Tag: jesus

Follow Me (Mark 1:14-20)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Come Follow Me, by Jorge Cocco Santángelo 

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. (New Revised Standard Version)

For all the talk of leadership, developing leaders, and being a leader, there is precious little conversation these days about becoming a follower. Perhaps we have such a dearth of leadership for this very reason, because one can only become a good leader if they experientially know what being a follower is.

The Call of Jesus

The call of Jesus is to pursue him, and he will develop us. Follow Jesus, and he’ll show you how to fish for people. All of Christ’s original disciples listened to Jesus, dropped everything they were doing, and immediately followed him.

I am wondering what would make you drop literally everything you are presently doing to pursue an entirely new life. I am curious what would cause you to follow Jesus without any conditions attached whatsoever. 

I am impressed that Peter and Andrew immediately responded to Jesus. They didn’t question Jesus as to whether this was a short term project or a long term assignment he was calling them to. They did not seek a contract with Jesus or ask how he would impact their stock portfolio. 

The first disciples simply dropped everything and left with Jesus.

I suspect they followed Jesus for the same reason I originally decided to follow him – because Jesus is such a compelling person, so gracious, interesting, and loving, that it was really no decision at all. Everything else pales in comparison with Jesus.

Read all four Gospels and the book of Acts and you will find that believers in Jesus follow Jesus; and those who do not follow Jesus are not believers. Followers follow, and those who do not follow are not Christ’s followers.

Jesus still calls people. He calls us to follow him and he will make us fishers of humanity. Maybe you are concerned about this and say, “I have no idea how to fish for people.” The good news is that Jesus said he would make us fishers of people. Jesus is not looking for people with skills he can use; instead, he calls, then develops people into fishers.

Christ always forms people with the ability to follow his call. Jesus will train us; we only need to answer the call to follow. 

When I was five years old my Dad took the training wheels off my bike and told me to ride it. I told him I couldn’t. He told me to get on the bike and he would run beside me. I got on the bike and started to ride with him holding it. When I began to panic, approaching a tree, I started talking to my Dad. But he didn’t answer… because he wasn’t beside me. He dropped out from shagging me a long way back.

We are not called to follow Jesus based on our skills, but on the lack of them so that Jesus will do in us a work of total allegiance and loyalty to the kingdom of God. 

Jesus will make sure to develop the skills we need in order to do what he has called us to do. We only need to hear and answer the call of Jesus to follow. The following is a parable about the church and being fishers of people: 

“Now it came to pass that a group existed who called themselves fishermen. Week after week those who called themselves fishermen met in meetings and talked about their call to fish, the abundance of fish, and how they might go about fishing. They discussed the importance of fishing and that fishing is the task of every fisherman.  They listened to special speakers talk about fishing and they promoted fishing and looked at all the latest equipment for fishing. They built large buildings called ‘Fishing Headquarters’ so that they could tell as many people as possible about fishing. They organized boards of people to send out fishermen to other places. They offered teaching and classes on how to fish and the best and latest fishing methods. With much training a good many persons got their fishing licenses and became upstanding members of Fishing Headquarters. There was just one thing that they did not do: They didn’t fish. When one person dared to suggest that those who do not catch fish are really not fishermen, the group became angry and kicked that crazy person out their group.”

The Message of Jesus

Jesus said the kingdom of God is near, so repent and believe the good news. For Jesus, the word “kingdom” means God’s intentions and will for this world to come true. Jesus was saying that he is creating a new society – which meant Caesar was not Lord and that people’s loyalty was not ultimately to the Roman Empire. 

The kingdom of heaven, God’s dream society, will eventually spread across the entire earth so that the whole world is God’s sacred space, devoted to love, shaped by justice, living in peace, and abounding with wisdom.  Jesus encouraged us to pray consistent with this idea saying, “May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

If we find ourselves not really working toward Christ’s idea of kingdom, then we need to “repent and believe the good news” that God is working toward restoring all things to their original beauty and luster. The word “repent” means a change of mind which leads to a change of behavior. And “believe” means to put all your eggs in God’s kingdom basket.

None of this is a suggestion, but is rather a straightforward call to follow Jesus in his kingdom building enterprise on this earth. It would, therefore, be a travesty to simply think about the message for a while and follow Jesus if we feel like it, or get around to it.

