Presented in both English and Japanese, the following are the reflections offered at the joint Christmas Eve service for Unfinished Community, 2022.
[The first meditation of the evening was delivered in both languages by an 11-year old member of our congregation, and wasn't recorded in writing. You can see the English version in the video presentation of the service on YouTube. The written reflections will continue from the second reading.]
Reading 2: Matthew 1:18b-24: The Faith of Joseph
When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
“Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife,
Reflection 2: Defiant Faith (逆境の中の信仰)
When I was growing up, I was taught to understand Joseph’s decision to heed the angel’s command and take Mary as his wife as an act of Mercy. Jewish society dictated that an unfaithful fiancée would be cast out, and in refusing to do so he was sparing her, and the newly-conceived Jesus from that terrible fate. And that much is certainly true of course, but once we get that far, we rarely interrogate the verse any further. Today though, let’s consider what this decision must have cost Joseph.
Within the context of the time, his failing to dismiss his pregnant fiancée would not have been seen as an act of mercy or charity, but as an admission of culpability; an admission of guilt. The act of taking her as his wife when he ought to have sent her away would have told the whole world that he was the cause of this pregnancy and, as such, would be just about as guilty as Mary in the eyes of society.
Mary’s role in the story is vast, to be sure. And holy. And important. But as we embrace the greatness of Mary’s subservience to God’s call on her life, let us not forget that the birth savior of the world came about in this way also: that a man chose in faith to bear the guilt for a sin that was not his, to pay the cost so that mercy, grace, and love could go into the world.
私は幼い頃、ヨセフが天使の命令を聞き入れ、マリアを妻に迎えたことを慈悲の行為として理解するように教えられました。ユダヤ社会では、不貞を働いた婚約者つまりマリアは社会から追放されることになっていました。ヨセフはマリアを妻に迎え入れるということで、マリアと、そして生まれたばかりのイエスが辿らなければいけないはずであった恐ろしい運命から二人を救ったのです。今日は、この決断をすることでヨセフがどんな代償を払わなければいけなかったかを考えてみましょう。
当時の状況下では、妊娠中の婚約者と別れないことは、慈悲や慈善の行為ではなく、罪を認めた行為と見なされたはずです。マリアと別れるべき時に彼女をあえて妻として迎えるという行為は、彼がこの妊娠の原因であり、社会の目にはメアリーと同罪であることを示すことを意味したでしょう。
マリアが果たした役割は、確かに大きいです。聖なるものであり、重要な役割です。しかし、私たちは、マリアが神の呼びかけに従ったことの偉大さを受け入れると同時に、この世の救い主の誕生がまた、このような形で成就したことを忘れてはなりません。それは、ヨセフが信仰に基づいて、自分ではない罪のために罪を負うことを選び、その代償を払って、世の中に慈悲と恵みと愛とが行き渡るようにしたのです。
Reading 3: Luke 1 46-55: Mary's Song of Praise and Joy
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Reflection 3: Justice and Joy
Maria accepted the Angel's message that she will be the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, with surprise and anxiety, or big question why me. She was determined to carry it as her responsibility. We are now observing the people who encountered Christmas and think of the meaning of to be a witness of Christmas.
マリアは自分が神の子の母となるという天使の知らせを、驚きと不安のなかで、なぜ私がという大きな疑問のなかで受け入れました。それを自分の責任として果たそうとしたのです。クリスマスに立ち会う人々を見つめながら、私たちがクリスマスを迎えることの意味を考えてみましょう。
イエス・キリストの誕生、それは神様の言葉が人となったということでした。神様が私たちを愛していてくださること、イエスの生涯はそれをひとつずつ私たちの人間生活のなかで示し続けられたのです。
Reading 4: Luke 2:1-7: The Birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room
Reflection 4: Peace in the Cold
I grew up in the church, back in America. And as a kid growing up in the church, you come to understand the birth of a Christ through the lens of the children’s Christmas pageant; this big, bombastic, massive moment with angels, and shepherds, and the heavens themselves singing the good news of great joy so the whole world can hear it.
It. Was. AWESOME.
So imagine my surprise the first time I actually read that Bible, only to see that - in the two gospels out of the four that even mention the birth of Christ - it’s so woefully anticlimactic. This bit in Luke is actually the more dramatic of the two, and it all happens within about a verse; the rest of the passage being backstory and context. The whole thing feels less like a destination, and more like a rest stop on the way to bigger and better things.
But the advent of the Prince of peace, when you think about it, kinda makes sense this way. Peace, growth, maturity, and the development of a fuller, deeper relationship with God; we want these things to sound bombastic, powerful, even dramatic, but Jesus shows us in this moment that true peace doesn’t come with a show. It doesn’t look shiny or new, it doesn’t come with trumpets and explosions, or a fancy video feed streaming all around the world. Peace comes in those boring, human moments where we come together and allow God to work In the fullness of our humanity so that, like a woman giving birth in a Bethlehem stable, we might subtly shift the very foundations of the world in the stillness. In the quiet. When nobody else is looking.
