12 days of Christmas - Epiphany

The 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days following Christmas.
Today, Friday, January 5 is the 12th day and Saturday, January 6 is Epiphany.

The origins of Epiphany as a church festival are vague, as is the definition of the word.
“Epiphany” can mean manifestation, revelation, appearance, insight, enlightenment, or a shining forth.
Epiphany begins with the story of the Magi, astrologers, who follow a brilliant star to the place of Jesus’ birth and honour the child with gifts. Upon seeing the baby, they were “overwhelmed with joy,” and fell on their knees.

The wise men awaited a sign in the sky — a star — to guide them on this journey. Revelations break in, light shines forth, and glory appears. Such things are from the realms of mystery, awe, and wonder. They surprise and disrupt the normal course of existence. Epiphanies are not of our making.

But we need to be more than passive recipients of epiphanies. We need to be alert for their appearance and search out the signs of their presence. Revelations can be missed if we aren’t attentive or attuned to the possibilities of sacred surprise.

• What it would be like to expect epiphanies?
  Not just in stars, but in the more normal course of things. 
• What if we “attuned” ourselves to “sacred surprise”?
• Can we be open to the possibility that “aha” moments might happen anywhere and anytime
  Maybe epiphanies — not just the big, dramatic, starry ones — are humbly manifesting themselves all around us in ways we don’t expect, and they hold the promise of insight and deeper understanding in the everyday.
• When the Magi go home and the tree comes down, things return to normal. Or do they?
  The beautiful, unexpected, and even unbelievable story of God-With-Us invites us to a rebirth of imagination. 
• Let us ask ourselves today:
  Are we open to God's surprises?
  Or are we closed and fearful before the newness of the Holy Spirit?
  Do we have the courage to strike out along the new paths which God's newness sets before us, or do we resist, barricaded in structures and systems and ways which have lost their capacity for openness to what is new?

The Magi, of course, were looking for a sign. The Magi were outsiders. Imagine a group of psychics turning up at church on Easter Sunday, saying, “We got a strange reading in the cards, and it brought us here.” But they weren’t content just gazing at the star. They didn’t remain in some distant locale and admire its glory from afar. They got up and followed it to its source. And their journey even involved danger, a treacherous king attempted to use them to manipulate this manifestation for his own evil purposes. They kept going.

We don't create epiphanies, we respond to them.
Epiphanies grab a hold of us.
Epiphanies ask something of us. The star is an invitation, a calling to do something — to act.

One of the Old Testament passages that is often read at Ephiphany are these words from the prophet Isaiah 60:1

Arise, shine; for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

We arise; we shine — glory entices us, woos us, into the light.
We don’t just observe.
Epiphany embraces and enlivens us.

The author and poet Madeleine L’Engle captures the fullest sense of Epiphany in this blessing:

This is my charge to you.

You are to be a light bearer.

You are to choose the light.

Arise. Shine.

strange fruit

 Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit"... lyrics are posted below

"Strange Fruit" began as a poem written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish high-school teacher from the Bronx, about the lynching of two black men. He published under the pen name Lewis Allan. Meeropol and his wife adopted Robert and Michael, sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of espionage and executed by the United States. via Wikipedia

The photo below was the inspiration for the poem

So why did I post this song?

1. It's a beautiful, haunting song.
2. It's a needed reminder that there is still deep-seated racism... and despite our claims otherwise, it exists here in Canada as well.
3. I wonder... are we as the church producing "strange fruit" rather than "peculiar people"? Are we producing stuff [and I think that's an appropriate term] instead of being a missional people?

Just some things to think about?

Strange Fruit lyrics

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

A Magna Carta of Trust by an Out-of-Control Disciple

"A Magna Carta of Trust by an Out-of-Control Disciple"
~Leonard Sweet’s Soul Cafe (March 1996 Vol. 2, No. 1)

I am part of the Church of the Out-of-Control.
I once was a control junkie, but now am an Out-of-Control Disciple.
I’ve given up my control to God.
I trust and obey the Spirit.
I’ve jumped off the fence, I’ve stepped over the line, I’ve pulled out all the stops, I’m holding nothing back.
There’s no turning back, looking around, slowing down, backing away, letting up, or shutting up.
It’s life Against the Odds, Outside the Box, Over the Wall, the game of life played Without Goal Lines other than “Thy Will Be Done…”

I’m done lapdogging for the topdogs, the wonderdogs, the overdogs, or even the underdogs.
I’m done playing According to the Rules, whether it’s Robert’s Rules of Order or Miss Manner’s Rules of Etiquette or Martha Stewart’s Rules of Living or Louis Farrakhan’s Rules of America’s Least Wanted or Merril Lynch’s Money-minding/Bottom-lining/Ladder-climbing Rules of America’s Most Wanted.