Jesus wants to make fishers within family systems, workplaces, neighborhoods, and all the places within a typical sphere of living: This requires the following:

  1. Go where the fish are. Fishing would be easy if we could put a basket by the water and have the fish jump into them! But that is not how it works. Rather, it takes intentional activities that connect people together.
  2. Cast the nets. Peter and Andrew did more than take their boat out to the middle of the lake. To catch fish, they threw their nets into the water. Here is what I believe this means for us: We do what is fair and just to our neighbors. We extend compassion to them and are steadfast in our love, even when others are unlovely. And we do not take ourselves too seriously.
  3. Obey Jesus and walk with him. After Christ’s resurrection, Jesus came to some of the disciples, who had fished unsuccessfully all night. He told them to throw their nets on the other side of the boat – which seemed like nonsense, but they did it anyway. It resulted in a great catch (John 21:1-14). During the three years of Christ’s earthly ministry, the disciples did everything with him – they walked, talked, and ate with Jesus. And when he ascended to heaven, they acted on the Great Commission given to them by Jesus to make other disciples.

May God cleanse our lips and our lives so that we might proclaim the good news of Christ’s kingdom with glad and sincere hearts to the glory of Father, Son, and Spirit.

Eternal God, the refuge and help of all your children, we praise you for all you have given us, for all you have done for us, for all that you are to us. In our weakness, you are strength, in our darkness, you are light, in our sorrow, you are comfort and peace. We cannot number your blessings; we cannot declare your love: For all your blessings we bless you. May we live as in your presence, and love the things that you love, and serve you in our daily lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“Follow Me” (John 1:43-51)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown.

Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

“Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.

As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”

“How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”

Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”

Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.” (New Living Translation)

I describe myself as a follower of Jesus. I have been for decades. I found, and continue to find, in Jesus Christ a compelling person full of grace, truth, and love.

But my early life was not characterized with knowing Christ. I certainly learned about Jesus, that this ancient guy lived an altruistic life, got tortured and killed on a cross, and that Christians believe in his resurrection from death. However, back then it was more like some strange history lesson. The information made no difference to me.

That is, until I heard a voice – not an audible one that others could hear. Yet, it was just a real as any daily conversation with another person. I heard the call of Jesus. The Ancient of Days showed up.

I know with every epistemic fiber in my being that it wasn’t an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. I am sure beyond certainty that there was more of an empty grave than gravy about my experience of the risen Christ.

I experienced the call of Jesus to “follow me.” And that is really, at its simplest, the call which continually goes out to all humanity. It is a gracious and merciful call. It isn’t a summons to experience a cataclysmic event of total belief in one fell swoop. Rather, it’s a call to believe that is much more an unfolding awareness of the deep spirituality and connection with the divine within.

Important to that faith process is another call to “come and see.” Whereas there are some Christian traditions which focus solely on a singular one-time experience of saving faith in Christ, the Gospel of John displays a drama of faith with multiple layers which people move through.

There is no egalitarian zap in which God grants total and immediate understanding. Instead, faith is an ever-increasing process. It is appropriate and biblical to say that our salvation has happened, is happening, and will happen. We follow, we come and see, and we keep following, keep coming, keep seeing more and more.

Like a muscle, our faith grows, develops, stretches, and strengthens over time. To use another metaphor, we ascend a stairway to heaven, one step at a time, day after day, following Jesus and ascending to spiritual maturity.

Orthodox icon of Christ calling Philip and Nathanael

Methinks this is likely part of what Jesus was getting at with Nathaniel in today’s Gospel lesson. Nathaniel would have quickly picked up on the reference Jesus was making, way back to the first book of Genesis. The Jewish patriarch, Jacob, had an experience of seeing the angels of God on some celestial stairway, ascending and descending. It was an encounter of God’s presence with Jacob, assuring him of divine intervention into the muck of humanity. (Genesis 28:10-17)

Jesus connected that ancient portrait to himself so that Nathaniel would understand, would believe, that God has again broken into this world with a special divine presence. To look at Jesus and follow him, is to see and follow God.

Christ Jesus is the ultimate example and embodiment of God with us. Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus presents himself as:

  • Living water – connecting to Jacob’s well (John 4:5-14)
  • The Temple of God – the place where the Lord dwells in all divine fullness (John 2:18-22)
  • Bread from heaven – linking the giving of manna to the Israelites in the desert (Exodus 16:4-7; John 6:1-59)
  • The good shepherd – fulfilling divine Old Testament imperatives of caring for people (Ezekiel 34:11-16; John 10:1-30)

In all these ways, and more, Jesus intentionally connects himself as fulfilling God’s ancient promises to people.

In whichever way we need to hear the call to follow, Jesus accommodates to us. For some, Christ comes knocking on the front door. For others, he enters the side door, or slips into the backdoor of our lives.