私はアメリカの教会で育ちました。そこで教会で育った子供は 子供向けのクリスマス劇を通して キリストの誕生を理解します。 天使や羊飼い、天そのものが 大きな喜びの知らせを歌い 世界中に聞こえるようにする 。
そうです。ドラマチックで最高の瞬間です。
だから、初めて聖書を読んだ時私は驚きを隠せませんでした。4つの福音書のうち、キリストの誕生について言及しているのは2つだけで、しかもその話はとても拍子抜けするほどあっけないものでした。ルカによる福音書のこの箇所は、2つの福音書の中でよりドラマチックでありながら、キリストの誕生については1節で完結しており、残りの部分は裏話と文脈になっています。この聖書箇所は目的地にたどり着いたというより、より大きな、より良いものへ向かう途中の休憩所のような印象を受けます。
平和の王、つまりイエスキリストの出現は、考えてみれば、このような理にかなっています。平和、成長、成熟、そして神とのより深い関係を結ぶ。私たちはこれらが強く、大きく、ドラマチック形で起こることを望んでいますが、イエスは生まれるその瞬間から、真の平和には大きくドラマチックなショーが伴わないことを私たちに教えてくれています。平和はピカピカに輝くものでも、新しいものでも、トランペットや爆発音、世界中に配信される派手なビデオ映像でもありません。平和は、私たちが集まる時、日常の人間らしい瞬間に訪れます。神が私たちの人間性を通して、その御業を最大に発揮して働いてくださるのです。そうすれば、ベツレヘムの馬小屋で出産したマリアを通じて、静寂の中で世界の根底をくつがえす変化が起こったように、あなたも用いられるかもしれません。静寂の中で 誰も見ていない時に。
Reading 5: John 1:1-5, 10-13: The Light of the World
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
Reflection 5: The Light in the Darkness
The birth of Jesus Christ signifies that the word of God " became flesh." The life of Jesus shows how God loves us and he presented it concretely in our human daily life.
東から来た学者たちは、その旅の最後に導きの星を見失い、そこでヘロデの宮殿を訪ねますが、その宮殿を出たとたん再びその星は輝きを見せ、彼らをイエスのもとに招きました。人間の言葉ではなく、星の輝きのなかにある神様の導きを信じて彼らは歩んだのです。
Reading 6: Luke 2:8-20: Christ Made Known to the Outsiders
Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.
Reflection 6: God's True Focus
It’s important for us to realize that this group, these shepherds out in the fields, are the only people other than Mary and Joseph that God sees fit to actually notify about the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, Son of God and savior of the world. Note that there isn’t a single priest or religious figure present, no politicians, no wealthy local entrepreneurs, not even family or friends of any significance. The only other people who even do show up are the magi, and they’re not only not followers of the Jewish faith, but they’re just there because they figured it out on their own!
Just these guys, these shepherds hanging out in the fields. Why?
In those days, shepherding wasn’t a particularly glamorous job, or even a very good one. It didn’t pay well, the hours were terrible, and you spent your entire time smelling like sheep. You spent most of your time eating, sleeping, and doing everything else outdoors, so you were constantly dirty and, between that and the very complicated social and religious rules about cleanliness, you weren’t exactly welcome in polite company. Or in any company at all, really. And all of that for the period equivalent paycheck of less-than-minimum wage.
Here we have the poor. Victims of economic and social injustice. People whose entire lives are spent caring for vulnerable animals so that others can have the food and clothing these animals provide, but unable to reap any of the benefit of their labor because of weird, complicated, social and religious ideas that make them outcast. Other.
Less than.
These are the first people outside the holy family to hear the good news, and only a handful to have ever heard it straight from the mouth of angels rather than through the words of other people. This is where Gods priorities lie, where Jesus’ priorities lie: with the oppressed, the suffering, the poor, and the outcast. There will be others, of course, but these few are the first-called, the first invited to bear witness to the mercies of a God who will turn everything on its head, so the last might be first and the first might be last. Knowing this, is it any wonder what happens next?
この聖書箇所を通して、羊飼いたちは、マリアとヨセフの他に、神の子であり、救い主であるメシア、イエス・キリストの誕生を知らせるのにふさわしいと神が見なされた唯一の人々であることを理解することが重要です。神父・牧師、宗教指導者はもちろん、政治家も、地元の裕福な企業家も、重要な家族や友人でさえも、この場にはいません。
羊飼いたちは野原にいました。それはなぜでしょうか？
当時、羊飼いは華やかな仕事ではありませんでしたし、あまり良い仕事でもありませんでした。給料は低いし、労働時間は長いし、常に羊飼い達には羊の臭いがこびりついていました。食事や睡眠など、ほとんどの時間を屋外で過ごすため、常に汚れており、当時清潔・清さに関して非常に複雑な社会的・宗教的ルールがあったため、一般社会の中で羊飼い達が歓迎されることはありませんでした。社会から歓迎されず、もらえる給料は最低賃金以下。
羊飼いは貧しく、経済的、社会的不公正の犠牲者でした。他人が羊を通して食物や衣服を得られるために、羊の世話に人生のすべてを費やしている人々でした。しかし、奇妙で複雑な、社会的、宗教的な考え方のために、羊飼い達は阻害され、労働の恩恵を全く受けることができませんでした。
劣等生としてのラベルを貼られた羊飼い達。
そんな羊飼い達は、マリアとヨセフつまりイエスの家族以外で初めて、イエスキリストの誕生の良い知らせを聞いた人々であり、しかも人の言葉を通してではなく、天使の口からその良い知らせを直接聞いたほんの一握りの人々なのです。これこそが神の優先順位であり、イエス様の優先順位なのです：虐げられた人、苦しんでいる人、貧しい人、追放された人たちに良い知らせを届ける、それが優先順位なのです。社会のマイノリティーである羊飼い達は、最後の者が最初になり、最初の者が最後になるようにと唱えた、すべてをひっくり返す神の慈悲を証するために最初に呼ばれ、最初に招かれた人々なのです。このことを知れば、次に何が起こるか不思議ではありません。
Reading 7: Matthew 2:1-12: The Response of Power
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him, and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet:
‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
Then Herod secretly called for the magi and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” When they had heard the king, they set out, and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen in the east, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.\
Reflection 7: The Threat of Justice
The wisemen from the East lost their guiding star at the last moment of their journey, then visited king Herod. Just after leaving his palace, the Star appeared and brought them to Jesus. Not human words but the guidance of God shown in the brightness of the Star, they believed in to keep their further steps.
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