evangelism and theology than they were about history. That is not to say that these writings do not tell history accurately – but it does mean that at times theology or evangelism trumps history. And it does mean that the writers were likely far less interested in historical accuracy that we are – that is a characteristic of our age where we have come to understand truth mostly in terms of facts. I am very thankful that Luke chose to write the first four verses of his gospel! Those verses help us to approach the Bible with both a better understanding of how the writers may have proceeded and to be struck by the genius of their enterprise. Mark, Luke, and all the other writers were simply brilliant! We need to give them credit for their effort and we do that best by letting them be responsible for what they have written. If we think of them simply as vessels through which the Holy Spirit did all the creating we steal from them their importance and their creative genius. If we understand that they, as human beings, stand behind what they have written, shaping it for their purposes, then we can appreciate their message. God worked through them – that’s what the inspiration of scripture means. God speaks today through their creations – that too is the inspiration of scripture. But, unless we are willing to allow the reality of human hands in the work we are likely to be led off course. So, we are going to listen to Luke’s gospel in light of what Luke has done with Mark and in light of his connections to what he shares with Matthew and finally in light of what he contributes on his own. We are in for a fascinating journey with Luke, this author God used to proclaim the gospel of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, December 25, 2012 Read – Luke 2:8-20 The story we know so well continues. Who will announce the birth of the Son of God? One might expect the announcement to come from a more substantial representative than the shepherds. But they are the ones that God chooses. Shepherds were not held in high regard by anyone in Israel at that time. Shepherds were outcasts. And the announcement to them fits well with the Song of Mary sung earlier and with the song Hannah in 1Samuel. The announcement is made by an angel who is joined by a multitude of angels who announce God’s good news. Angels were really only messengers from God. We need not think of them as being clothed in white or even as flying in the heavens. Most angels in the Bible apparently looked like ordinary human beings. Sometimes they are mistaken at least for a time as being ordinary human beings. Such may well have been the case here too. The shepherds are given a sign – they will find a baby wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. The wonder of the story is that the shepherds heed the directions of the angels. And their journey is rewarded – the find Mary and Joseph and Jesus, just as the angel had told them. They leave praising God and as far as the story goes they tell no one. Luke ends the story by telling us that Mary pondered everything in her heart. The announcement has been made to us too. And like the shepherds we come to see and we leave rejoicing. It will take other writers to fill in the whole picture for us. Luke has done his part. John will give us the theological explanation for it all – “the Word became flesh and lived among us” – God has entered into God’s creation in Jesus. Christmas is a time for us to simply marvel in the wonder of God – the amazement of God’s grace. There will be time tomorrow and the next day to contemplate the meaning of it all.

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Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, December 24, 2012 Read – Luke 2:1-7 The Christmas story is probably the best known story in the Bible for Christians. And what a great story it is. We’re going to hear half of it today and half tomorrow. The setting of the story is marvelous. Mention is made of Caesar Augustus – the most powerful man in the whole world! He has the power to order people around and they obey. Little did Caesar Augustus know that one far more powerful than he was coming into the world! As far as anyone else could see Mary and Joseph are simply caught up in the workings of this world. But something far grander is unfolding. It was important that Jesus is born in Bethlehem, the city of David his ancestor, so that is where God brings these two travelers. Did Mary and Joseph hope to make this journey and return home before their baby was delivered? Who knows, but that is not what happened. There in Bethlehem the time came for her to give birth. In Luke’s mind he sees the coming of the Son of God into the most humble of circumstances. Mary and Joseph find refuge in a cave where sheep are kept. Was it because the people of Bethlehem were so unfriendly? Not necessarily. It is the great contrast between people like Caesar Augustus and Jesus that Luke wants to stress. That’s because this one who is born in Bethlehem is far more important than any Caesar.