And, if we will come and see, Jesus will also accommodate us by being the authority over us, the teacher to us, or the friend beside us. The Lord Jesus shall shepherd us and woo us to the flock for guidance and protection.

However it may be that Jesus comes to you, it most likely will be in ways you aren’t expecting. Surely, nothing good can come from Nazareth! Yet, it did. Can anything good come from Calcutta, India, or Juarez, Mexico, or Hoboken, New Jersey, or Milwaukee, Wisconsin, or even from a small rural area that doesn’t show up on a map? Yes, it can. Because with Jesus, God has entered this world, and, as it turns out, the Lord’s presence is everywhere.

Follow me. Come and see. Two of the simplest exhortations ever uttered. Yet, two of the most gracious phrases ever said, with profound implications for us beyond what we can fathom or imagine.

Guide us waking O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace. May the shape of each day be formed by the pedantic following of my Lord; and may I come and see the wonders you have done, are doing, and will do. Almighty and merciful God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – bless us and keep us. Amen.

Who Is Jesus? (Luke 2:22-40)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
The Presentation in the Temple, 14th century fresco in Pomposa Abbey, Codorigo, Italy

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
    which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. (New International Version)

The Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John actually contain very little information about the childhood of Jesus. That’s because the Gospels are not biographies – in the sense we think of them – but rather they are narratives that seek to answer a fundamental question about faith and life on this earth: Who is this Jesus?

C.S. Lewis went about exploring that very question. He reasons with us in his classis work, Mere Christianity:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

St. Luke’s account of Christ’s childhood stories, seeks to make some important theological points about Jesus:

  • born a Jew amongst devout religious Jews in a thoroughly Jewish society, under Roman authority (Luke 2:1-7)
  • born of a woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4-5)
  • obedient to his heavenly Father (Luke 2:49; Mark 3:35)
The Presentation in the Temple, 14th century marble statue in the National Museum of the Middle Ages, Paris, France

So, as such, the presentation of Jesus in Jerusalem at the temple is motivated by specific requirements of the law of Moses:

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days…. On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over….

“‘When the days of her purification for a son… are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering….

“‘These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy… But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’” (Leviticus 12:1-8, NIV)

What’s more, every first-born male (as Jesus was) specifically belongs to the Lord, and is set apart.

The Lord said to Moses, “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me… you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb….”

“In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt.

This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.” (Exodus 13:1-2, 12, 14-16, NIV)

Luke was making the connection that when Joseph and Mary presented Jesus to the Lord in Jerusalem, they were essentially dedicating his life to God. Jesus will be the means of redemption for all the people.

Mary would have remembered the words the angel Gabriel told her, that her son will not only be holy, but also be called the Son of God. The life of Jesus – conception, birth, and presentation at the temple – is demonstrably dedicated fully and completely to his heavenly Father. Deliverance for both Jews and Gentiles is focused in the person of Jesus.

Simeon and the Child Jesus, 16th century statue in Zadar, Croatia

Simeon and Anna show up at the presentation of Jesus as devout Jews who are awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promises of consolation and redemption for Israel.

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
    and a light for the Gentiles.” (Isaiah 42:6, NIV)

Break forth; shout together for joy,
    you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people;
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
    before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
    the salvation of our God. (Isaiah 52:9-10, NRSV)

Simeon and Anna became the spokespersons for the redemption that is to come through Jesus. They both got a glimpse of the salvation that would, one day, reveal itself to the whole world. Forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death and hell, and freedom from guilt and shame all become laser focused on the suffering servant of God.

Who is Jesus? He is the ultimate meaning of Christmas, the incarnation of the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Amen.

Celebration and Lament (Matthew 2:13-18)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Coptic Church depiction of the holy family in Egypt

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi.Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

“A voice was heard in Ramah,
    wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
    she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Smack in the middle of the great celebration of Christ’s birth is a great lament. That’s because not everyone views the birth of Jesus with joy; there are others who see it as a threat and want to stamp it out.

We are humans, with two ears, two eyes, two hands, two feet, two lungs, and two kidneys. Our paired organs exist because we need the two of them in order to function properly. Joy and sadness, celebration and lament, are emotionally paired so that our soul may serve us as it is intended to. We hold them both together – at the same time, all the time – in order to have a well-rounded and healthy way of life.

In this time of year, it can be easy to gravitate towards either one or the other. We might become engrossed in all the shiny things of the season; or we may get lost by all the sorrows which the season stirs up for us.

I invite you to approach the mundane and simple manger. Although it might seem dull and unattractive – the last place you may find wholeness and peace – it is truly the place where we find God. It is here that both our joys and our sorrows meet, because among the stinky animals and the lower class life we shall actually discover the real longing of our hearts.

