Christmas Lectio: 9 Lessons

Hello,

This is Mark Gladman,

Also known as Brother Frederick James,

Welcoming you to this Lectio Divina reflection on the Nine Lessons.

Usually this would be nine lessons and carols,

And as a service that has taken place in churches all over the world,

Since 1918 when King's College in London put on a service which contained nine lessons with a carol interspersed between each.

However the format originally came from the Right Reverend Edward White Benson,

Who was the Bishop of Truro,

And he put on the first Nine Lessons and Carol service on the 24th of December 1880.

The reason that he put it together was to give the local people something to distract them from spending Christmas Eve in the pub.

And the idea was that through nine lessons taken from various parts of scripture that helped them focus on the story of Christmas and the Nativity,

Interspersed with nine carols,

Would give them an opportunity for reflection and meditation,

For singing and fellowship and community.

For various reasons it's a little difficult to do the carols as part of this audio.

However being a home for predominantly Lectio Divina here on Insight Timer,

I thought it would be nice to put together the Nine Lessons from the Nine Lessons and Carols service in a Lectio type format,

Very similar to what I did with the Stations of the Crust leading up to Easter earlier this year.

And so in this audio you will hear these nine lessons read as always for Lectio,

Purposefully and unhurried,

And then a pause of a minute or two between each to give you a chance to reflect.

The music I've chosen is simply calming and relaxing and I hope that through its beauty it also helps to draw you closer to the purposes and meaning of the Christmas story.

Whether you take this story to be literal or you take it to be a story that helps us contemplate something beautiful that we can carry as part of its spirit into our year,

My prayer is that peace and joy and love and hope will sit well in your spirit and that the reflections on these passages remind you of the purpose and meaning of the story of the Spirit of God,

The Christ,

Who came to dwell with humans and to live a life that showed us the way not only to incorporate our own lives with the God of all things,

The divine presence in the world,

But to allow that love and life to do a transforming work within us that then allows us in turn to also share the life and love of God with those with whom we interact with.

Essentially loving God and loving our neighbour as we love ourself.

Before we commence I invite you just to sit,

To be comfortable and I share with you this prayer as we get ready to begin.

Jesus God,

At this time of year we pray that you would remind us of the heart and spirit of what Christmas is about.

Through these readings we pray that you would move in our hearts and our minds,

That you would cause a stirring of your spirit within us and that as we move through the remainder of this Christmas season we would also know the love and the joy and the peace of what the living Christ can do when that Christ comes to dwell in and with us.

Be with us in these reflections we pray.

Amen.

A reading from Genesis chapter 3.

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

But the Lord God called to the man and said to him,

Where are you?

He said,

I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself.

He said,

Who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?

The man said,

The woman whom you gave to be with me,

She gave me fruit from the tree and I ate.

Then the Lord God said to the woman,

What is this that you have done?

The woman said,

The serpent tricked me and I ate.

The Lord God said to the serpent,

Because you have done this,

Cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures.

Upon your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers.

He will strike your head and you will strike his heel.

And to the man he said,

Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you,

You shall not eat of it.

Cursed is the ground because of you.

In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground for out of it you were taken.

You are dust and to dust you shall return.

A reading from Genesis chapter 22.

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said,

By myself I have sworn,

Says the Lord,

Because you have done this and have not withheld your son,

Your only son.

I will indeed bless you and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.

And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies.

And by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves because you have obeyed my voice.

Amen.

A reading from Isaiah.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

Those who lived in a land of deep darkness,

On them light has shined.

For a child has been born for us,

A son given to us.

Authority rests upon his shoulders,

And he is named Wonderful Counsellor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

His authority shall grow continually,

And there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.

He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness,

From this time onwards and forevermore.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Amen.

A reading from Isaiah.

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,

And a branch shall grow out of his roots.

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The Spirit of counsel and might,

The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear,

But with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.

He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

And with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,

The leopard shall lie down with the kid,

The calf and the lion and the fatling together,

And a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze,

Their young shall lie down together,

And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the whole of the asp,

And the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

They will not hurt or destroy on my holy mountain,

For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

A reading from the Gospel of Luke.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David.

The virgin's name was Mary,

And he came to her and said,

Greetings favoured one,

The Lord is with you.

But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

The angel said to her,

Do not be afraid Mary,

For you have found favour with God,

And now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,

And you will name him Jesus.

He will be great,

And will be called the Son of the Most High,

And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.

He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,

And of his kingdom there will be no end.

Mary said to the angel,

How can this be,

Since I am a virgin?

The angel said to her,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

And the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore the child to be born will be holy.

They will be called the Son of God.

A reading from Luke's Gospel.

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.

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 the 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 for them in the inn.

A reading from Luke's Gospel.

In that 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 Saviour,

Who is the Christ,

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 and good will among all people.

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.

A reading from the Gospel of Matthew.

In the time of King Herod,

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,

Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,

Asking,

Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews?

For we observed his star at its rising,

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 wise men,

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 at its rising,

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.

A reading from John's Gospel.

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 overcome it.

There was a man sent from God,

Whose name was John.

He came as a witness to testify to the light,

So that all might believe through him.

He himself was not the light,

But he came to testify to the light.

The true light,

Which enlightens everyone,

Was coming into the world.

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.

And the word became flesh,

And lived among us,

And we have seen his glory,

The glory as of a Father's only Son,

Full of grace and truth.

Let's pray.

God of heaven,

Dwelling among us,

By your grace keep us ever faithful to your word,

Your word made flesh.

That,

As Christ's body in the world,

We may bring your presence to all people.

God of the nations,

Guide us by your presence,

That we may bring your light to those who dwell in darkness,

And establish your justice in the earth.

May Christ,

The child of God born of Mary,

Fill us with grace to trust the promises,

And to obey the will of God.

May Christ,

The child of God,

Be manifest to us,

That our lives may be a light to the world.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord,

In the name of Christ.

Amen.

And may the love of Christmas,

And the grace,

Peace,

And joy of God be with you,

This day and always.

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement here at Insight Timer in 2021.

I look forward to serving you more as we move into 2022.

Now go in that peace to love and serve the Lord,

By loving God and loving your neighbour as yourself.

Grace and peace my friends.

Merry Christmas and God bless you.