reading for: 30 december

John 1:1-9, 10-18

the God who Comes to Create his Family and Establish His Glory

• READ

The first words of John’s letter echo Genesis 1- 3 where God spoke Creation into existence. In this way, John’s story of Jesus is rooted in the Scriptures of Israel. The Word of God shares the same divine essence of God the Creator. This Word (logos) is the means by which everything is created, giving life, standing strong in darkness and lighting the way for mankind (v 3- 5).

There is conflict between light and the darkness that exists among people who are supposed to be caretakers of God’s creation (Genesis 1:26-30). The Word which was already in the world as Torah (Genesis – Deut.), given to Israel was not understood or obeyed. However, the darkness could not overcome the Light.  

Verses 9 – 11 now portray light as ‘truth’ whose enlightening reign reaches everyone now that He has entered the world – the very world that he created, that did not know him. 

The centrepiece of this prologue is in verse 12, where the Word’s mission is described. For all who receive him, who believe in his name, “he gave the right to become children of God.” This is John’s message to his readers – relationship with God as Father and us as children is established through the Son of God.

Those who believe receive the Word and therefore receive a gift, the power to become children of God. The becoming of God’s children is entirely the work of God. It’s not by birthright or natural descent. This spiritual birth comes from God (verse 13). 

Just as God’s action in the Sinai covenant and the giving of the Torah changed the nature of God’s relationship with creation, the incarnation of the Word, while very much in accord with that history, once again decisively alters the manner by which creation can relate to God. 

Verse 14 where we see the glory of the Son, echoes the powerful manifestation of God to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-24; 33-34), where God’s glory was seen in the Word that was given. Now in Jesus, the incarnate Word is proclaimed to be full of “grace” and “truth.” And as we receive this gift of truth, we intimately connected to the power to become children of God.

• REFLECT

  Christ comes to dwell with us, bringing light and truth into our lives, because he is Light & Truth. As he shines upon our secret and hidden selves, darkness flees and truth enters to free us. Is there an area of your life that the Spirit of Christ is prompting you to surrender to God? Invite the Holy Spirit to search your heart.

reading for: 31 december

Jeremiah 31:7-14 

the God Who Comes to Transform and Renew

• READ

  These verses speak to a community of migrants and refugees.

  They speak to those who have been torn from their homes and homelands, who have seen their loved ones die or disappear. They speak to those who have suffered at the hands of an empire’s ruthless power—threatened, coerced, and terrorised into conformity with the ways and means of others. They speak to those on the run, in fear for their lives.

  In verses 7-9, God addresses the exilic community and invites it to a new reality, which is rooted only in God’s faithful resolve. He gives an invitation to Israel in exile filled with glad imperatives (v. 7). Israel is invited to sing aloud, raise shouts, proclaim, praise. The reason for the rejoicing is in the substance of the saying, which might be paraphrased: “Yahweh has saved the covenant partner!” God intervenes to liberate and new life begins, new life that was not at all expected. The reason for singing is that the deathly grip of Babylon is broken! 

  Verses 8–9 give the reason for the singing. The introductory “see” invites Israel to notice something utterly new. Now God speaks in the first person. Moreover, God is the active party who will transform the life of Israel: “I am going to bring, I will gather, I will lead, I will let them walk.” This is a beautiful picture of a great pilgrimage of people headed home, the ones who thought they would never have a home. In that pilgrimage are included the ones who are vulnerable and dependent, the blind, the lame, the pregnant women. These are the ones who are always at risk. 

  In verses 10 – 14, that risk is ended; they are safe, kept, and guarded on the way and now God addresses the nations. God will be the faithful shepherd who values every sheep, even the lost, even the ones in exile. The nations can do nothing to stop God from this daring plan. This is followed by a picture of what new life will be like when the exiles come home and the power of fear and death is broken (vs. 12–14).

  Creation will flourish; there will be extravagant material goods (v. 12). In a dry desert climate, there will be reliable “brooks of water” - a powerful image of material well-being. Social life will resume (v. 13). Young people can have their loud, boisterous parties. No one will mind; older people will join in, because such noise is a song of confidence, stability, freedom, and well-being. Restored creation and restored community are rooted in God’s transformative power. It is God, only God, but surely God, who transforms mourning to joy, exile to homecoming, death to life, sorrow to gladness. An ordained religious community will live in utter well-being (v. 14). People will prosper, priests will prosper. Priests and people together will live in well-being, where blessings abound.

