Morning Devotion for Advent
December 24, 2021
The Invitatory
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Praise ye the Lord.
The Lord's Name be praised.
Reading: Galatians 3:23-29
Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
I was in my mid-twenties when I passed the Bar Exam and was sworn in before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. It was a thrilling and somber experience - thrilling because my ambition was realized and somber because of the oath: to uphold and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I took these vows with others being admitted to the Bar of Pennsylvania. There is something about being with others. We joined in this together and we bound ourselves to the Court and our countrymen. Democracy, the nation, and its people depend upon our fidelity to that oath. When young and idealistic that seemed to weigh very heavily. In the intervening years so many laws have been enacted since I was admitted. When I think about the length of some pieces of recent Federal legislation, I almost want to qualify my oath, to say to the best of my knowledge and ability I will uphold and defend the Constitution… I can imagine the weight bearing on the ancient Jews in upholding the Law. I can imagine that Paul’s words of freedom to the Galatians were met with a range of emotions, not necessarily led by relief.
Consider how Paul addresses the Galatians. “Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. “ Not a particularly wholesome and welcoming relationship. There is restraint and yet some hint of safety in the two words imprisoned and guarded. The stories of those who gain their freedom after a long period of imprisonment, tell of the difficulties in adjusting to freedom, to the many changes in society and the openness of the world compared to the “total institution” of prison. Their reactions range from anxiety to depression, sometimes leading to suicide.
Faith in Christ allows one to forgo one’s need for the law in its disciplinarian function. One is freed from the requirements of the law. Paul reassures his Galatian audience that they are children of God through faith and not through the law. Baptism lends its own transformational force. The three categories of social distinction, that are operative in the surrounding culture at large are no longer valid or operative within the community of those baptized into Christ: Jew/Greek, slave/free, male/female. In this new life the old social distinctions no longer count before God.
The categories that divide us today may be different from those of Paul’s day, but divisions persist - ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender, sexual orientation, ideology, political affiliation. Paul reminds us that whatever human categories may describe us, they do not define us, “for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” All human categories are subordinate and ultimately irrelevant to our primary identity as members of the body of Christ. We have been freed from the law to live together as children of one parent, the creator God, in whom categories in all forms should be avoided, because God’s gracious, generous and enduring love and compassion transcend everything in the world.
I wish you all a Blessed Christmas.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
