Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

Christmas Day/Eve - Years A, B, C

You! Remind GD!
You! Give GD no rest!
You! Prepare for a place of peace to be established!
You! Build up! Build up!
You! Build righteousness!
You! Build justice!
You! You know ... go ahead!

So shepherds in the fields abiding, far from respectability, honor, wealth, or power have this mercy offered—a light, a song, a sign, a witness. Wise shepherds that they be, they look and listen and come and go.

This is a model of being a Christ-bearer—a Christopher Christmas, if you will. It is so valuable that Jesus models himself after shepherds.

- - - - - - -

what we treasure most
we shine with pondering
turning it this way
and that

through this pondering
a treasure outgrows our grasp
loosing it here
and there

humble words stir up
remembrances of holy experience come
root words ground
expectations of holy boldness to come

fearless news
joyful people

let’s go, shepherds, peace is promised
let’s ponder, with Mary, peace
let’s return, shepherds, with a song of peace on earth
let’s treasure, with Mary, a favoring of peace for all

As found in Wrestling Year A: Connecting Sunday Readings with Lived Experience

You! Remind G*D!
You! Give G*D no rest!
You! Prepare for a place of peace to be established!
You! Build up! Build up!
You! Build righteousness!
You! Build justice!
You! You know . . . go ahead!

G*D, reminded of G*D's own intention, awakens to a response of goodness and loving kindness in the face of every stimuli clamoring for judgment and punishment. G*D's salvation is not based on our behavior, but G*D's mercy.

So shepherds in the fields abiding, far from respectability, honor, wealth, or power have this mercy offered - a light, a song, a sign, a witness. Wise shepherds that they be, they look and listen and come and go.

This is a valuable pattern, yet. This is a model of being a Christ-bearer - a Christopher Christmas, if you will. It is so valuable that Jesus models himself after shepherds. More than the Magi, the shepherds call Jesus to his calling.

- - -

what we treasure most
we shine with pondering
turning it this way
and that

through this pondering
a treasure outgrows our grasp
loosing it here
and there

humble words stir up
remembrances of holy experience come
root words ground
expectations of holy boldness to come

fearless news
joyful people

let's go, shepherds, peace is promised
let's ponder, with Mary, peace
let's return, shepherds, with a song of peace on earth
let's treasure, with Mary, the favoring of peace for all

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

Peace is established with justice (beyond law) and righteousness (beyond hospitality). Zeal beyond our usual limits of engagement leads to good deeds beyond economic gain (no, not just that of monetary gain, but any transaction beyond an expected benefit).

When we have seen the truly unforgivable forgiven we burst forth with more and more forgiveness for smaller and smaller infractions, for our own infractions as well as those of others, until premeditated mercy becomes our standard.

When we have seen humble swaddling clothes enrobing small holiness, we are glorified and begin to see wholeness in larger universals as well as particulars. Our living praise echoes, "All will be well, all manner of things will be well - and we will begin that wellness where we are."

Peace with justice and righteousness is worth treasuring.

- - -

what inner child
yet burns bloody clothes
what standing tree
yet sings for joy
what shining star
yet calms fears

what newborn
is not born in blood
what awen
is not threatened by clear cutting
what polaris
is not left behind as our axis torques

let a decree go out -
peace is birthed
in justice for all
and righteousness bright

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

Whether we look at the presence of Jesus Christ as being grounded in the nastiest of political/military situations or the grandest of creation settings, there is a basic mystery to be encountered -- the reality of glory among us, of stars and shepherds, of angels singing peace to all and Baptist John announcing light for all, of going ahead anyway, whether in an untenable geopolitical setting or a family that refuses to see who you are.

We again wait for the surprise of life being filled with more than that for which we can account. It may come on the eve or the morning of our next day. It may not. To be sure of one or the other takes us out of the arena of surprise and mystery. May we find ourselves alert to the possibility of surprise and open to receive it, however it may show itself, without forcing it to come on our terms or otherwise discount or miss it.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/december2005.html

Christmas Eve Day comes as a witness to testify to the light. On this night there will be larger crowds in churches than tomorrow morning. So what light is being testified to? It apparently isn't regular, congregational worship. Might it be spectacle that is being looked to? Something creation-wide, huge? Completed?

If this something is to be recognizable, does it have to be on our scale, lived among us? Is that what a child is about, filled with all the expectations of the generations and the parents that this will be the one to do what we have not yet been able to do? And yet we carefully teach each little one to expect to be perfect but to do so within the limitations of our fears, and so not to be able to make a difference. It is amazing that any progress is made unless this is somehow tied up with such a fragile thing as light not being overcome by darkness.

