Christmas 02 Collect - a Devotion for 2 January 2022, Anno Domini



The Second Sunday after Christmas Day.

The Collect.

A

LMIGHTY God, who hast poured upon us the new light of thine incarnate Word; Grant that the same light enkindled in our hearts may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

            As our Prayer of Collect attests, God, at Christmas, has poured out into our Cups of Faith the “new Light of His Incarnate Word” – so much so that our “cups runneth over.” The Light was eternally the same unchanging Light of Christ that existed before the worlds and heavens were formed; yet, He came down to us to share in our same pains and sufferings – and more. We can know God the Father because we have seen and heard God the Son.  


T

HAT which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.  (1 John 1:1-3)

 

            It is a mystery known only to God that only the meek and humble of heart can hear and understand the Voice of the Spirit that speaks the Gospel that heals, that frees, that cheers, and that liberates from our self-imposed prison captivity. As our Epistle proclaims, we are, as well, to proclaim – the acceptable year of our Lord. That Year has been published in our calendars ever since His birth. It was 2021 years ago (Anno Domini) since that momentous fulfillment of the Word. Despite all efforts to erase the meaning of that date, it is recognized by the world, in spite of themselves, as the division of time for our computation of the time scale in years.  Those who would extinguish the fires of truth by re-naming the calendar dates with such ridiculous labels as CE (Common[1] Era to supplant Christ Birth of AD) and BCE (Before the Common Era to blur the distinction of BC – before Christ) are hard-pressed to explain WHY they must use the zero year (Christ birth) as a starting point. Why not allow the great truth of history to prevail and simply admit the coming of Christ was such a climactic event as to divide our time scale in half – from Eternity Past to Eternity Future!


[1] And, what is the ‘common’ event which separates the two eras?  The birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.  No matter how they try, they cannot avoid the crux of the matter.

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