Happy New Year! In our modern calendar, 2009, is already a few hours old. In the Church year calendar the new year began with the first day of Advent. We celebrated Advent until December 25th, and beginning on the 26th we’ve begun a celebration of the 12 days of Christmas – the days between Christ’s birth and “Epiphany” on January 6th. Epiphany is the celebration of the prophetic visit of the Magi recorded in Matthew 2.
One writer said it this way: “The 'real' twelve days of Christmas are important not just as a way of thumbing our noses at secular ideas of the ‘Christmas season.’ They are important because they give us a way of reflecting on what the Incarnation means in our lives. Christmas commemorates the most momentous event in human history—the entry of God into the world He made, in the form of a baby. The Logos through whom the worlds were made took up His dwelling among us in a tabernacle of flesh…In Christ, our human nature was united to God, and when Christ enters our hearts, he brings us into that union.”
In the 16th century, with Catholicism outlawed in England, clerics taught the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as a way of reminding the faithful of all that God has given us. You can read the past days in previous blogs, but today – Jan. 1, 2009 – is the 7th day of Christmas, and on this day…
On the 7th day of Christmas
My True Love gave to me
Seven Swans a swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.
If you struggle a bit with identifying “7” you are not alone. Creation culminated in 7 days, but it was the six geese a-laying that reminded us of creation. Is it God’s rest, Sabbath, on the 7th day that is commemorated? Possibly, but another possibility – and tradition has it that it is this – is the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit: prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and compassion. It is Paul’s reference in Romans that serves as the basis for this; but it is the prophecy of Isaiah that foretold it. Here’s both passages for our readings.
Two readings:
Isaiah 11:1-5 (NASB)
1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.
Romans 12:1-13 (NASB)
1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
4 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,
5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;
7 if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;
8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
Why seven swans?
Swans are one of the most beautiful and graceful creatures of God. They are also zealous and protective of their own. Beyond that, there is much to say, but suffice it that in this “seven graces of the Spirit” we swing on the gate of the new year and pray…
A Prayer:
“Yes Lord, I need your work – the work of your Holy Spirit – in my life every day. Whether in me, to me, or through me, make me a vessel of your grace.”
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