This is the fourth part of our four part Lessons and Carols service from Dec. 31 at St. Stephen’s UMC. If you’ve been reading along for the last few days, I hope these retellings have made you think a little bit, and have been fun. If you’re just tuning in now and wondering what in the world I’m talking about, the introduction is in a gray box just like this one on the first post. This one references Matthew 2:1-18.

Now since Jesus had been born in Bethlehem, a group of very wise men from out towards Persia who knew the stars showed up at King Herod’s asking him about the newborn king.

Herod, being both out-of-the-loop and a very jealous man, was deeply concerned. And his council of clergymen and scholars was troubled with him — they were the sort of clergymen and scholars who tended to feel exactly how the king wanted them to.

But he asked the scribes and clergymen where it was the Christ child was supposed to be born, and they told him, “Bethlehem, of course! It’s the City of David. Because, as the prophets said,

‘No matter what anybody says Bethlehem, you’re really not so bad. Because out of you will come a leader who will shepherd all God’s people.’”

But Herod pulled these Magi aside and really grilled then about when and how a star appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, and he told them, “Once you find this kid, swing back by my palace and give me his address. Because I want to ki..I mean, pay him homage, too.”

After the lengthy conversation with Herod, the wise men went on their way, and they followed that star they’d seen in the East until they were right in the spot where Jesus and his parents were staying. They were so excited, because the stars had literally aligned for them.

They were so excited that they threw Jesus a party, with much rejoicing and festivities and honor. Oh, and presents. They also gave the child lots of presents.

After this party, the group said their goodbyes. But they went home a way that did not take them by Herod’s place, because God told them in a dream to steer clear of there, and also because that guy gave them the creeps.

Once everybody had left, Joseph was visited by one of God’s angels. That angel told Joseph to get up, get moving, and take your family out of the country, go all the way to Egypt. Because Herod is mad and he’s not at all afraid to shed blood.

So Joseph got up, packed up, and in the middle of the night the Holy Family took off into Egypt as refugees from a dangerous ruler. They stayed in Egypt until Herod had died. In addition to keeping Jesus alive, this fulfilled the prophecy that God would call his son out of Egypt.

I cannot emphasize enough that Herod was a bad dude. Once he learned that the wise men had slighted him, he flew into a blind rage. He had every male child under two in the greater Bethlehem area slaughtered. The devastated families were reminded of the prophecy of old,

A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and much grieving.

Rachel weeping for her children,

and she did not want to be comforted,

because they were no more.

This is the 3rd of 4 parts from our Lessons and Carols service at St. Stephen’s UMC on Dec. 31, 2017. For more information about why they’re being posted like this or what in the world they are, check the first post. Hope you find it an engaging way to hear the story of Jesus!

So here’s how it all happened: You see, Mary was engaged to Joseph. Things were going along in the normal way, but then something happened. Mary got pregnant. But this was not an ordinary pregnancy. Mary became pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Joseph was an honest man and a really good guy, but I wouldn’t say he was thrilled with this new arrangement. If he had wanted to, he could have had Mary put to death. But, like I said, he was an honest and good man, so he started working on arrangements to end their engagement quietly. In his defense, that was a pretty reasonable response to the situation, what with nobody in history ever having been conceived by the Holy Spirit.

But then another incredible thing happened, and Joseph saw an angel, who explained the situation. The Angel explained that, yes, really and truly, Mary would bear a son who would be truly special. The Angel also told him that he was supposed to name this special child Jesus.

This was certainly a lot to take in, but Joseph was up to the task. He raised that boy as his own — it was through Joseph, after all, that Jesus was a part of the line of David — and the world hasn’t been the same since.

This is part 2 of 4 from our Lessons and Carols service at St. Stephen’s UMC from Dec. 31. This one draws from John 1:5-28, Isaiah 9:2, 6-7; 11:1-4, Hosea 11:1, and Zechariah 9:9. For more info on what in the world this is, check out the intro on Wednesday’s post. 

