Would we accept Jesus today?

How do we accept Jesus today? 

From the scripture passage for today in verse 11, it states, "He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him."
If Jesus were to walk into our class on Sunday morning, would we welcome him? 
How many times has "Jesus" entered our class over this past year? 
What were their names? How will we be ready this year?


John 1:(1-9), 10-18
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

1:2 He was in the beginning with God.

1:3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being

1:4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

1:7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.


1:8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

1:9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

1:10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.

1:11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.

1:12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,

1:13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

1:14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.

1:15 (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'")

1:16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

1:17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

1:18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

Walter Morton for Journey Across the Line

Surely They Are My People...

What does it mean to be the people of God?

The lectionary for this first Sunday following Christmas is  from Isaiah in the Hebrew scriptures. In verse eight of the passage it is God who is to have said, "Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely."

In the weekly Introduction to Juadaism class I am taking at the Reform Congregation Beth Ahabah, in Richmond, Virginia, there has been discussion about what does it mean to be God's people?

Is it a special or unique relationship? Is one favored beyond the "normal"  relationship? What does being the children of God entail? As Christians we see ourselves as uniquely related to Jesus, just as the Jews could sometimes see themselves as uniquely related to Adoni.

When one faces a God that is able to call all creation into himself, how do we distinguish our self as a child of his people?

Isaiah 63:7-9
63:7 I will recount the gracious deeds of the LORD, the praiseworthy acts of the LORD, because of all that the LORD has done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

63:8 For he said, "Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely"; and he became their savior

63:9 in all their distress. It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Walter Morton for Journey Across the Line

The Risk in Faith - the Faith in Risk

When making a commitment to life, what risks are involved?

Being mortal, it's a little difficult to know what the future actually holds.

Risking for the larger story. Few people who have not risked have had a meaningful life. It seems to be an integral part of faith - to risk for the purposes of God.
The scripture is replete with those who have risked for God - Abraham, Isaac, Ruth, Esther, Jeremiah.

In our lesson for this Sunday, we look at another person who risked for God, from the book of Matthew, Joseph. The earthly father of Jesus. Just another young Jewish man for most in his day and time who by tradition was a woodworker. Young Joseph found himself in a social and familial dilemma when Mary his betrothed appears to be pregnant, through no apparent doing of his own. What to do?

How does Joseph respond to the risk to his and Mary's dilemma? How is that related to faith in our lives?

Matthew 1:18-25
1:18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

1:19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.

1:20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

1:21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

1:22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

1:23 "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us."

1:24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife,

1:25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Walter Morton for Journey Across the Line

With each child, the world begins anew -The Midrash

The first mitzvah - the first "commandment" - in the Bible is "Be fruitful and multiply," from Genesis 1:28. For Jews, having children is both a religious obligation and the crown of human life, the source of the greatest happiness. The birth of Jewish babies is thus greeted with rituals that are both solemn and joyful.

All parents know that their baby is the center of the universe, a "fact" that is acknowledged by the Jewish view of time. Every Jewish baby is considered a link in the chain that extends back to the birth of Isaac, the first Jewish baby, and extends forward to the day when the world will be peaceful and whole. After all, any baby might grow up to be the Messiah, the person who will lead the world to redemption. The Jewish traditions and rituals...give voice to the powerful feelings that surround the birth of every baby: gratitude, awe, fear, humility, continuity, and hope.
(Anita Diamant, Living a Jewish Life, 2007)

In our Journey lectionary lesson for December 12, we have the verses from Luke 1:1:46b-55, referred to in gospel critique as the poetically beautiful "Magnificat." My soul "magnifies" the Lord states the frail, but blessed mother to be. And in true Jewish tradition, Messianic hopes were there too.

How does Mary express gratitude, awe, fear, humility, continuity, and hope in the light of news brought to her on the wings of a messenger? 

For today, how does this contribute to recognizing each person as an expression of God, as described in the Latin phrase - imagio dei - as we are said to be created.

Luke 1:46b-55
1:46b My soul magnifies the Lord,

1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

1:48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

1:49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

1:50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

1:51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

1:52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;

1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.

1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

1:55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

Walter Morton for Journey Across the Line

How is God bringing a new idea to your life?

Today we look at Isaiah 11:1-10.  

A new growth, a shoot is ascending from an older. The promise of new life continues for the people. Isaiah characterizes this new promise as a spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, along with the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.

What do these characteristics mean? How is God using these characteristics to bring new life in you today?

What are some of the metaphors you can visualize from the image to the left as they apply to our lesson today?


Isaiah 11:1-10
11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

11:2 The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

11:3 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;

11:4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

11:6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.

11:9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

11:10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Walter Morton for Journay Across the Line