8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
These passages cover a story we're familiar with from Christmas Eve, all save the last verse. That adds something new. Jesus is circumcised and given a new name, albeit one planned for him before he was even conceived.
Circumcision draws its roots from the story of Abraham in Genesis. Abraham was the father of all faithful people, first Jews but through them, also people of faith today. He is the root of our faith family tree. God made a covenant with Abraham, promising blessings for him and his descendants. Circumcision was the physical sign of that covenant.
Through the process of circumcision one loses something--a small but intimate piece of skin--but one also gains something: the visible sign of being dedicated to God and a member of his chosen people. That's not to say that circumcision is the road to salvation or a prerequisite for it. The New Testament is quite clear that outward signs are not required, that people of different cultures and backgrounds--including uncircumcised people--can be called God's children. But the illustration is still valid for our purposes. In circumcision you say goodbye to something old and embrace something new. You lose part of your physical identity but gain something much more important. You release something past and become dedicated to the greater purpose ahead.
That mirrors our New Year's journey fairly well, doesn't it? Another year is gone. We lost some things during that year that we now have to say goodbye to. As the clock rings out the old year we are reminded that even the things we gain don't last forever. There's always a little sadness associated with that moment. Time moves so fast. It seems like just yesterday we were saying goodbye to 2010...or 2000...or 1964. Every time we try to hold on to something and build our lives around it that silly clock strikes again and the world moves underneath our feet. It never stops, never slows. Our only recourse is to let go and let it spin.
On the other hand each new year brings the promise of something new and better. We don't know what we'll get to say "hello" to this year. It could be marvelous. It could be challenging. All we know is that God has something ahead for us. The only way to figure out the plan is to leap into 2012 with eyes open and hearts expectant. We lose things but we expect to gain even more...even if that "more" is the realization that we are coming closer and closer to our ultimate destiny of love, joy, peace, and reunion with God and our loved ones.
We feel the snip of this annual circumcision and we cry but afterwards we are raised up with a new identity and a renewed name, ready to live up to what the Lord calls us to do.
In church we honored this event in Jesus' life and our own cycle of ending and beginning by writing down things about our old selves we were ready to say goodbye to and things we'd like to see changed about ourselves and our journey in the next year. We brought them forward to the altar and offered them as prayers to God. We'll actually take those slips of paper (unread by anyone but God), burn them, and mix the ashes in with our palm ashes for Ash Wednesday. You might consider lifting up your own prayers to God about unresolved matters in your life as you remember this occasion. If you want to drop a slip of paper by the parsonage to include in the group you're more than welcome to.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
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