Lectionary Links: Sunday, December 18, 2011
4th Sunday of Advent
Year B: December 18, 2011
First Reading: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
The Carpenter’s Gift by David Rubel
(Written for ages 5-9)
Comment: Understanding the consistent grace of God is a helpful way to explore this text with children. Mark Douglas suggests that for the Babylonian exiles, hearing this text would have been “a way of hoping for a future based on what God has done in the past.” He goes on to say that for us to hear the text in this way is a chance to “watch the gospel be born anew.” (Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 1, p 78) We see a vision of hope for the future based on the past in The Carpenter’s Gift. When Henry’s wish for a house comes true through the gifts of many people, he plants a pinecone in gratitude. The pinecone grows into a huge tree, which many years later allows Henry to share the gift of a house with another family.
Second Reading: Romans 16:25-27
Cricket at the Manger by Edith Hope Fine
(Written for ages 5-9)
Comment: This doxology from Romans is an expression of praise for the way God is made known to us through Jesus Christ—the incarnation. Sally A. Brown declares it shocking that God would come to earth as one of us, with flesh and bone, a vulnerable baby. “By grace, shock may give way to holy stillness, holy stillness to rising joy, until we leap to shout ‘Praise!’ to the one who took flesh for our redemption.” (Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 1, p 91) Cricket, too, goes through a process before he leaps to praise. When he finally comes face to face with the Christ child, he is moved to sing a song of joy.
Gospel Reading: Luke 1:26-38
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (a picture book adaptation) by Barbara Robinson
(Written for ages 5-9)
Comment: “…nothing will be impossible with God.” The story of the annunciation is truly one where, through God, the impossible occurs. The classic story, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, is also a story of impossible transformation. Everyone expects the Christmas pageant to bomb because the Herdmans—aka “the worst kids in the history of the world”—have hijacked all the main roles. How can it really be a Christmas pageant when they don’t even know the story of Jesus’ birth? Although the Herdmans take artistic freedoms in interpreting their roles, it is clear that they have truly encountered the Son of God. The impossible did occur: “Every wrong thing the Herdmans did seemed right and natural… It was the best Christmas pageant ever!”
This Lectionary Links post was written by regular contributor Noell Rathbun.
Lectionary Links: Sunday, December 18, 2011 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
