Tag: fulfillment

Caring for the Church

December 31st 

…apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?

2 Corinthians 11:28-29 (NASB)

And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

Isaiah 25:9 (NASB)

They that trust in the Lord shall never be confounded! Some who helped for a while may fall asleep in Jesus; others may grow cold in the service of the Lord; others may be as desirous as ever to help, but have no longer the means; others may have both a willing heart to help, and have also the means, but may see it the Lord’s will to lay them out in another way;—and thus, from one cause or another, were we to lean upon man, we should surely be confounded; but, in leaning upon the living God alone, We are BEYOND disappointment, and BEYOND being forsaken because of death, or want[lack] of means, or want of love, or because of the claims of other work. How precious to have learned in any measure to stand with God alone in the world, and yet to be happy, and to know that surely no good thing shall be withheld from us whilst we walk uprightly!

…language cannot express the real joy in God which I had. I was free from excitement. The circumstance did not un-fit me even for a single moment to attend to my other engagements. I was not in the least surprised, because, by grace, my soul had been waiting on God for deliverance. Never had help been so long delayed.

…Our desire, therefore, is not that we may be without trials of faith, but that the Lord graciously would be pleased to support us in the trial, that we may not dishonour Him by distrust.

from George Müller’s Narrative (Pt. 2)

Today is, apparently, the Feast of the mysterious St. Slyvester, whom we don’t know much of anything about, other than the fact that he was pope during the time of Constantine, and stories about the two of them were used as a sort of totem whenever anyone wanted some propaganda that asserted papal supremacy.  And he was absent from the only event from this period of church history that anyone remembers and simply sent representatives to the Council of Nicaea.  And he’s also associated with a super-famous forgery.

But basically nothing.

Happy Christmas Eve!

December 24th 

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Romans 8:29 (NIV)

THE Ox said to the Ass, said he, all on a Christmas night:
“Do you hear the pipe of the shepherds a-whistling over the hill?
That is the angels’ music they play for their delight,
‘Glory to God in the highest and peace upon earth, goodwill’ . . .
Nowell, nowell, my masters, God lieth low in stall,
And the poor, labouring Ox was here before you all.”

The Ass said to the Ox, said he, all on a Christmas day:
“Do you hear the golden bridles come clinking out of the east?
Those are the three wise Mages that ride from far away
To Bethlehem in Jewry to have their lore increased . . .
Nowell, nowell, my masters, God lieth low in stall,
And the poor, foolish Ass was here before you all.”

 from Dorothy Sayers’ Catholic Tales and Christian Songs

Here’s Silent Night on Youtube and Spotify. Because I thought it was cool that Stevie Nicks did a Christmas carol, and I couldn’t find a version of my favorite one, O Holy Night, that wasn’t utterly offensive. (So. Much. Vibrato. *shudders*)

…and here is an image of a weird little nebula, IRAS 05437+2502, from last year’s Hubble Advent Calendar in The Atlantic.

Here’s this year’s calendar, if anyone’s interested.

Truly, Tomorrow

December 16th 

O Virgin of virgins, how shall this be?
For neither before thee was any like thee, nor shall there be after.
Daughters of Jerusalem, why marvel at me?
The thing ye behold’s a divine mystery.

translation of the O Virgo Virganum antiphon

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet he did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Matthew 1:18-23 (NIV)

Because I got ahead of myself and covered Mary’s story in July, and the context of Isaiah’s ‘Emmanuel prophecy’ is actually pretty complicated, I thought we’d look at Joseph’s point of view, because that really required a lot of faith too, and I feel like he doesn’t get enough credit.

Here is Pentatonix’s version of Mary Did You Know? on Youtube and Spotify. (Voctave also has an amazing version with Mark Lowry, but they already got a turn, and the Pentatonix one is easier listening, even if Voctave’s is just technically wow. You know what? Just listen to both of them. There, problem solved.)

Today’s picture in last year’s Hubble Advent Calendar in The Atlantic is boring, so here is Van Eyck’s Annunciation because I adore this painting.

In the flesh, in our hearts, and in glory

December 1st, First Sunday of Advent

…He will proclaim peace to the nations.

Zechariah 9:10 (HCSB)

When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, telling them, “Go into the village ahead of you. At once you will find a donkey tied there, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you should say that the Lord needs them, and immediately he will send them.”

This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:

Tell Daughter Zion, “See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”

The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt; then they laid their robes on them, and He sat on them. A very large crowd spread their robes on the roads; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. Then the crowds who went ahead of Him and those who followed kept shouting:

Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!

When He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds kept saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee!”

Matthew 21:1-10 (HCSB)

Here is the King’s Singers’ Veni, Veni Emmanuel on Youtube and Spotify. Because Latin, is cool. There’s also Josh Wilson’s O Come Emmanuel, for those of you that don’t think Latin is cool.

…and here is a photo of the Lagoon Nebula from last year’s Hubble Advent Calendar in The Atlantic. I’m sure there’s one this year, but I want to be able to post it on the right day. (I love Advent calendars, because, deep down, I’m actually just a really verbose five year old, and like to put things in their proper cubbyholes. Bonus points if they’re shiny.) 

 

Not the Messiah you were expecting?

October 13th 

He [Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read… Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 4:16,20-21 (NIV)

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. …And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. … For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

from Isaiah 61 (NIV)

I wonder if getting to pretty regularly surprise people was any kind of compensation for the, frankly, rotten working conditions involved in being the Messiah. Not in a mean way, obviously, just in a kind of ‘bet you didn’t see that one coming, did you?’ sense. I feel like it would have been fun when it wasn’t exasperating. Of course it was probably mostly exasperating, but, oh well.