Day 23 - Monday, December 25
CHRISTMAS DAY
Title: THE MISSION OF THE ANOINTED SERVANT; THE GOOD NEWS OF CHRISTMAS
Scripture #1: Isaiah 61:1–4 (NKJV)
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” And they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
Scripture #2: Isaiah 61:8–11 (NKJV)
“For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, and will make with them an everlasting covenant. Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed.” I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered Me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Poetry & Poet:
“Called to Say Yes”
by Edwina Gateley 

We are called to say yes.
That the kingdom might break through
To renew and to transform
Our dark and groping world.
We stutter and we stammer
To the lone God who calls
And pleads a New Jerusalem
In the bloodied Sinai Straights.
We are called to say yes
That honeysuckle may twine
And twist its smelling leaves
Over the graves of nuclear arms.
We are called to say yes
That children might play
On the soil of Vietnam where the tanks
Belched blood and death.
We are called to say yes
That black may sing with white
And pledge peace and healing
For the hatred of the past.
We are called to say yes
So that nations might gather
And dance one great movement
For the joy of humankind.
We are called to say yes
So that rich and poor embrace
And become equal in their poverty
Through the silent tears that fall.
We are called to say yes
That the whisper of our God
Might be heard through our sirens
And the screams of our bombs.
We are called to say yes
To a God who still holds fast
To the vision of the Kingdom
For a trembling world of pain.
We are called to say yes
To this God who reaches out
And asks us to share
His crazy dream of love.

THE MISSION OF THE ANOINTED SERVANT: THE GOOD NEWS OF CHRISTMAS

The mission of the anointed servant Jesus Christ was set in motion before the events of Bethlehem on the first Christmas night. Long before a holy discourse was held between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit wherein the eternally begotten Son of God was sent to earth to “preach good tidings to the poor… to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty… to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord… to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn… [and] to give… beauty for ashes.” Each of these actions (preaching, healing, proclaiming, comforting, consoling, and giving) are synonyms for “bringing salvation.” Salvation is not something generic but specific––it includes a particular set of actions done by God, through his Son, on behalf of all people who live sin-sick lives. In the words of Edwina Gateley, salvation renews and transforms “Our dark and groping world.” That is the “good news” of Christmas.

And the Son does this empowered by the Holy Spirit. We are familiar with the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist (cf. Matt. 3:13-17) but that was not, it appears, the Son’s only anointing. According to the prophet Isaiah, the Son was anointed with the Holy Spirit by the Father and that anointing empowers Christ for the Incarnation. (Fernanda Desa’s painting depicts this heavenly anointing.) Christ himself said as much in the synagogue in Nazareth when he took up the scroll of Isaiah and read chapter 61, claiming, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). The Servant Jesus is doubly anointed by God: by God as the Messiah sent to earth in the form of a man and by John in the Jordan as a man. It is this double anointing that then empowers Jesus to carry out and carry forth the Gospel. That is the “good news” of Christmas.

We are not mere observers or beneficiaries of these events. No, we are participants with the Anointed Servant in preaching, healing, proclaiming, comforting, consoling, and giving. “We are called to say yes” to the Gospel, we are to join with Christ in spreading the Good News. And like the Son we do this anointed by the Holy Spirit. We do not merely celebrate the Incarnation today as an historical event but as a reminder of our own sending to the “ruined cities” to “rebuild the old ruins.” That is the “good news” of Christmas.

Prayer:
Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born this day of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and forever.
Amen.
 –––BCP, 2019

Rev. Greg Peters, Ph.D., S.M.D.
Professor of Medieval and Spiritual Theology
Torrey Honors College
Biola University
Vicar of Anglican Church of the Epiphany, La Mirada

For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.