Witnesses are needed because when we go to look for the announced difference-maker (in some manger hereabout) one hardly knows where to begin to look, particularly if an on-again, off-again star is not your guide, just some song. Were the shepherds ready to give up when they finally found Joseph and Mary or did they have beginners luck and stumble upon them right away? Was there a relative among the shepherds (another descendant of David's) who had the skinny, the low-down, the right data base to search?

John calls out, the angels call out, the shepherds call out, the manger calls out, the light of creation calls out, but we still need to journey to find. May this Christmas Eve set your journey aright and energize you to hear, "Peace to all" and know that "all" means "all". May this Christmas Eve be treasured in your heart and see you through the trials of this next year. May this Christmas Eve help you return to your usual life, rejoicing, glorifying and praising for all you have experienced and been opened to new experiences.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/december2005.html

Let's hear it for all the third-shifters on Christmas Eve, or any eve. When the usual day is over and the sky is safe for angel singers the late-night workers have the opportunity for a waking dream and being able to respond to it right away.

Imagine all the third shift workers catching a vision of peace for themselves and all that is so compelling that they walk away from their responsibilities and band-aiding and production. What a night that would be.

Some would see in this only disaster - the sheep would be open to attack, patients would finally be allowed to die, a protective shield against the consequences of inattention would go down, irresponsibility would reign.

Some would see in this only the breaking in of a new world we have held at bay because of our anxiety regarding power and control, hope would reign.

Some would see a combination that leant in one direction or the other.

Wouldn't it be a wonder, though, if we paid more attention to amazement and less to obligation. Yep, pretty chaotic. Would you be afraid someone would take advantage of the situation to get an illicit gain? Would you be glad to have such an amazing moment even if you had to ponder over it for the rest of your born days?

Christmas Eve - we are almost there and just can't wait so we celebrate now. Apparently four weeks of Advent was too much. Waiting one more eve for the next morning is too much waiting.

Christmas Eve - and it was evening and morning the eighth day. Celebrate early and often.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/december2004.html

Well, this is the day of the night for light to dawn. Do you think the shepherds had any inkling of what was coming? Had they passed a street-corner preacher anticipating this with such specificity (and, if they had, would they have paid any more attention than to the last umpteen specific pronouncements that had come and gone to no effect)? Do you think they routinely asked what would make this night different from all other nights?

They had no clue. You and I have no clue about tonight. Will it be another pageant that cutifies a sanctuary? Will the light-bulb go on for an individual or a congregation about what it means to enter people's lives through such an everyday event as a birth and lead them to welcome all on a similar basis? Will we get our last payment in to keep our heavenly insurance going for another year? Will we band together, unionize, leave our securities and responsibilities to find a life larger than either of those basic goods? Will we shed a sentimental tear? Will we tell what we have experienced? Will we open presents? Will we wrap a present for someone unthought of before this time?

We have no clue about tonight. Perhaps we might start a nightly ritual:
1) review how the day has gone
2) identify the blessings it held and plan to build on them
3) ask what would make this night different from all other nights
4) be ready to follow where the music of the night leads
5) sleep with a satisfied mind and a joy of anticipation

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/december2004.html

Kings don't want a sign that will confirm there is a change a-comin'. Change is always dangerous to their position.

Shepherds don't want a sign that will confirm there is a change a-comin'. Change means a big risk.

Those in power don't want to lose any authority. Those out of power fear being even lower on the authority scale. Signs are difficult for everyone for they require a response. Better if a sign is not asked for nor recognized.

This night we remember the Shepherd part of the equation. A sign of the Messiah come to reorganize our specific culture and those of everyone else has become a given. Unasked, in its own time, within a context acknowledged to be far from a healthy, a sign is given - a baby is born. Thankfully it was born in a manger which is far easier to track down than a baby born in a household - mangers are something shepherds know about.

Fast forward to the Shepherds actually checking out an unasked for sign. Who all do you envision being in the manger? Mary, yes. Joseph, yes. Anyone else? So when the Shepherds saw a swaddled baby in a manger and made known the stimulus for their coming to look, and Mary treasured their words - who all heard their testimony? We often fantasize about the Shepherds going door to door to tell folks about what they had heard and seen, but probably not.

They talked with Mary and Joseph and returned to shepherding, filled with glory and praise. Again, we often fantasize about their composing songs of thanksgiving. What is your experience of being filled with glory and praise? Hopefully it will have something to do with proceeding to live the next stage of your life differently than you have done up to this time. I envision the Shepherds expressing their glory and praise by forming a Shepherd's Union and beginning a Jubilee process from a labor base.

May your sign, your checking it out, your witnessing to it, your calling, all be engaged in transforming the present into the presence of G*D come on earth as it is in heaven.

