- GOD UEL W N IT A H M U M S I

CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020-21 Dear Friends,

The long-awaited One has come, , Immanuel, God with us. 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 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 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 . 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. Her hope was to “have a conversation with that person about the importance of goodness and accountability at a time of global and local turbulence.”

Goodness is an extraordinarily versatile word. Among other things, it can suggest competence (Adriene is good at teaching yoga), behavior, enjoyment, freshness and favor (give her YouTube channel a good review). Goodness means something more specific in the New Testament. One scholar writes: “It ismore

10 C4SO CENTRAL TEXAS than character; it is character energized, expressing itself in active good.” That goodness is active means words or deeds we may not naturally associate with it can be counted as such. Thus, Paul writes in Romans 15:14: ‘I am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and able to admonish one another.’ Words of warning may not be pleasant, but they can be good – what loving wisdom calls for in a particular situation. Admonishment is a facet of the goodness of God, but with the birth of Jesus the diamond shines brightest.

Christmastide is a celebration of the goodness of God in human form. The Child of Mary is good not only because he is kind to those on the margins, but because he liberates a world held captive by dehumanizing forces. Jesus is good ‘because he sets free all who are under the power of the devil.’

Adriene Mishler tracked down the person who hit her car. Or so she thought: She actually followed someone driving a similar vehicle. But let’s not let that get in the way of an effective illustration. For any of us guilty of fleeing the scene in one way or another, God’s goodness is displayed in Jesus Christ visiting our world so that we might be free. “There’s no shadow You won’t light up, mountain You won’t climb up coming after me.” He offers himself for our sins, rescues us from the evil of this age, and gives us a share in his bottomless gladness. Merry Christmas!

Collect Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020 11 DAY FIVE - HOPE

Krista Vossler Church of the Cross Romans 5:5

“...and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5, NRSV)

Over the last few months, this phrase from Romans has been rattling around my brain and knocking on the door of my heart. Sometimes it visits me in the poetry of King James--God’s love is “shed abroad in our hearts”. Other times it shouts in the glorious paraphrase of The Message--“we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!”

The preceding verses in Romans speak of suffering--something with which we’re all too familiar in these days of pandemic, systemic racism, social upheaval, and dis-ease. Suffering, the writer of Romans says, inaugurates a litany of traits that will lead to the formation of hope. I find this promise both a comfort and a challenge. Is suffering shaping me, transforming me, molding me into a person of hope?

These questions are not theoretical as this year has been one of

12 C4SO CENTRAL TEXAS profound disappointment for many. But we are assured here that we will be neither disappointed nor put to shame for letting suffering build hope in us. If this is true, then in what or whom do we hope? Our hope is in the --God-With-Us--and in the glory we shall see when all creation is restored and God’s shalom fills the earth.

How do we know this to be a reality? We know because our inner beings have been flooded with God’s love through the Holy Spirit. That same Spirit whispers to us that we are his children. And all this is a gift brought to us in Jesus--God revealed his love to us in that he sent Jesus to die for us while we were yet sinners. As we wait in the now-and-not-yet, we offer our hopeful selves to him and embody his love in acts of justice and mercy.

So I cling to the Hope that is proved by the outpouring of God’s love for us--Christ Jesus about whom is sung the old carol:

“This Flower, whose fragrance tender With sweetness fills the air Dispels with glorious splendor The darkness everywhere True man, yet very God From sin and death He saves us And lightens every load.”

collect Most loving Father, you will us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on the One who cares for us. Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested unto us in your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020 13 DAY SIX - JOY

Bryan T. Mathew Church of the Cross Scripture: John 15:11

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11)

Joy feels far away from me, most days.

When things go my way, I’m happy. When they don’t, I’m sad. If times are particularly tough, I grit my teeth and put one step in front of the other.

But running deep within me is a bone-deep exhaustion quite opposed to the implacable joy—joy despite suffering, joy regardless of circumstance—that I read about in the Bible. The Bible teaches me that Jesus Christ brings joy. How? Christ brings joy by giving us . Repeatedly in the New Testament, we find Jesus moved by compassion to heal and intercede for those around Him. He still heals, and He still intercedes. We shouldn’t let the distortions of the prosperity gospel blind us to the fact that our God is Jehovah Jireh, and

14 C4SO CENTRAL TEXAS every good gift comes from Him.

Christ brings joy by giving us meaning. History has an origin, a superintendent, and a goal. Exhaustion can stem from a sense of futility, of one-thing-after-another with no progress. But the Gospel story tells us that the secret of history is disclosed in the resurrection of the crucified Messiah. The end-point of life is not futility, frustration, waste, entropy, death. The end-point of life, with all its disappointments and sorrows, is New Creation. Finally, Christ brings joy by giving us Himself. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Jesus unites us to Himself. Therefore, His intimacy with the Father and the Spirit is now ours too.

