Mike Chapman: Christ Child Just Born (1999)
St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London
Jeremiah 31:7–14
In-Gathering
This year, it won’t take much imagination
To know that Jeremiah’s declaration
That exiles would come home from desolation
Was told with optimistic expectation!
For this year’s seen an end to deprivation
Where COVID caused such empty separations;
And though for many there was devastation,
So many have returned for celebrations.
Perhaps you know the joy of restoration,
And have been gathered in from isolation;
You know the end can come for lamentation—
Your dancing signifies a new creation!
Scott L. Barton
For thus says the Lord: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, “Save, O Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel.” See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.” For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. I will give the priests their fill of fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the Lord.
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John 1:(1–9) 10–18
Grace Upon Grace
This prologue,
this introduction,
this forward to John’s Good News,
turns out to be, simply,
a whole long list of gifts
that one might unwrap,
one per day,
in these days of Christmas.
Pick a verse, any verse.
“. . . Word was God.”
“He was in the beginning . . .”
“All things came . . .”
“. . . the light of all people”
“. . . darkness did not overcome”
“. . . a man sent from God”
“. . . all might believe through him.”
And so on.
John’s just getting started,
warmed up for telling his story,
uncovering the jewels that
you, too, can stick in your back pocket
to pull out some day
when you need a reminder that,
even if you don’t see God today,
grace and truth are still yours
because of this Jesus, this Christ,
this astonishing news for a New Year.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
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