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Morning Devotion for the Season of Christmas

January 5, 2023

Invitatory

Alleluia. To us a child is born: Come let us adore him. Alleluia.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Reading

Confirmation: Strengthen, O Lord, your servant ______ with your Holy Spirit; encourage her for your service; and sustain her all the days of her life.

Reception: ________ , we recognize you as a member of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, and we receive you into the fellowship of this Communion. God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless, preserve, and keep you. Amen.

Meditation - Winnie Smith

A recent conversation with staff alerted me to something peculiar about church language. We refer to “membership” at The Redeemer and in the Episcopal Church. “Membership” in a denomination whose motto is “all are welcome.” Seems a bit counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? Thinking of an association that has or requires membership gets me thinking about the opposite of membership, which could be called disunion or separation. Those are not words I want coming to anyone’s mind when they hear “church.” So what are we really talking about when we say “member?” What does it mean in the prayer of Reception, listed above, when the Bishop claims to recognize someone as “a member of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church”?

In baptism, we are said to be adopted by God as his children and made “members of Christ’s Body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God.” We recognize baptism as one of the two great sacraments, given by Christ to the church for any and all people who desire them. In short, “membership,” like God’s grace, is freely offered to anyone who wants it. So it is not exclusive in the traditional sense. It is more a word of welcome: you - any you out there - are invited into this mystical membership of God’s family. The membership application doesn’t require much work, but the commitment one makes by joining lasts a lifetime. It asks one to reject Satan, to repent of sins, and to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Those promises are made in baptism, reaffirmed in confirmation or reception, and are lived out every single day. And the benefit - relationship with God and others that will last beyond a lifetime - are well worth it.

On Sunday we will witness the confirmation of fourteen young people and the reception of three adults. What a joyous day for our Redeemer community and for the greater Episcopal Church. We will be strengthened on Sunday morning by the choice of these individuals to step more meaningfully into their journeys of faith, and I hope that by hearing and observing the promises they are making, your own membership in God’s community will be strengthened.

Collect for the First Sunday after Christmas Day

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.