Friends,
Over two thousand years ago, a young woman gave birth to a baby and the world has not been the same since. God was speaking when God announced to Mary that she would bear a Son who would be the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). God was speaking through this young mother when she sang her song telling her cousin Elizabeth about her joy as the chosen one of God: My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. … He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things (Luke 1:46, 52-53). God was speaking when these chosen ones, Mary, Joseph and then the baby Jesus could find no place to stay because there was no room for them. And God is still speaking today as we remember the old story of the birth of our Savior and know that God calls us to a new story, the one that is unfolding around us today. And so, as we enter this season of Christmas, I wish for all of us to find the joy in hearing the story again and finding in it God’s voice that calls us to love one another and to seek God’s justice in everything we do. That would be the greatest gift of all.
Over two thousand years ago, a young woman gave birth to a baby and the world has not been the same since. God was speaking when God announced to Mary that she would bear a Son who would be the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). God was speaking through this young mother when she sang her song telling her cousin Elizabeth about her joy as the chosen one of God: My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. … He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things (Luke 1:46, 52-53). God was speaking when these chosen ones, Mary, Joseph and then the baby Jesus could find no place to stay because there was no room for them. And God is still speaking today as we remember the old story of the birth of our Savior and know that God calls us to a new story, the one that is unfolding around us today. And so, as we enter this season of Christmas, I wish for all of us to find the joy in hearing the story again and finding in it God’s voice that calls us to love one another and to seek God’s justice in everything we do. That would be the greatest gift of all.
Merry Christmas from your friends at the Rhode Island Conference of the United Church of Christ
Author
Marilyn Baugh Kendrix
The Rev. Marilyn Kendrix is Bridge Conference Minister. Kendrix, a 2013 graduate of Yale Divinity, earned that school’s Henry Hallam Tweedy Prize for exceptional promise in pastoral leadership, the highest prize conferred on a graduating student ...