Month: December 2024

The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all nations [Isaiah 52:10] These words from Isaiah [see Isaiah 52:7-10, the Old Testament reading for Christmas Day, RCL, Year C] originally fell on weary ears. Decades into exile, the people of Judah had heard it all before—promises of restoration, visions of return, declarations that God would act decisively on their behalf. Yet their once-mighty Jerusalem still lay in ruins, its walls crumbled, its temple destroyed. Some blamed themselves, seeing in their exile the fruits of their own rebellion. Others wondered if God had simply abandoned them. Most had probably stopped listening to prophets altogether. Yet here was Isaiah,…

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days [Micah 5:2]. In the 8th century before Christ, as powerful Assyrian armies threatened the southern kingdom of Judah, people looked anxiously for signs of YHWH’s presence and deliverance. Many turned their eyes to Jerusalem, the great city with its magnificent temple, the obvious place to look for divine intervention. After all, wasn’t this where kings ruled and priests offered sacrifices? Wasn’t this where YHWH’s presence dwelt in the Holy of Holies? But…

The LORD has set aside your judgments, removed your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst. You need no longer fear evil. On that day shall it be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion, let not your hands fall slack. The LORD your God is in your midst, a rescuing warrior. He delights over you with glad song [Zephaniah 3:15-16, The Hebrew Bible, tr. by Robert Alter]. Some of you may recall Bette Midler’s 1990 very successful cover of the Nanci Griffith original, “From a Distance.” It reached number one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and number two on the Billboard Hot…

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like washers’ soap; … [Malachi 3:1-2]. In our front hallway hangs a family treasure—a quilt crafted by Jane’s great-grandmother, Bessie Walker, around 1895. Within its carefully preserved squares lie fragments of Jane’s family story: a scrap bearing the name “Mineola,” remembering Bessie’s daughter taken too…