CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020-21 Dear Friends
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- GOD UEL W N IT A H M U M S I CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020-21 Dear Friends, The long-awaited One has come, Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. Christmas in the Church is not only a day on which we celebrate the Feast of the Incarnation, but also a liturgical season lasting twelve joy-filled days. Four Anglican parishes in Central Texas, all part of the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others, have collaborated to produce this devotional guide. We’ve joined together for this project in order to make visible and bear witness to the unity of the church, as well as to strengthen our Anglican identity and communion through multi-parish/clergy participation in the church calendar. We also hope you’ll join us as our congregations come together for a joint Epiphany service, January 6th, 2021. In this particular effort, we hope to help our parishioners turn the page together on 2020 and enter 2021 with renewed hope in the Christ who comes, and joy in the Light that pierces the darkness. Six themes have been chosen to help us do just that: beauty, truth, goodness, comfort, hope, and joy. Each of these signs of the kingdom appears twice throughout the twelve days. The devotions are written by both clergy and parishioners of our parishes. Together, we pray that these signposts guide you into new mercies this year, companioned each step by Jesus, Immanuel, and into the fullness of his joy. Peace on Earth, Fr. Kurt Hein, Light of Christ Georgetown Fr. Shawn McCain, Resurrection South Austin Fr. Peter Coelho, Church of the Cross Austin Fr. Cliff Warner, Christ Church Austin TABLE OF CONTENTS DAY ONE - TRUTH 04 BY CHRIS WRIGHT DAY TWO - JOY 06 BY SHERYL WESTWICK DAY THREE - COMFORT 08 BY FR. KURT HEIN DAY FOUR - GOODNESS 10 BY FR. NICK COMISKEY DAY FIVE - HOPE 12 BY KRISTA VOSSLER DAY SIX - JOY 14 BY BRYAN T. MATHEW DAY SEVEN - BEAUTY 16 BY DCN. RYAN BOETTCHER DAY EIGHT - TRUTH 18 BY COURTNEY GREENE DAY NINE - HOPE 20 BY FR. SHAWN MCCAIN DAY TEN - COMFORT 22 BY FR. CLIFF D.S. WARNER DAY ELEVEN - BEAUTY 24 BY KATIE FOX DAY TWELVE - GOODNESS 26 BY ERIC KAUFMAN DAY ONE - TRUTH Chris Wright Light of Christ Scripture: John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Every myth and religion throughout history sought for answers to meaning and truth. How is it that we as Christians know the truth? How do we know that the Jesus of the Bible is more than a myth? We know because truth is revealed to us by God through Jesus Christ. C.S. Lewis believed that the myths of the past all contained universal truths, and then truth itself was fully revealed in the incarnation. He writes, “The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact. The old myth of the dying god, without ceasing to be myth, comes down from the heaven of legend and imagination to the earth of history. It happens - at a particular date, in a particular place, followed by definable historical consequences.” The Incarnation is an historical event in which Jesus lived as a man, and revealed himself as “the way, the truth, and 4 C4SO CENTRAL TEXAS the life.” The Son of God came into the world that we might know Him and see truth through him. Where have you seen God reveal himself as truth in your life? Take a moment to reflect and pray that God would continue to show his truth to you. ColleCt Almighty god, whom truly to know is everlAsting life: grAnt us so perfectly to know your son Jesus christ to be the wAy, the truth, And the life, thAt we mAy steAdfAstly follow his steps in the wAy thAt leAds to eternAl glory; through Jesus christ your son our lord, who lives And reigns with you, in the unity of the holy spirit, one god, for ever And ever. Amen. CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020 5 DAY TWO - JOY Sheryl Westwick Light of Christ Scripture: Luke 1 “But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” (Luke 1:43) In telling the story of Elizabeth, the Gospel writer Luke gives us an early peek into the new kingdom that Jesus is bringing, particularly the joy His people can find if they are willing to accept Him on His terms, not theirs. Elizabeth is the wife of a member of the priestly division, and she herself is also a descendent of Aaron. Both she and her husband are “upright” and “blameless,” but they were childless and “well along in years.” When Elizabeth and Mary become pregnant with children of the great promised work of God, it isn’t hard to imagine Elizabeth feeling an undercurrent of, at best puzzlement, and at worst grudge. She was the person of the priestly order. She was the one who had waited so, so long for this gift. She was older and wiser. Why wasn’t her young cousin Mary 6 C4SO CENTRAL TEXAS bearing the Announcer and she bearing the Savior? But Elizabeth’s response is pure humility and pure joy: “Why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” She recognized the moment for what it was and accepted with joy her role in it. There was no room in her heart for bitterness, jealousy, or pride. She embraced with an open heart her call to point away from herself and to Another. Undoubtedly she passed along this quality to her son John the Baptist. Her model of a joyful acceptance of the unexpected, the unplanned, the unthinkable, the absurd work of God is a Christmas gift to us. ColleCt Almighty god, by whose grAce elizAbeth reJoiced with the blessed virgin mAry And greeted her As the mother of the lord: look with fAvor on your lowly servAnts, thAt, with mAry, we mAy mAgnify your holy nAme And reJoice to AcclAim her son As our sAvior; who lives And reigns with you, in the unity of the holy spirit, one god, now And for ever. Amen. CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020 7 DAY THREE - COMFORT Fr. Kurt Hein Light of Christ Scripture: Isaiah 40:1; Ephesians 3:14-19 “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem” (Isaiah 40:1) The Apostle Paul knew a thing or two about difficult times! Yet despite his imprisonment, loneliness, and sufferings, Paul found himself immersed within the love of Christ. Whether he looked right or left, forward or backward, up or down, he was caught in the center of the infinite love of God far beyond what the eyes of his intellect could see. He bowed his knees in order to plead with God that we would share in the same experience. In his time of trial, Paul experienced the mystery of Christmas. At Christmas, the “love that surpasses knowledge” became knowable for us. God immersed us in his love by immersing himself in our world. On a dark night 2000 years ago, God became an infant, was held in his mother’s arms, and placed in a feeding trough within our cold and ruthless world. The 8 C4SO CENTRAL TEXAS finite contained the Infinite, when the Unknowable made himself known to us in the flesh and blood of a Jewish baby boy. This is Paul’s comfort in affliction. The comfort of Christmas consists not in the absence of pain, nor the betterment of our situation, nor the lack of external or internal tumult. God offers us something better, because God only gives us his best. He offers us paracletic comfort. We find comfort in knowing God himself is present along-side us, as the knowable, beyond-knowable love of Christ enveloping us by the Spirit given to us when we were buried within the waters of baptism. Like Paul, no matter our situation, we find ourselves immersed within the infinite love of God through knowing Jesus Christ. This Christmas, I invite you to join the shepherds in bowing your knees before our God in a manger, so that the comfort of Christ’s love may fully seize your entire person. ColleCt o lord, we entreAt you mercifully to heAr us, And grAnt thAt we, to whom you hAve given the desire to prAy, mAy by your mighty Aid be defended And comforted in All our Adversities; through Jesus christ our lord, who lives And reigns with you And the holy spirit, one god, for ever And ever. Amen. CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020 9 DAY FOUR - GOODNESS Fr. Nick Comiskey Church of the Cross Scripture: Acts 10:37-38 “You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea...how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil.” (Acts 10:37-38) Adriene Mishler is the most popular fitness instructor in America. More than 75 million people have stretched out by watching her ‘Yoga with Adriene’ videos (this writer included). Last March she was driving in Austin, and someone sideswiped her car. She expected the driver to pull over. They didn’t. Adriene followed. “I was not going to chew them out,” she explained in a New York Times profile.