May what ordinary signs you hear and see this day awaken you to new hope, new options, new commitment.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-eve.html

It doesn't matter if there was actually a census or not. An intent to register in order to dominate is sufficient. This was the state of the world - regimented. Was?

Into this legalization comes a child (coming through its mother's line - read Sarah the Priestess: The First Matriarch of Genesis by Savina Teubal and extrapolate from there) a-lying in a manger. This swaddled child of a matriarch is a sign of a new way of doing business. From this generalized description of a child and a manger there is heard a far off hymn of new creation come close enough to make out the words, "Glory . . . Peace." [Luke]

Of course our tendency is to take this antiestablishmentarianism of a manger child capable of throwing a wrench into the gears of registrations and to turn it into the opposite of what we have experienced. Hooray, I get to be in charge. And, of course, that will bring with it grand titles and an assumption of knowing what is just and righteous. How many times has that turned sour on us. [Isaiah]

If we don't take that direct approach to overthrowing the regimenters, we sit back and sing a song of an active God - great and greatly to be praised. It won't be long before the pie in the sky sets everything right and treats everyone fairly. Keep singing those carols. [Psalm]

And didn't you just know the catch to all this is blood atonement. G*D's readiness to give and forgive demands sacrifice. A simple baby in a manger must become God and Savior and dead before being effective. [Titus]

Perhaps we simply need to go back to a baby, any baby. It is urge to birth that brings the light back, a return of complex justice, a continually new song, and giving and forgiving. Look behind an aborted, a stillborn, a genetically compromised, a socially untenable, a healthy birth - any - each is a sign to us in the darkness - fecundity pushes onward. Now we can even claim our birth and the weird way our journey has been woven as a sign in the darkness. May we release the Glory within to become the Peace around and about.

The angels have returned from whence they came, leaving you and me, baby signs. Ready, set, go!

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-eve.html

Decrees go out all the time. Communal politics enters personal politics and vice versa.

Everyone is registered somewhere because that is the nature of our lives. The registration may be something we thrive in or not.

Here we hear of an angelic messenger announcing a birth. If we only had the ears to hear, we would hear such an announcement at every birth. It is our willful disregard of the value of each person, both at birth and long afterward, that grows out of past communal decisions and keeps them rolling past their time. Eventually this shows up as one inequity or another.

May we have the courage of our ancestors, including Mary and Joseph and guardians of the flock. May we have the wisdom of our descendants.

These are gifts given to us, far more significant than gold, etc., and we can only wonder at how often they are ignored while in plain sight.

When such gifts are acknowledged, peace beyond favoritism is present.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/12/luke-21-20.html

Christmas Eve: Luke 2:1-20
Christmas Day: John 1:1-18

In those days the word was with G*D/Emperor Augustus.
All the world should be acknowledged as G*D’s/registered as Augustus’.
Joseph/John/Shepherds were sent as facilitator/witness/announcer of a new Word.

In these days we are still caught between Love and Power.
Many claims are made upon us and in our name.
A choice remains about facilitating, witnessing to, and announcing the best we know.

Choose well this night, this day.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/12/luke21-20-john-11-18.html

A context for the articles of our faith is the political situation of the day. Of course there is consistency of cycles of politics over time, but G*D is always connected with history. An ahistorical, eternal-in-the-heavens G*D is political rhetoric for power. Those who control the future control the present (as well as those who control the past, control the present).

For both the futurists and traditionalists among us, pay attention to power issues of the day. If it is as pervasive as the Roman rule of Palestine/Israel, it will be important to find an out-of-the-way place to begin your prophecy or it will come to naught. It wouldn't hurt to also pay attention to the limits of your vision or your remembrance and to be a bit humble about it.

Later on your humility may be remembered as a virtue even though it is simply a practical matter for now.

For those who need one more prod to invest in our book of comments on Year A, here is another sample.

- - -

You! Remind G*D!
You! Give G*D no rest!
You! Prepare for a place of peace to be established!
You! Build up! Build up!
You! Build righteousness!
You! Build justice!
You! You know ... go ahead!

So shepherds in the fields abiding, far from respectability, honor, wealth, or power have this mercy offered—a light, a song, a sign, a witness. Wise shepherds that they be, they look and listen and come and go.
This is a model of being a Christ-bearer—a Christopher Christmas, if you will. It is so valuable that Jesus models himself after shepherds.

what we treasure most
we shine with pondering
turning it this way
and that

through this pondering
a treasure outgrows our grasp
loosing it here
and there

humble words stir up
remembrances of holy experience come
root words ground
expectations of holy boldness to come

fearless news
joyful people

let’s go, shepherds, peace is promised
let’s ponder, with Mary, peace
let’s return, shepherds, with a song of peace on earth
let’s treasure, with Mary, a favoring of peace for all

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2013/12/luke-21-20.html