The 2nd Sunday after Christmas-the Rev Melanie Lemburg

2nd Sunday after Christmas-Year C

January 2, 2022

 

        Today we find ourselves in a strange time.  It’s the second day of a brand new year, and it’s the 9th day out of the 12 day season of Christmas, the short season in our church year that falls between Christmas day and the feast day of Epiphany-January 6th. 

        As our new year begins, I’ve been thinking about the people in our Old Testament reading for this week.  These are the people that Jeremiah has been preaching to that God is going to give them what is coming to them, that because they have turned away from God and worshipped other gods, then they will be taken out of the promised land by foreign invaders and scattered.  But today’s lesson has God speaking words of hope through the prophet, proclaiming that God will regather God’s scattered people and that they will be returned to their promised land where they will sing a new song. 

        I’ve been thinking about new songs and about how people become inspired to sing new songs even when the new, promised thing has not yet arrived.  As we enter 2022, I find myself weary; it’s hard to feel optimistic in the face of continued challenges and difficulties.  I would like to be able to sing a new song, but I don’t even really know where or how to begin.

        The theologian and poet Howard Thurman has a poem about all this.  It’s titled I will sing a new song and here is what it says:

I Will Sing a New Song[i]

  The old song of my spirit has wearied itself out.

It has long ago been learned by heart;

It repeats itself over and over, 

Bringing no added joy to my days or lift to my spirit.

 

I will sing a new song.

I must learn the new song for the new needs.

I must fashion new words born of all the new growth 

   of my life – of my mind – of my spirit.

I must prepare for new melodies that have

   never been mine before, 

That all that is within me may lift my voice unto God.

Therefore, I shall rejoice with each new day

And delight my spirit in each fresh unfolding.

“I will sing, this day, a new song unto the Lord./  I must learn the new song for the new needs./ I must fashion new words born of all the new growth/ of my life – of my mind – of my spirit./I must prepare for new melodies that have/   never been mine before,/That all that is within me may lift my voice unto God.”

Where in my life has there been new growth lately?  Perhaps that is the place to begin looking, where God is preparing this new song for new needs that I am called to sing with my life?  Where have I encountered the holy in my life during these wearisome days?  What are the ordinary and the extraordinary ways in which the light of Christ has appeared in my life? 

In closing, I’ll share with you a meditation on the wise men who we see in our gospel reading for today and how they might inspire us to seek the Christ child in our lives and in our world, and how this might inspire the new song that God is inviting us to sing in our lives during this season.

Seeking[ii]

           Magi from the East came to Jerusalem, asking,
           “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?” —Matthew 2.1-2

They weren’t searching for treasure.
They weren’t hoping to meet emperors or movie stars.
They must have declined 100 invitations to digress
and temptations to turn around.
They likely encountered the cutest kids in the world—
but not the one they sought.

In your dealings, your duties digressions,
it’s easy to look for trouble, look for the advantage,
look for fault, look for comfort.
It’s easy to settle for sentiment, for fitting in, for happiness.
Don’t. Resist the distractions.
Seek the holy.

Seek the divine,
even in those who do not know it in themselves.
Seek the hopeful even in the dull and despairing.
Notice those moments of courageous love,
of suffering wisdom and gentle resolve.
The Christ child—the vulnerable presence of God—
is among us.
Look.
Look deeper.

 

       

 


[i] Howard Thurman, The Mood of Christmas & Other Celebrations

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