December 26, 2025

Twelve days to Bethlehem…

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day..” (Genesis 1.31)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

I realized this morning that I have not made the “Twelve Days of Christmas Reflections” available on this site. I went to open that page and it was not there. As it is the “first day of Christmas,” I will endeavor to do so because the better we understand the heart and soul of that Christmas song, the more we understand the second journey to Bethlehem. Yes, there were two journeys to Bethlehem (okay, let’s say there were three including the one Mary and Joseph took to get them from Nazareth in the far north of Galilee). As some of you have read my recent reflections on the Jerusalem exiles based on the work of Jeremiah, you would be familiar with my identification of those people as both “foreign and domestic.” Once the bulk of leadership and their families were carried away to Babylon, those who were “left behind” found themselves in exile as well. What they had once known as Israel and Jerusalem no longer really existed. The city walls had been destroyed. The Temple was ransacked and all objects used for worship were carried away as looted treasure. What was not taken is what was not found- the Ark of the Covenant. However, this meant that the Holy of Holies was also desecrated. Where was God in all of this? From Ezekiel we know that “Immanuel,” God with us, had removed His presence from the Temple and from Jerusalem to be established on a far hill. There it would remain until which time the people and the nation was restored. We hear of that restoration in the works of Ezra and Nehemiah who had been commissioned by the Babylonian/Persian king to rebuild the city and the Temple. Yes, the intention was to keep Israel as an “indebted” servant. It was God’s intention to “set the captives free.” When the work was done, the Temple was rededicated. It represented a new beginning like the first day after the first man and woman were created. What day was that? It was a Sabbath day, of course.

God said, “Six days shall you work, but on the seventh you shall rest from all your labors for it is holy day set aside for the Lord.” (Exodus 20.8-11 as the third of ten command definitions of righteous living given by God to Israel.) Imagine, if you will, that on the morning after the first holy couple were brought into being the first order of business was not work but worship. The “next day” was the seventh day which God called Sabbath. In the Ten Commands given to Moses to assist his leadership of this new nation recently freed from exile in Egypt with eleven (11; consider ten plagues plus the parting of the Red Sea) command performances, the third declares, “Honor the Sabbath.” Education and brain specialists tell us that we remember first what we heard last. The creation of life was not finished with the image-making of “male and female.” That was at the close of the sixth day. It was by design that God created the seventh day. It was established not for the nurture of the earth directly. That nurture would be a by-product of a healthy relationship between humanity and God. Thus, the sabbath was created for the nurture of our spiritual relationship and health. Honoring the sabbath builds up from the inside and establishes that clear line of communication with the source of all living. And while today is not the “seventh day,” it is the morning after we celebrate the creation of new life whose sole/soul purpose is to nurture and establish the spiritual relationship and health of all God’s people. It becomes the reality of those who then decide to honor such a gift by becoming “the people of God.”

So (and I will repost my “Twelve Days of Christmas” reflection), as the catechism, or teaching, of the church that we learned as a song leads us, “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…a partridge in a pear tree.” Simply instructed, we first are taught that our “true love” is none other than God. Thus, we are invited to remember the “gospel in miniature” which says “For God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” It is not just the season of Christmas but the spirit of Christmas which lies at the heart of our everyday existence. We have been given hope and sustainability by God with the gift of the only One who can truly save us from an eternal existence in darkness. He is the light of the world that overcomes the darkness. He is “the partridge” in the teaching. He is not alone, however. He is associated with “a pear tree.” That tree is durable and sustaining as well. But, its image becomes a reflection on the path of our salvation which is the cross. Without the ultimate sacrifice there is no true gift. It is only a hint. With the ultimate sacrifice, the true gift, which is eternal life in peace and joy and happiness, is not only made known but is made real. So, on this “first day of Christmas,” let us remember to give thanks not only to the “author of this feast called life,” but to treasure the gift of life which has been given by sharing it with others as the good news of a great joy which is for all people. God bless every one of us.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.