Monday December 24, 2018

Psalm 45, 46 

Isaiah 35:1–10 

Revelation 22:12–17, 21 

Luke 1:67–80

Today is Christmas Eve. We are coming to the end of our time of reflection. Tomorrow we reach the climax for which we have been preparing. The presents are wrapped, the food is prepared, the house is decorated. We have reached this point annually for many years. We have heard sermons and reflected on it. 

I was surprised on first reading the lessons appointed for Morning Prayer today that there was no specific mention of the birth of Christ in them. Why were we hearing these particular passages? As I re-read them it began to dawn on me that they were all about a vision of heaven on earth. Each one, in its way portrays a picture of the world in the way God made it to be. 

Psalm 46 talks about who this God is; Isaiah portrays the perfect world God wants for us; Revelation looks at what the future holds for us; and Luke tells about how this perfect world will come about. 

I was reminded of one of my favourite carols – “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”. Isn’t this what the angels were singing about on the first Christmas Eve? Isn’t that the “Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all People”, of their song? Jesus was born into the world to show us God’s perfect world. Even after “two thousand years of wrong” the angels are still singing to us. “O listen now, and still your strife, to hear the angels sing.” So amidst all the hustle and bustle, the tinsel, and preparations, may we this Christmas Eve listen to the angels’ song. 

- Jean Gandon

Photo by Joanne Ingram