December 30 -- The First Sunday After Christmas

The liturgical designation of the day is a little amusing.  In this calendar year it is the only Sunday in the Christmas season, so it is the first and sole Sunday after Christmas.  Christmas Day must fall on a Wednesday or later in order for there to be two Sundays in the season.  Obviously, four-sevenths of all years have one of the Twelve Days of Christmas occur on a second Sunday.

This being the solitary Sunday in the season, the church has to make some decisions.  There may seem to be little material from which to choose for consideration on this day.  But there is actually a wealth of scriptural passages that lend themselves to such a time.  The New Revised Common Lectionary (NRCL) offers these possibilities.  In Year A (which was the designation for the liturgical year beginning in 2016 and will commence again with Advent of 2019) lists Matthew 2:13-23 (the Flight into Egypt, the Slaughter of the Innocents and the return from Egypt including the settlement in Nazareth).  It offers The Prologue to John (John 1:[1-9], 10-18) for the second Sunday in the season.  Year B (2017, 2020, 2023) has us reading Luke 2:22-40 (the Purification of Mary and the encounter with Simeon) for its first Sunday and the Prologue of John for its Second Sunday.  The readings for year C (which we currently observe and which comes around again in 2021 and 2024) suggests Luke 2:41-52 (Twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple) and Matthew 25:31-46 (Jesus’ saying about sheep and goats) for the two Sundays in this cycle.  These tables omit Luke 2:36-38 – the encounter with the prophetess Anna – and the brief but instructive Luke 2:39-40 that concludes “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.”

So, the often-heard criticism that there is little material about Jesus between the birth narratives and the beginning of his public ministry doesn’t hold water.  There is so much there – admittedly a little brief at points, somewhat obscure at others – that a three-year reading cycle does not encompass them all. 

So, what is our takeaway from such a season?  I think that, in part, we come to understand that lingering at the manger is not productive.  It will be empty soon enough.  The narratives progress in order to tell us that exceptional, even dangerous, occurrences follow.  And, as our earlier considerations of the liturgical calendar for this week have considered, these occasionally severe consequences can reach beyond Jesus himself and touch those who are around him as well.

If we take 2 timothy 3:16, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” seriously, then we value these small and overlooked verses as much as any other.  I think that even the stories in which Jesus is only a passive participant still have a lot to teach us.