Christmas

Year 3: December 25, 2016

Preaching Text: Luke 2:8-20

Orion and the Dark by Emma Yarlett

(Written for ages 5-9)

Comment:  Ruth Anne Reese speaks of the angels’ presence as representing the “glory of the Lord,” or God’s presence.  Shepherds in the field likely didn’t have a lot of experience with the presence of God- powerful, mysterious, incomprehensible. It makes sense that they were terrified. A number of fears are rooted in things we cannot fully comprehend. Orion, like a number of children, is terrified of the Dark. He tries everything possible to get away from the Dark, and then the Dark comes to him, not unlike the angels appearing before the shepherds. When the Dark befriends Orion, his fears cease and he experiences adventure and delight. When the shepherds encounter God’s presence in the new born baby Jesus, they experience and share the good news of great joy. This text and story invite us to consider how we might meet our own fear of that which is misunderstood or unknown to discover adventure and great joy.

Union Presbyterian Seminary alumna Noell Rathbun-Cook writes the Year 3 Narrative Lectionary Links.

Lectionary Links (NL): Christmas Day, December 25, 2016 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.