January 6, 2004 The Twelve Days of Christmas
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...... Today's the twelfth day of Christmas, January 6. This was the original day for the feast of the Epiphany which was the twelfth day of the Christmas season, which is the origin of the song. So, if this were sixteenth century England, today would be the day for the last delivery of lords a leaping and maids a milking.
Actually, there's a story that the twelve days of Christmas was actually a devise that the Jesuits used for teaching the catechism to children during the years when it was illegal to be a Catholic in England. “My true love” represented God. The 12 drummers represented the 12 points of the Apostle’s Creed, the 11 pipers were the 11 faithful disciples, the 10 lords were the 10 Commandments and so on, down to the partridge in the pear tree--Jesus on the cross.
That may be a true story, or not, but it’s really not what I wanted to talk to you about.
When I was in Branson before Christmas, a minister on the radio asked “How would you feel if you followed your star and ended up in a stable?”
That's an interesting question. Obviously the magi weren't disappointed. Even in a stable they recognized the baby Jesus as the Mesiah that He was.
What about you and me? Do we have enough faith to accept what comes our way in the same spirit as the magi? They had traveled hundreds of miles, expecting to find a king. And, so they did. But He wasn't exactly in kingly surroundings. They saw and they believed.
How many times have our prayers appeared to have gone unanswered because the answer wasn't exactly what we were looking for? But, it turned out that we were better off than we would have been if we had gotten the thing we thought we wanted.
On Memorial Day, 1968 I went to a picnic at St. Sebastian's Church in north county. It wasn't my church,. At the time I wasn't even Catholic. But there was a girl that I expected to see there. It turned out that she wasn't there. I was a little disappointed but I met another girl that day. Her name was Jan and we were married six months later.
On New Years Eve, 1979 I lost my job. That was a pretty low point. Two little kids, credit cards maxed out, a week after Christmas and I didn't have a job. Talk about being in a stable, I was in deep you-know-what. But, I had had an interview with another company a few weeks earlier. I called them, the job was still open and I started to work for them a week later. Tomorrow, I'll be there twenty four years.
So the lesson we can take from the three kings is that things aren't always as they appear. Jesus may be in a stable, or in a homeless shelter, or in a hospital room or even a prison cell. As Christians, we should see through the eyes of faith, seeing past the things that others see.
God knows what’s best for us, better than we do. So when our prayers don’t seem to be empty, or when we end up in a stable full of animals with no shovel, we have to do the thing that’s the hardest for most of us. That’s letting go, and letting God do what He knows is best for us.
By the way, did you know that all that stuff in the song would cost over $65,000 today?
Actually, there's a story that the twelve days of Christmas was actually a devise that the Jesuits used for teaching the catechism to children during the years when it was illegal to be a Catholic in England. “My true love” represented God. The 12 drummers represented the 12 points of the Apostle’s Creed, the 11 pipers were the 11 faithful disciples, the 10 lords were the 10 Commandments and so on, down to the partridge in the pear tree--Jesus on the cross.
That may be a true story, or not, but it’s really not what I wanted to talk to you about.
When I was in Branson before Christmas, a minister on the radio asked “How would you feel if you followed your star and ended up in a stable?”
That's an interesting question. Obviously the magi weren't disappointed. Even in a stable they recognized the baby Jesus as the Mesiah that He was.
What about you and me? Do we have enough faith to accept what comes our way in the same spirit as the magi? They had traveled hundreds of miles, expecting to find a king. And, so they did. But He wasn't exactly in kingly surroundings. They saw and they believed.
How many times have our prayers appeared to have gone unanswered because the answer wasn't exactly what we were looking for? But, it turned out that we were better off than we would have been if we had gotten the thing we thought we wanted.
On Memorial Day, 1968 I went to a picnic at St. Sebastian's Church in north county. It wasn't my church,. At the time I wasn't even Catholic. But there was a girl that I expected to see there. It turned out that she wasn't there. I was a little disappointed but I met another girl that day. Her name was Jan and we were married six months later.
On New Years Eve, 1979 I lost my job. That was a pretty low point. Two little kids, credit cards maxed out, a week after Christmas and I didn't have a job. Talk about being in a stable, I was in deep you-know-what. But, I had had an interview with another company a few weeks earlier. I called them, the job was still open and I started to work for them a week later. Tomorrow, I'll be there twenty four years.
So the lesson we can take from the three kings is that things aren't always as they appear. Jesus may be in a stable, or in a homeless shelter, or in a hospital room or even a prison cell. As Christians, we should see through the eyes of faith, seeing past the things that others see.
God knows what’s best for us, better than we do. So when our prayers don’t seem to be empty, or when we end up in a stable full of animals with no shovel, we have to do the thing that’s the hardest for most of us. That’s letting go, and letting God do what He knows is best for us.
By the way, did you know that all that stuff in the song would cost over $65,000 today?
posted by Mike at 1:15 PM
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