Rest Your Head: Christmas Daybook 4
Opening prayer: Heavenly Father, make me more like Jesus and more like the true self you’ve created as I savor your loving presence today. Please guide my thoughts and impressions by your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Look: Indian Universal Father, Erica Ploucha - Source
Listen: Rest Your Head, George Winston - Spotify | YouTube
Read: Psalm 97, 98; Proverbs 8:22-30; John 13:20-35; Psalm 145; Isaiah 44:1-8; 1 John 5:1-12
Excerpts:
"The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice…
Zion hears and is glad, and the towns of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O God. For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
The Lord loves those who hate evil; he guards the lives of his faithful; he rescues them from the hand of the wicked. Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!”
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“The Lord has made known his victory; he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord…
… for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.”
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"The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago… then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always”
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“Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”
After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot…
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
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"The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made….
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds. The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down….
You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing. The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.”
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“But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you in the womb and will help you: Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring. They shall spring up like a green tamarisk, like willows by flowing streams. This one will say, “I am the Lord’s,” another will be called by the name of Jacob, yet another will write on the hand, “The Lord’s,” and adopt the name of Israel.”
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“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments…
This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth. There are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree….
And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
- Psalm 97:1a, 8-12 * Psalm 98:2-6, 9b * Proverbs 8:22 30 * John 13:20-26 , 34-35 * Psalm 118:1-9 * Psalm 145:8-9, 13-14, 16-21 * Isaiah 44:1-5 * 1 John 5:1-2, 6-8, 11-12 (NRSV)
Pray: Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the Feast of St. John
Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light, that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Do: Make mulled wine for St. John’s Day and drink a toast to the love of God and to the saint.
It is the custom to bless wine on St. John's day. The Cranberry Mulled Cider is our go-to beverage throughout Advent and Christmastide (and what we served during the cocktail hour of our son’s wedding six Januarys ago). We love to add bourbon for the adults in the room. The other variations I’ve linked below looked promising as well. Let me know if you try one!
The Feast of St. John
The Feast of St. John the Evangelist is the second of three Prayer Book Holy Days immediately following Christmas Day. The third and final Mass of Christmas, the "Mass of the Day", has as its Gospel the beginning of St. John's Gospel which proclaims the mystery of the Word made flesh. Today would be a particularly good day to spend some time reading and meditating on John 1: 1-14.
Tradition tells us that John was once given a cup of poisoned wine, but drank it with no ill effect. A chalice with a serpent signifying the powerless poison is one of his symbols. In spite of exile and attempts to kill him, John lived to a great old age. In his last years it is said that he had to be carried to the assembly of the Church and, when he was asked to speak, he would say, simply, "My dear children, love one another."
The Blessing of Wine on St. John's Day
Lord Jesus Christ, Thou didst call Thyself the vine and Thy holy Apostles the branches; and out of all those who love Thee, Thou didst desire to make a good vineyard. Bless this wine and pour into it the might of Thy benediction. Grant that every one who drinks of it may, through the intercession of Thy beloved disciple the holy Apostle and Evangelist John, find courage and strength to pursue the Way, be renewed in the Truth of the Word made flesh, and at the last enter into Life everlasting, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.
A glass of wine is then passed around the table.
As it is passed, the giver says: Drink to the love of St. John.
And the recipient answers: For where love is, there is God.
You might also enjoy: 3 Mulled Cider Recipes for St. John's Day
These daily devotional posts are available to those who subscribe at the Daybook ($5 a month) level. You can also purchase a one-time .pdf download of all 40 meditations for Advent & Christmastide in my Shop. You can see the entire Advent archive here.
* Listen to my entire playlist on Spotify: Make A Way: Advent 2021 .
** Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary. Daily Scripture readings are taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and include both Morning and Evening Psalms (Year 2).