I am not here to please the dominant culture or to serve any all-show/no-go bureaucracies.
I live to please my Lord and Savior.
My spiritual taste-buds have graduated from fizz and froth to Fire and Ice.

Sometimes I’m called to sharpen the cutting edge, and sometimes to blunt the cutting edge.
Don’t give me that old-time religion.
Don’t give me that new-time religion.
Give me that all-time religion that’s as hard as rock and as soft as snow.

I’ve stopped trying to make life work, and started trying to make life sing.
I’m finished with second-hand sensations, third-rate dreams, low-risk high-rise trades and goose-stepping, flag-waving crusades.
I no longer live by and for anything but everything God-breathed, Christ-centered, and Spirit-driven.

I can’t be bought by any personalities or perks, positions or prizes.
I won’t give up, though I will give in… to openness of mind, humbleness of heart, and generosity of spirit.
When short-handed and hard-pressed,
I will never again hang in there.
I will stand in there,
I will run in there,
I will pray in there,
I will sacrifice in there,
I will endure in there – in fact, I will do everything in there but hang.
My face is upward, my feet are forward, my eyes are focused, my way is cloudy, my knees are worn, my seat uncreased, my heart burdened, my spirit light, my road narrow, my mission wide.

I won’t be seduced by popularity, traduced by criticism, by hypocrisy, or trivialized by mediocrity.
I am organized religion’s best friend, and worst nightmare.
I won’t back down, slow down, shut down, or let down until I’m preached out, teached out, healed out or hauled out of God’s mission in the world entrusted to members of the Church of the Out-of-Control… to unbind the confined, whether they’re the downtrodden or the upscale, the overlooked or the underrepresented.

My fundamental identity is as a disciple of Jesus – but even more, as a disciple of Jesus who lives in Christ, who doesn’t walk through history simply “in his steps,” but seeks to travel more deeply IN HIS SPIRIT.

Until he comes again or calls me home, you can find me filling not killing time so that one day he will pick me out in the lineup of the ages as one of his own.
And then… it will be worth it all… to hear these words, the most precious words I can ever hear:

“Well done, thou good and faithful… Out-of-Control Disciple.”

2024

“Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky…”
These words from Tennyson’s poem resonate with timeless significance, capturing the essence of saying goodbye to the old year and embracing the possibilities of the new.
Written in 1850, yet so applicable to our day with its rudeness and strife, it is a reminder that the need for the peacemaking presence of “the Christ that is to be” is as relevant as ever.

The fifth stanza says

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

The faithless coldness of the times;

We are called to be faithful in these times, in the midst of all the ugliness.

Here is a version of the poem, set to music by Alana Levandoski, followed by Malcolm Guite reading it.

Ring Out Wild Bells

lyrics by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, music by Alana Levandoski

 

For another version by Alana go here

Here is the poet Malcolm Guite reading Tennyson’s passage about the New Year Bells

Jesus messes things up

 

This is the time of year when we mess up the Gospel. 
I mean it.
We mess up the Gospel because we confuse the Gospel with sentimental mush. 
And no, I am not the Grinch.
We mess up the gospel, because:

• we sing songs that sentimentalize the birth of Jesus; 
• we confuse winter songs with Christmas songs;
• we sing and play a lot of theological nonsense;
• we focus a lot on gifts - both the giving & the receiving;
• we spend a fortune on decorations;
• we eat too much of the wrong types of food;
• we try to pretend that family relationships are fine;
• we volunteer at soup kitchens because it makes us feel good;
• we put on Christmas Cantatas & programmes, thinking this is evangelism;
• we... [you can add in your item]

We do all this stuff & we mess up the Gospel.
You see Jesus was born 

• to mess with religious life, 
• to mess with the messes that fill our lives.