Just before Jesus came into the world, his cousin showed up and started preparing the way. John was his name, and he was truly sent by God. He came to witness to the coming light of the world, the true Messiah, the Word Made Flesh.

Some asked, “Could this man be the Christ?”

But John knew that was not his role in this play.

John knew the words of the prophets of old. Of Isaiah and Micah, Hosea, Zechariah, and more. So he set to work, testifying about a great light that would come into this world.

Because the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light! A child has been born, the Prince of Peace! Wonderful Counselor, everlasting God! The true King!!

The true King will come from the root of Jesse’s tree; and this branch will be the true branch! He will stand up for the voiceless, he will proclaim justice and righteousness to the poor and the outcast. He’ll show the world once and for all what it means to love the true God.

John knew and proclaimed these words. And John did incredible things! So the people asked him if he was sure that he was not the Christ. And he said to them my job is not to be the Lord, but to prepare his way. Prepare the way of the lord! The Lord is coming! Prepare the way!

So the people in charge cornered John.

“What is it that you say you do here?”

“Who do you think you are?”

“If you’re not the one, are you the great prophet?”

John replied,

“I’m nobody from no place. I’m just a messenger. The one who’s coming? I’m not even good enough to untie his sandals. Yeah. He’s that good.

I’ve been out here baptizing people in the river. The Messiah? He’ll baptize with the Holy Spirit!”

“Out of Egypt he has come! And before it’s all done, he’ll ride triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey. The words you’ve heard from the prophets? They’re true. He is who he says he is. He’s the one and only. The holy one. Emmanuel, God-with-us!”

Hello friends!

We had a wonderful service of Lessons and Carols at St. Stephen’s UMC on Dec. 31. We had four readings that I pulled together from the traditional lessons and carols liturgy. But, rather than reading straight from a translation, I pieced them together and reworked them into paraphrases of sorts. A few people asked for them, so I decided that I would throw them up here, one at a time, Wednesday through Saturday. The first one, which is an adaptation of Genesis 1 interspersed with an adaptation of John 1, is below. Check back each day for the rest of them!

Before there was anything else and when the world had no form at all, when it was all a dark and empty wasteland;

The Word was there.

The very spirit of God, the essence of the creator was hovering, ready to begin a new thing;

And the Word was there.

So then, do you know what God did? God said, “let there be light,” and there was light!! God saw that the light was good and God divided up the light times and called those day and the dark times and called those night.

And the light and the Word immediately took a liking to each other.

And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.

So then God got back to work because there was plenty to do. So God said something about expanses and waters and the universe and galaxies and stardust and the universe began to take its shape;

And there was the Word, right with God in the midst of it all.

Then God started arranging and pushing around water and shifting tectonic plates and spewing lava out of volcanoes and land and sea started to take shape;

And God said it was very good, and the Word  never, ever forgot this truth.

So God started empowering the Earth to do incredible things. And out of its own goodness and bounty creation started to create! And there were flowers and trees and grasses and all sorts of things springing up.

And God and the Word continued to fall in Love with what they saw.

So God started coaxing stars and planets in the sky and the light and the dark started to take shape as day and night and there was a moon and there were galaxies and the creating hasn’t ever stopped, even to this day.

And the Word was there, because the Word is so much more than simply with God, the Word is God.

Then the animals started to take shape! Fish in the sea and creatures on the earth, birds in the sky, more than you can count! And God commissioned all these creatures to be fruitful, to flourish and multiply and grow and change and do great things.

And this might surprise you, but the Word delighted in this part, because the word is the Light of Life.

Then God and the Word got to talking, and thinking, and dreaming, and decided to create someone in their own image. Can you imagine? A creature in the very image of God! So humanity was born. And they said, let’s give these humans special powers and abilities and responsibilities, let’s make them responsible for the other creatures and the plants and all of this. It was, and is, a whole lot of power to hand over. But we humans had our call from God, to take special care of this creation.

And the Word immediately fell in love with us.

And God looked out at all of this and said, “this is so, so good!”

 

And the Word knew that this was true. The Word also knew that there would be troubles. But that the darkness would never, ever win.