The Upper Room Daily Reflections
– Thursday, 26 December 2013 “The Word Made Flesh”
Today’s
Reflection:
ANY FORM OF CHRISTIANITY which is not incarnational, which does
not celebrate “the Word made flesh,” which tries to separate us from our own
bodies, the bodies of our communities, the body of this earth, is not the
Christianity of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ the walls of hostility, the
walls of division and fragmentation within us and among us are encountered,
touched, healed.
The Christ moves lovingly and with power through our closed
doors and confronts our frightened selves, just as the risen Christ moved
through the closed doors of the house where the disciples hid. And the loving
hands were stretched out, showing the wounds that were not wasted or swallowed
up in glory but that had become sources of redemptive love.
If we take those hands stretched out to us, our own wounds of
body and spirit become to us no longer signs of hopeless pain but also sources
of new springing love!(Rueben P. Job, Norman Shawchuck, and John S. Mogabgab-A
Guide to Prayer for All Who Walk with God)
“From page 52 of A Guide to Prayer for All Who Walk with God by
Rueben P. Job, Norman Shawchuck, and John S. Mogabgab. Copyright © 2013 by
Upper Room Books. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
“http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
Imagine the arms of Christ around you.
Today’s Scripture:
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen
his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.(John
1:14, NRSV)
This Week: pray for children’s ministers.
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Did You Know?
The folks at Upper Room Ministries wish a merry Christmas and a
happy New Year.
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This week we remember:
Stephen (December 26).
In Jerusalem in A.D. 34 or 35, Stephen became the first
Christian martyr. Acts 6-7 tells how Stephen, "a man full of faith and the
Holy Spirit" was one of seven men selected by the twelve apostles to help
spread the word of God. "Stephen, full of grace and power, did great
wonders and signs among the people" (Acts 6:8).
Stephen, who was a Greek-speaking Jew, was unafraid to voice his
opinions. He was brought to the Sanhedrin (Jewish council) on trumped-up
charges of blasphemy and spoke eloquently in his defense. His long and
impassioned chronicle of God's history with humans only inflamed his accusers,
who decided to stone him to death. He experienced a vision where he saw himself
at God's right hand, which only made the Sanhedrin angrier.
Stephen was drug outside the city to die. As angry Jews stoned
him, he prayed, "Lord, receive my spirit" and forgave his murderers
before he died. Stephen became a well-loved martyr. A church was built outside
Jerusalem's Damascus Wall in 439 A.D. Stephen has been a popular saint ever since.
If Stephen had taken the Spiritual Types Test, he probably would
have been a Mystic. Stephen is remembered on December 26.
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Lectionary Readings
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Isaiah 63: God’s Mercy Remembered
7 I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us,
and the great favor to the house of Israel
that he has shown them according to his mercy,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
8 For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely”;
and he became their savior
9 in all their distress.
It was no messenger[a] or angel
but his presence that saved them;[b]
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
Footnotes:
a. Isaiah 63:9 Gk: Heb anguish
b. Isaiah 63:9 Or savior. 9 In all their distress he was
distressed; the angel of his presence saved them;
Psalm 148: Praise for God’s Universal Glory
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the
heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his
host!
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you
shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above
the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and
they were created.
6 He established them forever and ever;
he fixed their bounds,
which cannot be passed.[a]
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all
deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling
his command!
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all
cedars!
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and
flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers
of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike,
old and young
together!
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is
exalted;
his glory is above
earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his faithful,
for the people of
Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 148:6 Or he set a law that cannot pass away
Hebrews 2: 10 It was fitting that God,[a] for whom and
through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make
the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For the one who
sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father.[b] For this reason
Jesus[c] is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,[d] 12 saying,
“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,[e]
in the midst of the
congregation I will praise you.”
13 And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”
14 Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he
himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy
the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who
all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. 16 For it is clear
that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. 17
Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters[f] in every respect,
so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God,
to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he
himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being
tested.
Footnotes:
a. Hebrews 2:10 Gk he
b. Hebrews 2:11 Gk are all of one
c. Hebrews 2:11 Gk he
d. Hebrews 2:11 Gk brothers
e. Hebrews 2:12 Gk brothers
f. Hebrews 2:17 Gk brothers
Matthew 2: The Escape to Egypt
13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to
Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to
Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the
child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph[a] got up, took the child and his mother
by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod.
This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of
Egypt I have called my son.”
The Massacre of the Infants
16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,[b]
he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around
Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had
learned from the wise men.[c] 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken
through the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud
lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be
consoled, because they are no more.”
The Return from Egypt
19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a
dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother,
and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are
dead.” 21 Then Joseph[d] got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the
land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in
place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in
a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in
a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might
be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 2:14 Gk he
b. Matthew 2:16 Or astrologers; Gk magi
c. Matthew 2:16 Or astrologers; Gk magi
d. Matthew 2:21 Gk he
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