The birth of Jesus was just the beginning (actually it comes somewhere in the middle of the story... but I don't have space to tell that whole story).
John the Baptist quoted the prophet Isaiah about a bulldozer movement:

Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 

Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low.

The crooked roads shall become straight the rough ways smooth.

And all mankind will see God's salvation. 

Luke 3:4-6 quoting Isaiah 40:3-5 NIV 

Jesus announced that his ministry was kingdom ministry, expressed most concisely in the words of the prophet Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 

Luke 4:18-19 quoting Isaiah 61:1-2 NIV

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God has to do with a lot more than what we often focus on around Christmas or even Advent. 

Or can I say it without being accused of heresy, than Lent and Good Friday and Easter. 

I don't minimize, in any way, the reality or the importance of these events for understanding the Incarnation. 

But the Gospel of the Kingdom of God that Jesus came proclaiming, announcing, demonstrating, and establishing is so much bigger than we often think.

Jesus calls us 

• to be the people of God,
• partnering with him
• in his redemptive mission,
• in the world.

Unpacking that, living that out is a full-time job of listening to the Spirit and being obedient. 

That's a lot more and a lot more challenging and fulfilling than some of our Christmas stuff.

I Will Wait

 Mumford & Sons - I Will Wait

an advent song

carol of the bells

 Carol of the Bells on the Hammered Dulcimer performed by DeeDee Tibbits

the times they are a changin'

On my run the other day I was listening to Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'"

The times are changing.

I don't just mean the time change of this weekend.

I don't just mean the seasonal change.

I mean what's happening in our world.

Here are some incomplete thoughts and reflections.

Israel / Gaza / Palestine

With what is happening in Israel / Gaza / Palestine we hear rumours of more and more violence. Killings. Retaliation. 

We hear of Christians who are almost delighted with what is happening. 

They rejoice that Israel is taking back all the land, not caring about the human cost, not caring that every single person killed is a person created by and loved by God, not caring that it is citizens - men, women, children -  not terrorists, who are being killed.

There are some Christians who are looking forward to a rebuilding of the temple - a sure sign that they don't understand the gospel.

It is so sad to hear of pastors calling for & endorsing war. Nations must provide security, but religious leaders giving religious cover in the name of God to slaughter people should make us quake - we will answer to God for every innocent life we give permission to kill.

Does anyone else notice that some Christian "just war" proponents give full support to Israel while Israel violates the principles of just war? Just war theory is appealing to Christians living in Empire, but it's an impossible reality in modern warfare.

Middle East

We should not think there could not be a WWIII

There are new alignments of nations. 

New alliances between China and Russia. North Korea connects with China and Russia.

There are multiple opposing navies in the Mediterranean.

We need calm leaders and Christians & pastors doing all they can to call for peace while confronting evil & the circumstances that promote it.

Saudi Arabia has been awarded the next FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia has a terrible record on human rights, making the previous hosts, Qatar, look positively rosy. Saudi Arabia is actively oppressing and killing people in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia, while trying to act like a go-between in the middle-east conflict, actually is the home to top Hama leaders. 

the rest of the world

In many places in the west - USA, Canada, Britain, and others - anti-democratic leaders are on the rise. Extremism and violence, lying (an old-fashioned word for misinformation) is on the rise. 

AI tools make it easier to spread falsehoods.

The list goes on and on.

The world is a mess.

The world hates those who strive for peace - shalom.

Persecution of those who name the name of Jesus is on the rise, and will increase.

I read from John 15 this morning.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. John 15:9

Israel, Hamas, Gaza, Palentinians

Over the last few days:

• Israel bombed Gaza with more airstrikes. 
• Israeli soldiers fought Hamas militants on the ground in raids within the besieged Palestinian enclave.
• Israeli aircraft also struck southern Lebanon and Syria. 
• Israeli troops fought Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Most observers and commentators suggest much more will happen this week.

• So how do we respond? 
• How do we talk about Israel, Hamas, Gaza, and Palestine? 
• We live in a world where it seems if you say anything that attempts to be even-handed you are condemned. 

The following comments are drawn from a variety of sources and reflections, including my own.