The gracious and almighty God preserved and protected the child Jesus. Christ’s early life retraced the life of ancient Israel. Like the Jewish patriarchs, Jesus went down to Egypt (and would eventually go down and face hell for us in his crucifixion); and, like the ancient Israelites, Jesus was brought up out of Egypt (and would rise from the dead bringing freedom from sin and death once for all) in a New Exodus.

It is as if the disciple Matthew means to connect the two Testaments as a unified whole by saying, “Look, here is the Messiah, the coming King, the promised One of Israel and of all the nations. Jesus is our salvation, the fulfillment of all that we have hoped for.”

Jesus is the New Exodus

In the second of three dreams, Joseph is told to take Jesus to Egypt. Joseph obeyed the Lord and took responsibility for the role of protecting Jesus, as contrasted with Herod’s role in attempting to murder Jesus.

Yet, there is more to this story than Christ’s protection; this is the fulfillment of a biblical pattern, an identification of Jesus with the people of God. Matthew pulled forward the prophet Hosea to say that just as God brought the Israelites out of Egypt through a great deliverance, God brought up Jesus, the Great Deliverer, out of Egypt as the unique Son of God.

Ethiopian Orthodox icon of the holy family fleeing to Egypt

When we hold the pair of Testaments together in both hands, we feel the weight of Jesus as God’s divine Son; so therefore, Christ is the rightful Ruler in God’s kingdom.

Just as God preserved Israel from Pharaoh’s wrath, the Lord protected Jesus from Herod’s wrath. God’s kindness and loyalty extends to us as covenant people and preserves us from the wrath of the devil who seeks to keep as many people as possible in the realm of darkness.

Our hope is in the Lord Jesus, who conquered the devil by establishing a beachhead on this earth through an incarnation as the Son of God.

Jesus Brought Us Out of Exile

The scoundrel King Herod massacred innocent toddlers to ensure the destruction of Jesus. Behind his atrocity was the devil himself, who knew Jesus was the coming king who would one day bring salvation. Reflecting on a vision of Christ’s birth, the Apostle John identified the sinister plan and the divine deliverance:

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. She gave birth to a son, a male child who is to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was snatched up to God and his throne. (Revelation 12:4-5, CEB)

Satan wars against God’s Son and God’s people, whose roots go all the way back to the first prophecy of Christ after the Fall of humanity. God declared to Satan:

“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NLT)

There has been continual enmity ever since, between the serpent and the seed of the woman. It manifests itself with the Israelites constantly being threatened with extermination and tempted to conform to pagan ways.

King Herod was just another in a long line of demonically animated persons trying to perpetuate the kingdom of darkness. We must take this threat seriously because the devil knows that his time is short. A second Advent is coming which will be the final judgment.

Satan’s most powerful weapon, death, has lost its sting because of Jesus. Christmas is a hard time of year for many people, filled with depression instead of joy, grieving over lost loved ones for whom we will not spend another Christmas with.

Yet there is a reunion coming, the hope of a bodily resurrection in which we will be with Jesus and God’s people forever. Be encouraged to understand that there is no time in heaven; it will be only a moment and the people who have gone before us will turn around and see us; we will one day join them.

Matthew also used the prophet Jeremiah to communicate hope. Jeremiah’s prophecy dealt with children who were lost in war to the invading Babylonians. The prophecy is a lament with the hope that captivity will not be forever.

The disciple Matthew wanted us to see that the exile is over for us; Jesus has arrived, and the tears which were shed will shortly dry up. There may be a time of suffering we must endure, but there will be glory. Jesus is the Great Deliverer who brings us out of sin’s captivity and into the promises of God. He is our hope.

Jesus is the promised One who will deliver us from the tyranny of the devil. Christ is the hope of the nations, the Savior of the world. So, let us come back to the first Christmas which was the beginning of the end for evil on the earth.

Believers in Jesus are part of God’s victory, and they overcome the evil one by the blood of the lamb, acknowledging that Christ’s incarnation was essential for us. 

Just as Jesus made a radical break with his former life in heaven through the incarnation, we, too, must break with our old way of life.

God will save the people through this child Jesus. The greatest gift we can give in this season and throughout the coming year is the gift of grace, the presentation of the Christ child.

Loving God, help us remember the birth of Jesus so that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the wisdom of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love across the world.

Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil through the blessing of the Christ child.

Teach us to be happy with pure hearts.

Grant us grateful thoughts, devoted hearts, and gracious hands, through Jesus our Savior in the might of the Holy Spirit. Amen.