The Eleventh Day of Christmas
04/01/15 04:31
The second Sunday after Christmas doesn’t appear on the Christian Calendar every year. If Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, there is only one Sunday between Christmas (December 25) and Epiphany (January 6). Then, just to make the Christian calendar a little more complex, the second Sunday after Christmas is observed as Epiphany Sunday every year in England and Wales and a few other countries. Here in the United States, the observance of Epiphany Sunday varies depending on which denomination. There are even variations within individual denominations. It can be very confusing.
In our congregation, we generally observe Epiphany on either a Sunday or a Wednesday, depending on which day of the week is closest to January 6. That means that some years the Baptism of Christ and Epiphany Sunday are the same day. Because part of our tradition was a downplaying of the liturgical calendar and some of the minor feast days, we don’t have a strong history of observances of the Baptism of Christ or Epiphany Sunday. However, in the last couple of decades, we have become more aware of those days and more likely to include special observances in our liturgies. This year, we will observe Epiphany with a special celebration on Wednesday, January 7 and the Baptism of Christ on Sunday, January 11.
So today is a sort of unique observance, as we celebrate Christmas for a second Sunday.
The Gospel for today is the prologue to the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The prologue is so lyrical that some have speculated that it may have its origins in early Christian music. The German New Testament Scholar, Rudolph Bultmann, believing that the prologue had roots in Gnosticism and the community that grew up around John the Baptist, did an extensive search in the literature for any gnostic poems, hymns, or other documents that might be antecedents of the prologue, but never found any conclusive evidence of an earlier document.
From our perspective, the prologue and the Gospel belong together. We’ve read it that way for so many generations that it is nearly impossible for us to think of those words in any other configuration. I tend to agree with those who say that while the words are lyrical, they just don’t come out in the form of a hymn. I can’t quite imagine ever singing those words, even though they are certainly different in English than in the original Greek.
In Greek, the key concept is Logos - most generally translated as “Word” in English. It is important to note that the translation confers on the term certain meanings that were not a part of the original. When we speak of “word” in a gramatical sense, we are closer in meaning to the Greek term leis. Although logos and lexis are derived from the same root, they evolved to have different meanings. Logos was used by ancient philosophers in different ways. The sophists used the term to mean discourse. Aristotle used it more in the sense of “argument.” Stoics spoke of logos in the sense of the divine animating principle of the universe. So in a sense the use of the term in the prologue to the Gospel is more in keeping with stoic philosophical traditions.
The Gospel, however, takes a twist in meaning that no prior philosophy does when introducing the concept of incarnation. “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” After introducing Jesus as Word, the prologue also speaks of life and light as important descriptive images for Jesus.
This beautiful and important description is just one of the ways that Christians have communicated the deeper meanings of our faith over the centuries. For those of us who love language and poetry, it is a glorious dance of images and metaphors. Of course no words contain the complete reality of God. We speak of God, but we are unable to say exactly what God is. We have an idea and a concept, but the idea and concept falls far short of the reality that is God. There real poetry in the attempt of the prologue to use the word “word” to describe something that is beyond the power of words to describe.
It is one of those places where it is clear, from reading the Bible, that while we can talk about God and think about God, our rational thought is only one way of encountering God. The relationship with God is more than just an intellectual exercise. But if we want to pursue God intellectually, God is complex and interesting enough for a lifetime of study and more. Generations of brilliant theological thinkers have tried to put God into words. Volumes and volumes of words have been published and still we have to admit that we are not even close to a description of God.
That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try. Just that we know our efforts will be incomplete.
So I appreciate the opportunity provided by a second Sunday of Christmas to invest time and energy in just thinking about God and about what it means that God comes to us in human form. Perhaps that is a good investment of the eleventh day of Christmas: a day to just think about God.
Both Deuteronomy and Numbers contain prayers that begin with “Hear, O Israel.” The prayer, often called the “Shema” for the first word in Hebrew, is a commandment and the commandment is to love God with all your heart and soul and mind. That commandment is quoted by Jesus in the Gospels as well. Loving God with all of your mind means that we are invited to engage in an intellectual pursuit worthy of the best of our rational thinking. Religion does not have to be irrational or ethereal. Solid, rational thinking is a wonderful way to express devotion and engage in a relationship with God.
