A four year-old boy climbed the steps to see his sick grandmother. She was in great pain, and soon to die. The little boy said, “Don’t worry, Grandma. You are going to be with Jesus.”
That little boy was James Edwin Shaw, who would not want this sermon to be about him. But we have to say a little….
Read More“When all was still, and it was midnight, Your almighty Word, O Lord, descended from the royal throne.” That’s the antiphon for Christmas Midnight. By itself, it’s serene, much like this service. There’s something joyously peaceful about assembling here when all through the town not many creatures are stirring, and celebrating the first liturgy of Christmas while everyone else is nestled all snug in their beds.
“When all was still, and it was midnight, Your almighty Word, O Lord, descended from the royal throne.” The context, however, is not so serene. It comes from the Wisdom of Solomon, and it describes the beginning of the tenth plague, bringing death to all the firstborn in the land of Egypt….
Read More