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. All the promises are true—and they really are for me! When I remind myself of that, the exhaustion fades, and joy sets in.

collect O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020 15 DAY SEVEN - BEAUTY

Dcn. Ryan Boettcher Resurrection South Austin Scripture: Isaiah 52, Colossians 1:19-20

“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven.” (Colossians 1:19-20)

The world knows that there is something peculiarly beautiful about Christmas, even if it’s not entirely clear why it so. Is it the twinkling lights amidst the dark nights? Is it the celebration of family and friends and the anticipation of gift- giving and receiving?

Riffing on theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, Fr. David Taylor once suggested that “if beauty is about anything in particular it is particularly about love,” which finds its ultimate expression in “the concrete love of God in the form of Christ, a kenotic (self-emptying) love.”

In other words, beauty is revealed in that “Love came down at Christmas” as Christian Rossetti once penned, “Love all lovely, Love Divine.” We celebrate this God-with-us reality

16 C4SO CENTRAL TEXAS this season—that not only did the fullness of God dwell in this Christ child—but that the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in him. This Love Divine was pleased to come into our midst and be present to us.

The concrete love of God came down to dwell, and also “to reconcile to himself all things.” Or as Wendell Berry put it: “divine love, incarnate and indwelling in the world, summons the world always toward wholeness.” And we reflect this divine beauty every time we bear witness to this Divine action in the world, of God coming near and God bringing peace and wholeness in his reconciling work. (See Isa. 52:6-7)

This is what makes Christmas peculiarly beautiful in the end—this summons to presence and wholeness and reconciliation in the concrete love of God made manifest in the Christ child. Our response to this summons is all about making space. And as we make space, however different that looks this year, for food and family and gifts and all the rest, may we also make space for Love Divine to draw near.

collect O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020 17 DAY EIGHT - TRUTH

Courtney Greene Resurrection South Austin Scripture: Psalm 25

“Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long” (Psalm 25:5)

What does “truth” mean in our world today? Is it subjective and personal, whatever aligns with our deepest longings? Is it what we believe based on the information we read in our newsfeed of choice?

Truth can feel elusive. We live in a world drowning in information. We equate truth with that which is factually accurate, but we can cherry pick facts from a digital ocean to support the particular truth that suits us. Is it even possible to find something fundamentally “true” today?

In Psalm 25, the psalmist prays: Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.

18 C4SO CENTRAL TEXAS This year, we learned some difficult truths. We are not invincible, and all of the wonders of our information and technology cannot save us entirely from disease, of the body or the spirit. Like Israel before us, we remain a world in need of rescuing. Like Israel, we call upon God to redeem us out of all our troubles.

Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress.

Yet unlike Israel, we stand on the other side of the truth that has been revealed. Israel was waiting all day long for salvation, but salvation has come to us in the person of Jesus: the son of Mary, who was called Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” Jesus, who is called the “true light.”

Today, we live in the truth that God is present with us; that God refuses to give up on our broken world and sent Jesus to be our light. When we seek truth in our turbulent world, we must remember to look to the light.

Collect Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; 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 19 DAY NINE - HOPE

Fr. Shawn McCain Resurrection South Austin Scripture: Psalm 147

“His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” (Ps 147:10-11)

Sometimes I get confused about hope. It’s not optimism, well-wishing, or anticipated happiness. It’s not security we build up in bank accounts or self-assurance we find in within us. Hope isn’t made of earthly (horse) power or human strength (Ps 147). For the Christian, hope is something (or rather someone) entirely different.

Real hope is given and you can find Him laying in the manger.

The second century Apostolic Father, Irenaeus of Lyons wrote, “The Lord has given us a sign ‘as deep as Sheol and as high as heaven’, such as we should not have dared to hope for. How could we have expected to see a virgin with child, and to see in this Child a ‘God with us’ who would descend in to the depths of the earth to seek for the lost sheep...and

20 C4SO CENTRAL TEXAS then ascend again to present to his Father this [humanity] thus regained?” (Against Heresies, III, 19,3).

Every person’s life can been grounded on the divine hope that has come to meet us in this God-with-us child, Jesus Christ. The hope we have in Him is more sure than the troubles we face, and it’s greater than any prosperity and comfort. God’s arrival makes available to us, wherever we are, a sure-footed and living hope (1 Peter 1:3) for those who rely on God’s unchanging love.

Take a moment to ask yourself: “How can I welcome this hope for my life today?”

collect O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020 21 DAY TEN - COMFORT

Fr. Cliff D.S. Warner Christ Church Austin Scripture: Isaiah 41:8-10

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

The year 2020 has seen an 80% increase in engagement with the world’s most popular Bible app, where the most read Bible verse was Isaiah 41:10: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” This tells us that (1) we’ve been hungrier than ever for a Word from outside, and (2) especially a Word of comfort.