So as the days of Christmas near their end, today is a good day for thinking. May we find clarity as we pursue the complex idea of God.
In our congregation, we generally observe Epiphany on either a Sunday or a Wednesday, depending on which day of the week is closest to January 6. That means that some years the Baptism of Christ and Epiphany Sunday are the same day. Because part of our tradition was a downplaying of the liturgical calendar and some of the minor feast days, we don’t have a strong history of observances of the Baptism of Christ or Epiphany Sunday. However, in the last couple of decades, we have become more aware of those days and more likely to include special observances in our liturgies. This year, we will observe Epiphany with a special celebration on Wednesday, January 7 and the Baptism of Christ on Sunday, January 11.
So today is a sort of unique observance, as we celebrate Christmas for a second Sunday.
The Gospel for today is the prologue to the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The prologue is so lyrical that some have speculated that it may have its origins in early Christian music. The German New Testament Scholar, Rudolph Bultmann, believing that the prologue had roots in Gnosticism and the community that grew up around John the Baptist, did an extensive search in the literature for any gnostic poems, hymns, or other documents that might be antecedents of the prologue, but never found any conclusive evidence of an earlier document.
From our perspective, the prologue and the Gospel belong together. We’ve read it that way for so many generations that it is nearly impossible for us to think of those words in any other configuration. I tend to agree with those who say that while the words are lyrical, they just don’t come out in the form of a hymn. I can’t quite imagine ever singing those words, even though they are certainly different in English than in the original Greek.
In Greek, the key concept is Logos - most generally translated as “Word” in English. It is important to note that the translation confers on the term certain meanings that were not a part of the original. When we speak of “word” in a gramatical sense, we are closer in meaning to the Greek term leis. Although logos and lexis are derived from the same root, they evolved to have different meanings. Logos was used by ancient philosophers in different ways. The sophists used the term to mean discourse. Aristotle used it more in the sense of “argument.” Stoics spoke of logos in the sense of the divine animating principle of the universe. So in a sense the use of the term in the prologue to the Gospel is more in keeping with stoic philosophical traditions.
The Gospel, however, takes a twist in meaning that no prior philosophy does when introducing the concept of incarnation. “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” After introducing Jesus as Word, the prologue also speaks of life and light as important descriptive images for Jesus.
This beautiful and important description is just one of the ways that Christians have communicated the deeper meanings of our faith over the centuries. For those of us who love language and poetry, it is a glorious dance of images and metaphors. Of course no words contain the complete reality of God. We speak of God, but we are unable to say exactly what God is. We have an idea and a concept, but the idea and concept falls far short of the reality that is God. There real poetry in the attempt of the prologue to use the word “word” to describe something that is beyond the power of words to describe.
It is one of those places where it is clear, from reading the Bible, that while we can talk about God and think about God, our rational thought is only one way of encountering God. The relationship with God is more than just an intellectual exercise. But if we want to pursue God intellectually, God is complex and interesting enough for a lifetime of study and more. Generations of brilliant theological thinkers have tried to put God into words. Volumes and volumes of words have been published and still we have to admit that we are not even close to a description of God.
That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try. Just that we know our efforts will be incomplete.
So I appreciate the opportunity provided by a second Sunday of Christmas to invest time and energy in just thinking about God and about what it means that God comes to us in human form. Perhaps that is a good investment of the eleventh day of Christmas: a day to just think about God.
Both Deuteronomy and Numbers contain prayers that begin with “Hear, O Israel.” The prayer, often called the “Shema” for the first word in Hebrew, is a commandment and the commandment is to love God with all your heart and soul and mind. That commandment is quoted by Jesus in the Gospels as well. Loving God with all of your mind means that we are invited to engage in an intellectual pursuit worthy of the best of our rational thinking. Religion does not have to be irrational or ethereal. Solid, rational thinking is a wonderful way to express devotion and engage in a relationship with God.
So as the days of Christmas near their end, today is a good day for thinking. May we find clarity as we pursue the complex idea of God.