Struther: daybreak

Saturday, December 24, 2016
    Christmas Eve
Meditation:
    Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
    —John 8:12 (ESV)
Quotation:
High o’er the lonely hills black turns to gray,
Bird-song the valley fills, mists fold away
Gray wakes to green again,
Beauty is seen again,
    Gold and serene again dawneth the day.

So, o’er the hills of life, stormy, forlorn,
Out of the cloud and strife sunrise is born;
Swift grows the light for us,
Ended is night for us,
    Soundless and bright for us breaketh God’s morn.

Hear we no beat of drums, fanfare, nor cry,
When Christ the herald comes quietly nigh;
Splendor He makes on earth;
Color awakes on earth;
    Suddenly breaks on earth light from the sky.

Bid then farewell to sleep: rise up and run!
What though the hill be steep? Strength’s in the sun.
Now you shall find at last
Night’s left behind at last,
    And for mankind at last, Day has begun!
    ... Jan Struther (1901-1953), Songs of Praise, enl. ed., Ralph Vaughan Williams, et al., ed., Oxford University Press, 1931, n. 63, p. 19 (see the book)
    See also John 8:12; Matt. 4:13-16; Isa. 9:2; 60:1-3; Luke 1:76-79; 2:30-32; John 1:9; 9:5; Eph. 5:8; 1 Thess. 5:4-5; 1 John 1:5-7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I greet the great Dawn You have sent.

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Watts: The King of Glory sends his Son

Friday, December 23, 2016
Meditation:
    When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
    —Luke 2:15-17 (ESV)
Quotation:
The King of glory sends his Son,
To make his entrance on this earth;
Behold the midnight bright as noon,
And heav’nly hosts declare his birth!

About the young Redeemer’s head,
What wonders, and what glories meet!
An unknown star arose, and led
The eastern sages to his feet.

Simeon and Anna both conspire
The infant Saviour to proclaim;
Inward they felt the sacred fire,
And bless’d the babe, and own’d his name.

Let pagan hordes blaspheme aloud,
And treat the holy child with scorn;
Our souls adore th’ eternal God
Who condescended to be born.
    ... Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Hymns and Spiritual Songs [1707], in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, ed. Samuel Melanchthon Worcester, Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1834, Book II, hymn 136, p. 454 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 2:1-11; Luke 2:25-38; John 1:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have come to us in the flesh.

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Reich: Messianic prophecy fulfilled

Thursday, December 22, 2016
Meditation:
    But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
    —Micah 5:2 (ESV)
Quotation:
    [The entire Old Testament] ground-plan is the whole scheme of Messianic prophecy, from the germinal revelation in Genesis concerning the suffering, yet triumphant Seed of the Woman to the coming to His Temple of the long-absent “Angel of the Covenant” in Malachi. That hope alone explains the Book, giving meaning and consistency to its story. Was it a chimera, an hallucination? According to the prophecy of Micah, the messianic Shepherd of Israel had to be born in Bethlehem. It is unthinkable that an heir to the throne of David could be born in Bethlehem now, and be also able to prove his legitimacy by documentary evidence. The event must clearly have taken place already, or Micah is a false prophet, a raiser of false hopes, along with the other writers in the Old Testament.
    ... Max I. Reich (1867-1945)
    See also Mic. 5:2; Gen. 3:15; Mic. 3:1; Rom. 1:1-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You became like us, so that we might become like You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newton: the function of prophecy

Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Meditation:
    [Peter:] “All the prophets testify about [Jesus] that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
    —Acts 10:43 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God gave the prophecies, not to gratify men’s curiosity by enabling them to foreknow things, but that after they were fulfilled they might be interpreted by the event, and His own providence, not the interpreter’s, be thereby manifested to the world.
    ... Isaac Newton (1642-1727), Commentary on Daniel, Darby and Browne, 1733, p. 101 (see the book)
    See also Acts 10:43; Isa. 53:11; Joel 2:28-29; Mic. 7:18; Luke 24:25-27,44-45; John 1:45; 5:39-40; Acts 26:22; 2 Pet. 1:19-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your prophets confirm Your providence. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Newman: the language of the heart

Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Meditation:
    For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.
    —1 Thessalonians 1:8 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The heart is commonly reached, not through the reason, but through the imagination, by means of direct impressions, by the testimony of facts and events, by history, by description. Persons influence us, voices melt us, looks subdue us, deeds inflame us.
    ... John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman, v. 8, Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 555 (see the book)
    See also 1 Thess. 1:8; Ps. 40:6-8; Isa. 2:3; 52:7; 66:19; Rom. 10:14-15; 2 Thess. 3:1; Rev. 22:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You demonstrate Your love and presence to me daily. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Loukes: the divine intent

Monday, December 19, 2016
Meditation:
    Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
    —Ephesians 5:25-27 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The Church is not a tribe for the improvement in holiness of people who think it would be pleasant to be holy, a means to the integration of character for those who cannot bear their conflicts. It is a statement of the divine intention for humanity.
    ... Harold Loukes (1912-1980)
    See also Eph. 5:25-27; 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:19-22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit inhabits Your church. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kraemer: worldly ecclesiology

Sunday, December 18, 2016
    Advent IV
Meditation:
    So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
    —Ephesians 2:19-22 (ESV)
Quotation:
    One of the heritages from history which prevents us so often from seeing the Church, with all its greatness and misery, in its true light, is the distinction between the “empirical” and the “ideal” Church. It is to such a degree an element of our thinking that we hardly notice it. It has been since the first centuries a standard view, a means to give account of the, indeed, often disappointing state and quality of Christian faith and practice in the Church as it appeared. As such it is understandable; but nevertheless it proceeds more from the counsels of worldly wisdom than from the faith-as-response by which the Church should live, and the call to incessant renewal under which the Church stands as “God’s own household,” “growing into a holy temple in the Lord.” However stubborn and refractory the stuff of ordinary reality may be—and it is—the Church, though with clear realism seeing this reality, can never permit itself to put the divine indicatives and imperatives, which are her peculiar directives and points of orientation, behind considerations which are properly speaking worldly in character.
    ... Hendrik Kraemer (1888-1965), A Theology of the Laity, London: Lutterworth Press, 1958, p. 88 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 2:19-22; Gal. 6:10; Eph. 3:6,14-15; Phil. 3:20; Heb. 12:22-23; 1 John 3:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You bless Your church. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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