Matthew 2:13-23 Dear Partner in Preaching, Too soon. This reading, I mean. It comes too soon. We have, after all, just celebrated Christmas. If your Christmas Eve was anything like mine, it was filled with songs about the “holy infant so tender and mild” and the “little town of Bethlehem” that sheltered him. The story you heard was most likely Luke’s depiction of a young mother giving birth to her firstborn child and angels greeting shepherd with words of peace on earth and good will to all. It was, I’m sure, a beautiful and hope-filled evening and celebration. Which is what makes the transition to this harrowing reading from...

Dear Partner in Preaching, Beginnings are so very important. And while there are many, many ways to preach the wonderful and well known passages for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, this year I was struck by how the first verses of the narratives of both Luke and John set a helpful context in which we may hear the Christmas story and promise anew. Christmas Eve: Luke 2:1-20 Over the years you’ve probably had one or two parishioners who believed – and told you! – that the King James’ Version is the only “real” translation – “if it was good enough for the Apostles, it’s good enough for me!” While I don’t normally share...

Matthew 1:18-25 Dear Partner in Preaching, Do you sense some of the heartache in Matthew’s story about the nativity? If you didn’t catch it the first time you read or listened to the story, that’s understandable. It’s easy to miss. Part of reason is simply that Matthew’s depiction of Christ’s birth is so remarkably brief, contained in a half verse at the beginning of this passage – “Now the birth of Jesus took place in this way” (1:18) – and in the verse bookending it at the end – “but he had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus” (v. 25). Another reason it’s easy to miss...