• REFLECT

  In every season, including this COVID pandemic, the oracle of God breaks the dread of exile. Exiles are those who live in resignation, believing no newness is possible. The only ground for newness and transformation is God. It is by the power and faithfulness of God that life begins again. What will you entrust to God to transform in this coming year? Invite him to renew your heart and mind for 2021. 

reading for: 1 january

Ephesians 1:3-14

The God who is worthy of our constant gratitude

• READ

  Paul opens his letters with an expression of thanksgiving for God’s action in the lives of the congregation he addresses. Virtually the whole of chapters 1–3 is filled with expressions of praise and thanksgiving. Ephesians 1:3 starts with praise to God for God’s gifts to humankind. The word “blessing” can refer both to an act of thanksgiving or praise and to an act of bestowing some gift on another. That’s why we can say that God is to be blessed for God’s blessings. The extent of these blessings comes to expression in the phrase “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” God’s goodness takes every conceivable form. 

  Verses 4–14 describe the form of God’s blessings and focus on God’s choosing of the elect. First, the author points to the agelessness of God’s election: “He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.” This simply says that God’s choosing has no beginning. Just as it is impossible to identify the beginning of God’s Christ, so it is impossible to think of a time when God did not choose on behalf of humankind. God’s election creates a people who are “holy and blameless before him.” 
  Verse 5 elaborates this characterisation of God’s people. They become God’s children through Jesus Christ, but always what happens is “according to the good pleasure of his will.” Everything that has occurred comes as a result of God’s will and results in “the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” 
  In the face of God’s eternal choice on behalf of humankind, in the face of God’s revelation of his Son, Jesus Christ, in the face of God’s grace, the only appropriate response is one of praise (v. 6). Verses 7–14 continue the exposition of God’s gifts to humankind—redemption, forgiveness, wisdom, faith. The passage climaxes with repeated references to the inheritance believers receive through Christ (vs. 11, 14).

  With v. 15, Paul moves from this general expression of thanksgiving for God’s actions on behalf of humankind to particular expressions of thanks relevant to his context. He constantly keeps the Ephesians in his prayers, asking for them “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation as you come to know him” (v. 17). The prayer continues in v. 18 with the petition that believers might be enlightened so that they know the hope to which they have been called and the riches that are part of God’s inheritance. This mood of doxology continues throughout chapter 2 and most of chapter 3, as the author celebrates the nature of God’s action in Christ Jesus.

• REFLECT

  How thankful are you for all the blessings in Christ that God has given you? Do you wake up with thanksgiving and praise to God? Take time to thank God for the people in your life and your circumstances. 

reading for: 2 january

PSALM 147:12-20

The God who is worthy of all our praise

• READ

  This Psalm consists of two basic parts, of which the first is vs. 12–14. These lines urge the people to praise God (v. 12) because God has blessed the nation with peace (the first lines of vs. 13 and 14, respectively) and prosperity (the second lines of these same verses).

  
  

  The second part of the psalm, vs. 15–20, celebrates the power of God’s word. This theme is announced in v. 15, “his command” literally means something like “his utterance,” This term is paralleled by “word” v. 15, and the effect of the whole verse is to remind the reader that God is in an ongoing conversation with creation. The action verbs “send out” and “run swiftly” imply a continuous dialogue between God and the people of God (compare v. 19), a continuing hum of communication.

  The nature of God’s word—that part of the dialogue which originates with God —is described metaphorically in vs. 16–18. If vs. 16–17 portray God’s deep freeze, v. 18 describes God’s thaw. “Word” of 18 echoes the same term in 15, and paralleled by “his wind”, “his breath,” or “his Spirit.” Psalm 147:18 seems to be an intriguing way of saying, “As the warm spring winds blow to melt the ice and snow of winter, so the Spirit of God melts all that is frozen in human life.” 

  In v. 19 the application to human life of God’s word is given a sharper focus than in v. 15, for here it is applied in a special way to Israel. The entire text is climaxed by a final ‘Praise the Lord’, which not only echoes similar imperatives in v. 12, but balances the psalm’s opening “Praise the Lord’, in v. 1. 

  The heart of this text is, of course, the metaphor of winter and spring. But beyond a simple statement of God’s power over the world of nature, the Psalm portrays God’s role in the movement of the individual person (or community) from death to life, from desolation to hope, from meaninglessness to purpose. God responds to the human plea for help by restoring the helpless one to life.

  It is significant that in this Psalm that God intervenes to restore the helpless even though there is no stated plea for help. The warm winds of spring do not thaw the frozen water because of human intercession, but simply because it is God’s nature to restore and redeem. The same God who rebukes the ice and snow also rebukes sin and evil, because that’s the kind of being God is. Men and women may cry to God for help, but it is God’s nature to help whether or not men and women cry. This reality brings forth the human response of praise. The God of Israel is the Lord of both freezing and thawing, of both death and life, of both alienation and fellowship. And because this God is always at work moving life from the one to the other, the community of faith sings in joyful response: Hallelujah!

• REFLECT

  Take a prayerful walk through nature either alone or with your LG or family members. Notice some of the things you usually don’t see. Find moments where you can pause and reflect on His Creation. Praise and thank Him.