We hear a lot about self-care, and rightly so; disciplined attention to ourselves is a high priority. But what do you do when exercising, eating, and sleeping well aren’t enough to touch the ache in your heart or the weariness in your bones? Or you feel alone and afraid? There is much we can do for ourselves before we hit the wall, but there’s still a wall at the end of ourselves. Standing at that wall, we utter our most

22 C4SO CENTRAL TEXAS honest cry for a Word from outside, news of comfort, good news that crashes through walls and brings life that we can’t create for ourselves.

This Word from beyond our conjuring breaks into our lives promising that we don’t need to “be dismayed,” which in Hebrew means to “gaze about in anxiety.” We don’t have to stand at the wall alone and afraid, anxiously gazing about. Why? Because, God assures us, “I am with you . . . I am your God; I will strengthen you; I will help you, I will uphold you . . ..” That’s a promise. That’s the intervention we need, the grace that comes to us ultimately in the birth and presence of Jesus.

Jesus is Immanuel (“God with us”) whose appearance dispels all fear. The first words in the angelic announcement to the shepherds were, “Fear not.” Because God is with us we are not alone, nor do we need to be afraid or anxious. When you are weak, Jesus is your strength. When you are stumbling, Jesus will uphold you. When you are afflicted, Jesus is your ever present help. Those are comfortable words.

collect O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength; By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020 23 DAY ELEVEN - BEAUTY

Katie Fox Christ Church Austin Scripture: Psalm 27

“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)

Christmas time – there is perhaps no other time of year when it is easier to believe that the world is a beautiful place. We may not get snow, but we get a shimmery dusting of another kind; amid the twinkling lights and carols, there is a bit more kindness, more tenderness of heart, more patience and love. Perhaps we get a small glimpse of the world as God intended it to be, and for a few days each Christmastide, we may even feel as though we’ve finally entered into that longed-for place of beauty and peace.

Yet the world is also a broken place, and once the Christmas magic wears off and “normal” life resumes, it’s all too easy to see the ugliness and forget the beauty. Considering our collective heartache of the past year, there were times when it felt as though there was very little beauty to behold. It helps to remind ourselves that we live in the “already/not yet”: Christ has already come, and has ushered in His Kingdom, but that Kingdom is not yet complete in all its fullness. The ugliness of a broken world will continue to

24 C4SO CENTRAL TEXAS be with us – but that is not the end of the story. Psalm 27:4 tells us that the Lord is beautiful. The psalmist longed to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. How can we, too, gaze upon the Lord’s beauty, in our already/not yet world?

Christ came, and the Incarnation – God with us – means that His beauty is with us, too. Moreover, it means that when we create beauty, we can experience Him. When we experience beauty, we can know Him more intimately, and when we know Him, we know beauty. And when we engage with beauty, either through participation or observation, we help to usher in the fullness of His Kingdom, the world as God intended it to be.

Yes, there is still brokenness and ugliness. We do not live in denial, but neither must we live in despair. Beauty may seem like an extraneous luxury to us, but God is beautiful, and He became incarnate so we could know Him in the fullness of His beauty. We can carry the true beauty of Christmastide beyond these twelve days and into the whole of our lives, for in doing so, we become part of God’s redemptive purposes on earth.

“In that day the Lord of hosts will be a garland of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people.” - Isaiah 28:5

collect O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020 25 DAY TWELVE - GOODNESS

Eric Kaufman Christ Church Austin Scripture: Titus 3:4-6

“But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 3:4-6)

In the Bible there is no goodness apart from God. From the beginning, God’s goodness is evident in what he has made, who he is, how he acts, and the gifts he gives to those who love him. In the creation story we see that the goodness of God flows into what he has made. “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Paul explains the relationship between God and his creation thus: “For [God’s] invisible attributes…have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20). A good God makes a good world.

Goodness is so much a part of who God is that when Moses asks God to show him his glory, God replies, “I will make

26 C4SO CENTRAL TEXAS all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name.” (Exodus 33:19). Goodness defines the Glory of God. But God does not hold his goodness to himself. He lavishes it on his people. In Psalm 145:7, David declares that the generations of Israel “…shall pour forth the fame of [God’s] abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of [his] righteousness.” God’s goodness is made manifest in his love and provision for his people.

As we reflect on the events commemorated in this season of Christmastide, let us thank God for the gift of Jesus, rejoicing and proclaiming Christ himself to be “the goodness and lovingkindness of God” through whom the “washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit” has been “poured out upon us”.

collect O God, of your goodness give me yourself, for you are enough for me. I can ask for nothing less that is completely to your honor, and if I do ask for anything less, I shall always be in want. Amen. - Julian of Norwich

CHRISTMASTIDE DEVOTIONAL 2020 27