First, we need to be in prayer: 

• in lamenting the grievous deaths and violence; 
• in pleading with God to awaken the desire for shalom, not just a peace-fire; 
• in asking God for each of us to be patient and compassionate as our first step. 

Prayer is a form of activism that does not replace social activism.

Second, talk about justice. 

• Talk about justice for each human on planet earth. 
• Talk justice for all image-bearing humans, Palestinian, Jewish, Muslim, Christian and others.
• Justice, not in the legal sense of Just War Theory or in the sense of international war policies and rules or in the legal rulings of a given nation, but a deeper sense of justice for all.
  Justice for Israel.
  Justice for the Palestinians.
  Justice for Hamas.
  Justice for Hezbollah. 
• Justice is doing what is right. 
• Justice for a Christian is doing what is right in the way of Jesus. 
• Justice is also doing what is right at the time as far as possible.

Third, talk compassion, talk love, talk empathy. 

• Compassion leads us to become educated about the history of the Palestinians, about Israel, about Middle Eastern social tensions, injustices, terrorism, and violence. 
• The simplistic story often heard, namely that the Palestinians and Jews lived in the land together in total peace but 1948 ended all that, requires nuance and correction rather than simplistic political finger-wagging.

Fourth, justice and compassion should prompt a return to the conditions for Jewish persons throughout Europe, to the Holocaust, to the need for people to have the right to rule themselves. 

• Including modern Israelis and modern Palestinians. 
• The conditions for Palestinians are intolerable. 
• The rhetoric of some that they want Israelites or Palestinians, wiped from the face of the earth is intolerable.

So, fifth, talk peace. 

• Talk shalom - flourishing.
• Talk peace-making. 
• Talking toward peace is Christian; war is not. 
• If we talk peace we will avoid taking sides. 
• We will avoid saying “we stand with Israel” when that implies not standing with Palestinians. 
• We will avoid saying “we stand with Palestinians when that means not standing with Israel.” 
• We cannot excuse the violence of terrorists. 
• We need to speak up and out about kidnapping, hostages, and taking prisoners.
• We need to talk about blocking aid and other acts of retaliation.

Sixth, be very careful linking this with prophecy, 

• either in the Old Testament or in the New Testament. 
• for many in North America, a major prophetic event was the rebirth of Israel in 1948, which was understood to be not just miraculous but a fulfilment of the fig tree parable in Matthew 24. The problem was that the fig tree was followed by a prediction that the Lord would return within a generation. 

Many of us in North America were socialized into believing that 1948 fulfilled some special prophecy; 

• many of us never looked into it; 
• many of us have been nurtured in a faith shaped by such a pro-Israel political stance that we can never ponder that Israel is not infallible in its decisions. 
• We need to recognize this orientation, that any alternative view can be disorienting, and that a reorientation takes time. 
• We need a new evangelical culture when it comes to politics.

This needs to be said: 

• every precise fulfilment of some Bible verse (understood as) prophetic prediction so far has been shown not to be a fulfilment. 

To put it more bluntly, the predictors have all been wrong about every prediction so far. 

• Predictors, prophets, apostles, and preachers, need to stop. 
• We need to stop. 
• Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Gorbachev, Putin, the list goes on... none were THE antichrist. None. WWI, WWII, the Six Day War, the oil crisis, you name it, each has been ramped up with apocalyptic expectations and every last one – name them all – has been wrongly connected to the end of history. 

That approach is entirely wrong.

This is why we need to be more biblical by talking justice, compassion, and peace.

conflict in the world

If you listen to/read/watch the news, you know that the world's attention is focused on Israel - Gaza - Hamas. 

If you follow evangelical American commentators, you might think that that is the only conflict happening in the world right now.

These maps highlights multiple places where there is conflict... global conflict [I almost didn't use this map, because one of the factors it highlights is "impact on the US" - that strikes me as a far too narrow, self-focused view, that impacts how people see the world] ... in most cases, the conflict has resulted in loss of life and significant disruptions within the countries, including (but not limited to)... 

• death
• starvation
• rape & sexual exploitation
• forced evacuation

Yes, we understand the importance of the Middle East (on many levels): biblically, economically, and politically. But let's not forget, that in every place where there is conflict over land and power, the people involved are people created in the image and likeness of God. The violent death of an innocent Palestinian child is as grievous to me as the innocent death of an Israeli child or a child in Ukraine or in Russia or in Sudan, or in dozens of places around the world. Undisciplined attempts to destroy terrorists will always create future terrorists.