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, December 23, 2012 Read – Luke 1:26-56 Our Bible readings move now to the Gospel of Luke. I’ll say more by way of introduction to Luke in a few days but it is important in our Advent preparation that we jump ahead just a bit in Luke’s story to hear the announcement to Mary of the coming birth of Jesus. The first thing we need to notice is that in his telling of the story, Luke reaches back to a story that should be at least a bit familiar to us – the story of the birth of Samuel. That story, in the first chapters of the book of 1 Samuel, form a template upon which Luke tells his story of the birth of both John the Baptist and of Jesus. Luke wants us to be thinking about that Old Testament story. In today’s reading we hear of the coming of the angel Gabriel to Mary. Mary is a young woman who is engaged to Joseph. We need to remember that in those days marriages were arranged by a woman’s father. That arrangement usually took place when a woman was quite young so Mary was likely a teenager. Can you imagine such a woman being encountered by an angel? As we have listened to the Old Testament story and as we contemplate the story of the birth of Samuel we remember that several Old Testament women were barren. That is not Mary’s problem – but the pattern is worth thinking about. God’s word to Mary is that she has been chosen to be the mother of one who will be called the Son of God. This child will not be the product of the union of a man and a woman but will the result of the Holy Spirit’s action. The child within her will bear her humanity and yet will bear the very reality of God. It is no wonder that Mary asks how this can be. Her question is really an understatement! The wonder is in Mary’s response – “Let it be as you have said!” Mary is a model of faith for us to follow. Mary’s song matches the song of Hannah in the book of 1 Samuel. God is up to something in the birth of this child. And for those who are powerful and well off the message is as least somewhat threatening. The coming of this child will mean the coming of God’s reign – not the reign of the high and mighty of this world. Isn’t it somewhat strange that our world entices us to seek for power and wealth? We are now two days from celebrating Christmas. We can hardly wait. In fact, many of us will experience tomorrow as Christmas even though it remains technically a day in advance. That’s okay – celebrating this grand day needs more than one day to experience. So, may Christmas Eve be both a day of anticipation and a day of celebration for you.

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Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, December 22, 2012 Read – Malachi 3 & 4 As we have been listening to the Old Testament story of God and God’s people, we have noted the appearance of the prophets within the context of that history. The prophet Malachi is a difficult prophet to place historically. In fact, Malachi might not even be the name of this prophet since Malachi means “messenger”. I guess it really doesn’t matter when this “messenger” spoke. Clearly, Malachi was longing for the coming of God’s Messiah! We begin with chapter 3 where Malachi envisions the coming of God to his people. It is a somewhat frightful message that Malachi brings. The one who comes will cause people to wonder who can stand at his appearing. And the one who comes will bring cleansing to those who receive him. We are waiting for Christmas to come – it is just a few days away now – but are we waiting with the right attitude? Is there at least the hint of awe in our waiting? I hope so. We should note that when he began his gospel Mark began by quoting these words of Malachi and adding to them the words of Isaiah 40. As Mark contemplated just how he might begin his story of Jesus he thought of this one who long before had longed with some degree of fear the coming of God’s Messiah. It was an appropriate beginning for Mark. But Mark may well have had the words at the end of Malachi in mind as well. There we hear Malachi proclaim that before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, God will sent Elijah to prepare the way. Mark saw that coming of Elijah in the work of John the Baptist who came to prepare the way for Jesus. It was John the Baptist who would baptize Jesus. It was John the Baptist who would be the forerunner of Jesus. The longing of Malachi came to pass in the birth of Jesus. As we get ready for the celebration of Christmas we reflect on Malachi’s longing – and on all of the Old Testament people of God.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, December 21, 2012 Read – Jeremiah 30 & 31 The book of Jeremiah is mostly a book about judgment. What a difficult task Jeremiah was given by God! What a difficult time to be alive! Spending some time listening to the sorrowful compassion of Jeremiah would be well worth our time. Not often does Jeremiah break forth into words of hope. The two chapters we are reading today are one of those places. Out of the pain and sorrow of judgment comes the promise of a new beginning. Out of the brokenness of an old covenant comes the promise of a new covenant. As you spend the next few days preparing for the celebration of Christmas, take time to contemplate the new possibility that God promises for you and for others in the gift of Jesus.