Christmas Day

 


Merry Christmas everyone! Today’s readings gave me pause because they are not what would first come to mind for Christmas Day: no nativity or wisemen or shepherds.  And I found a wonderful gift tucked away in the Psalm for today.  As I read and reread Psalm 89 my heart kept returning to the Magnificat, to Mary’s song. The first verse of the Psalm declares, I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever; with my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations. And then it weaves its way through a litany of the powerful acts of a faithful God, keeping His covenant from one generation to the next and showing favour to His people: by Your favour our horn is exalted. 

In her Magnificat, Mary begins by singing My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour… for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and then she too gives a litany of the strong actions of a faithful God on behalf of His people. 
 
This resonance between the two passages made me wonder if there is an invitation for us as a community to sing our own magnificat, to write our own songs of the faithfulness of God in our lives. In contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation we encounter something that Christian writers have called mysterium tremendum - a sense of fear and trembling, awe and wonder, like Mary responding to Gabriel, and the shepherds encountering the angels. 
 
The beautiful thing about the church calendar is that in the Feast of Christmas we are invited to spend twelve more days contemplating and celebrating this mystery. That might even be enough time to write a song or a poem!

In Eugene Peterson’s Message translation, Psalm 89 offers us a template for how we might respond to the God who came to us in Jesus:

Your love, God, is my song,
and I’ll sing it!
I’m forever telling everyone
how faithful you are.
I’ll never quit telling
the story of Your love.
Your vibrant beauty
has gotten inside us.
You’ve been so good to us!
We’re walking on air!

What story might your own magnificat tell? How has faithful love come to you this year? How has the vibrant beauty of Jesus gotten inside your life? 
 
Part of our family’s Christmas tradition has been to watch The Muppets’ Christmas Carol. My favourite part is when the Ghost of Christmas Present (a jolly giant, whose head is crowned with a wreath made of fruit) leans down to Scrooge and shouts, Ho, Ho, Ho, come in and know me better man! as he invites him into a room that is filled with tables piled high with food and drink. A Christmas Feast. Perhaps we can hear the echoes of such a joyful invitation in the twelve days stretching before us.
 
Wanda Kopp 

Your Love is My Song  The Porter's Gate & Taylor Leonhardt 
feat. Page CXVI & Tina Colón Williams

 

 

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