Estimates, as of Friday (20 October 2023), say that more than 4,500 people have been killed in Israel and Gaza. This article on Wikipedia lists more than 162,170 people killed in 2023 in the 6 major conflicts [more than 10,000 deaths in the last year] happening right now (this does not include Israel - Hamas).

• Yes, we need to pray for Israel & Palestine. 
• We need to pray for peace - shalom in the land - not just Israel, but everywhere.
• We need to pray that God's people do not listen to the distortions and misinformation that flows in time of conflict.
• We have to be aware that the conflict between Israel and Hamas may end up involving other actors and increasing hostilities… we also should be aware that unless we choose to end the hostilities we have with each other, war may come to our own neighbourhoods.
• Paul writes in Ephesians 6:10-12 "Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
  Paul’s statement is straightforward and simple... the enemy in front of us is not the real enemy... it is the power behind the enemy in front of us that demands our attention. We focus on the unseen powers, not on people.
• Daniel 10, tells us that the answer to his prayer was delayed because of battles in the spirit world. It seems to me that hell rejoices when we believe prayer is fruitless.
• Read Romans 8:18-25 and know that groaning is part of prayer... groan loudly, groan often, but groan in hope of the Day when groaning will cease.
• Hope for an alternative future brings us into contradiction with the existing present and puts us against the people who cling to it.

 

Praying for Israel & Palestine

As God's people, as the Church we need to pray for Israel & Palestine. We are reminded that God has called us to be watchmen. Isaiah 62 specifically says we are to pray for Israel day and night and not give Him any rest until Jerusalem becomes a praise on the earth. Here are some ways to intercede: 

• Pray for peace in the region, and for this war to end quickly.
• Pray for families who have lost loved ones, that the Lord fills their hearts with comfort and peace.
• Pray for leaders, that they will make the right decisions.
• Pray for believers across the land, that they have inner peace and be salt and light, and that all their financial and physical needs are met.
• Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom on how to minister to people and help those affected by the war.
• Pray for the protection of believers on both sides. And pray for Arab believers and Messianic believers to find unity in Jesus rather than division.
• Pray for repentance over the extreme bloodshed that is taking place in the land, and that Satan will not succeed in his plans to harm and kill.
• Pray that the Lord will lead many to know Him, so that they may repent and be saved.
• Finally, pray that the Lord would grant us wisdom to care for our congregations and strengthen them in the Lord in this difficult time.

Poor Bishop Hooper - Psalm 122

Lyrics:

i was glad when they said to me let us go to the house of the lord our feet have been standing within your gates o jerusalem o jerusalem built as a city should be jerusalem bound together firmly jerusalem where the tribes go up to praise there the thrones of judgment set the thrones of the house of david jerusalem peace peace peace be within your walls pray for the peace peace peace of jerusalem i will say peace peace peace be within your walls pray for the peace peace peace of jerusalem Poor Bishop Hooper is Jesse and Leah Roberts. All songs written, recorded, and mixed by Poor Bishop Hooper.

Blood Brothers

I don't remember listening to audiobooks since we moved to Richmond, BC.

Right now I am listening to "Blood Brothers: The Dramatic Story of a Palestinian Christian Working for Peace in Israel". This is an excellent book by Elias Chacour. As a child, he lived in a small Palestinian village in Galilee. When tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed and nearly one million forced into refugee camps in 1948, Elias began a long struggle with how to respond. In Blood Brothers, he blends his riveting life story with historical research to reveal a little-known side of the Arab-Israeli conflict, touching on questions such as: 

• What behind-the-scenes politics touched off the turmoil in the Middle East? 
• What does Bible prophecy really have to say? 
• Can bitter enemies ever be reconciled?

The forward has a helpful update on recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Blood Brothers offers hope and insight that can help each of us learn to live at peace in a world of tension and terror. Whatever else can be said, absolutely nothing justifies terrorizing and violently targeting civilians. And in this, the extremes of both sides aren’t moral opposites, but rather, moral mirrors. I think we need to be very careful of any narrative that paints a black-and-white (uncomplex) picture.