Rejoice that every Herod will stand before the Lamb upon the throne: Christmas Daybook 10
Watch: Refugee, by Malcolm Guite, adapted and sung by Steve Bell
Read: Jeremiah 31:7-14; Psalm 84; Ephesians 1:3-14; Matthew 2:13-23
Pray: Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the Second Sunday after Christmas
O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Do: Read Malcolm Guite's sonnet and give thanks for the Christ who shoulders the load of all violence and rage and that someday every Herod will stand before the Lamb upon the throne.
We think of him as safe beneath the steeple,
Or cosy in a crib beside the font,
But he is with a million displaced people
On the long road of weariness and want.
For even as we sing our final carol
His family is up and on that road,
Fleeing the wrath of someone else’s quarrel,
Glancing behind and shouldering their load.
Whilst Herod rages still from his dark tower
Christ clings to Mary, fingers tightly curled,
The lambs are slaughtered by the men of power,
And death squads spread their curse across the world.
But every Herod dies, and comes alone
To stand before the Lamb upon the throne.
