No Constraints

 No Constraints

Luke 4:14-30[1]

It’s a feature of human life that we tend to associate with those who are like us. There’s something about it that creates a sense of safety. And it’s only natural for us to want to be safe. But the problem comes when we think that’s the way it’s supposed to be. When we take that step, we can start drawing lines to separate “us” from “them.” More than that, we can assume that those who belong to “our” group are “better” than those who don’t belong. It doesn’t take a very strong push to go from there to full-fledged prejudice toward anyone we see as “other” or outside “our” group.

While we’d like to think that we are above all that in the church, I’m afraid we bring this human tendency with us. We say out loud that we are saved by God’s grace alone, but inside we have a very different story. We tend to translate our years of faithful attendance and service in the church into the notion that we “deserve” God’s grace because we’ve “earned” it. And since the “others” haven’t done what we have, they haven’t “earned” God’s grace, and they don’t really “deserve” it. Of course, we don’t say any of this out loud, but it’s still there, however deeply buried it may be. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we draw lines that exclude “other” people from God’s grace.

I would say that was what was going on in the story of Jesus’ not-so-friendly encounter with the people in the synagogue at Nazareth. As we saw last week, Jesus went to the synagogue in his hometown and announced a message full of hope and promise: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Lk. 4:18-19). He even said, “today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). In other words, he declared to them that “the year of the Lord’s favor” had come, or “the time of God’s great acceptance.”

The problem was that the good people of the synagogue at Nazareth knew that Jesus had done wondrous things in Capernaum, a city they considered “heathen” territory. It was a scandal to them that he would share God’s blessings with “others” and not his “own” people. But that was where they got it all wrong. Jesus made it clear that God’s “favor” was meant especially for outcasts they themselves had excluded. The freedom and release he promised was for those who had been beaten down by the hard-hearted attitudes of some of the very people sitting there in the synagogue. And when he made it clear that God’s grace could not be constrained by their expectations, it enraged them so much they tried to kill him.

To some extent, we could say that Jesus “provoked” the people of Nazareth. As one commentator puts it, he literally “threw the book at them.”[2] He cited two stories that would have been very familiar to them from their own Scriptures. The first one came from the life of the prophet Elijah. Jesus reminds them that when there was a famine that lasted over three years, Elijah was sent to a widow in a different country, the land of Phoenicia. And to provide for his faithful prophet, God extended his grace to this “foreigner” by providing food for her and her son.

The second story came from the life of the prophet Elisha. When Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, came to him to be cleansed of his leprosy, God extended his grace to him through Elisha. Now, the folks at Nazareth might have been able to accept the story about the widow of Zarephath. After all, she was a widow on the point of starving. But Naaman was another story altogether. He was the commander of the Syrian army. Syria and Israel were allies at times, but they were just as likely to be enemies. That God would extend his grace to the man who led the enemy army would have pushed them over the edge.

The fine, upstanding people in the synagogue at Nazareth were full of amazement and wonder at Jesus’ “gracious words” while they were envisioning him bringing the “year of the Lord’s favor” to them. They expected God’s blessings for themselves. They believed they had earned them and were convinced that they deserved God’s grace. But Jesus reminded them that God gives his grace to everyone. What makes it grace is that no one deserves it!

The problem with the very human tendency to limit God’s grace by our own standards is that it flies in the face of biblical truth. God’s grace will not be constrained! And when God puts his grace to work among us, and those we prefer to exclude are included, it can offend us to the core. More than that, when people who are too far outside the boundaries that define who we think belong here actually come into our community, our neighborhood, or our church, it can bring out the worst in us, like it did in the people of the synagogue at Nazareth. But Jesus came to offer God’s blessings to everyone, regardless of what we think of them. And he gave his life on the cross to make it clear that God’s grace will not be constrained by our expectations. If we would follow him, we would do well to extend that grace to others, with no constraints whatsoever.

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[1] © 2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm Ph. D. on 1/30/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] William Willimon, “Book ‘Em,” The Christian Century (January 27, 2004), 20.

No Conditions

 No Conditions

Luke 4:14-21[1]

We have a saying: “If something sounds too good to be true, it is.” I think the root of that saying is that there are a lot of people out there making all kinds of promises, if we’ll just send them $99.99. They promise us everything from weight loss to a fool-proof way to get rich to the “secret” of success in life. More than that, just about every person running for any kind of elected office promises us the moon on a silver platter if we’ll just vote for them. There are lots of reasons why so many of us have a healthy skepticism about promises that seem too good to be true.

I wonder if this rubs off on some people when it comes to our faith. Let’s face it, our faith makes some pretty big promises. The foundation of our faith is that in Jesus Christ, God has already done everything necessary to secure our salvation for all eternity. That’s a pretty big promise! Our faith teaches us that our eternal destiny is based on God’s unconditional, unrestricted, and irrevocable love. More than that, the end of our faith is that what God began with Jesus and his followers will continue until he has made “all things new” (Rev. 21:5). Yes, the promise is that our God is up to nothing less that restoring everything and everyone. When you look at the way the world is actually going, all that may sound like so much “pie-in-the-sky” wishful thinking. It may sound too good to be true.

As hard as it may be for us to swallow these days, that was Jesus’ message on that day in the synagogue at Nazareth. The people there would have understood what Jesus was talking about when he said to them, “today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). They knew what the reading from the prophet Isaiah was talking about—the restoration of justice, peace, and freedom to the people of Israel, and through them to all the nations of the earth! The prophet called this restoration “the year of the Lord’s favor.” This was a well-known concept—it was called the “Year of Jubilee.” Every 50 years, the slate was to be wiped clean and everyone was to get a fresh start.

Jesus said to the people of Nazareth—with a straight face—that his reading of the scripture from Isaiah 61 on that day in the Synagogue was the beginning of the fulfillment of that promise. God’s compassionate justice, God’s peace, God’s freedom was to be extended to all people everywhere. The “Year of Jubilee” was to be applied to everyone. It meant that the whole human race was getting the chance to have the slate wiped clean and to have a fresh start. In effect, Jesus said that the promises that may have sounded too good to be true were indeed coming true in him.

When you think about the breathtaking nature of that statement, if you’re like me, you may wonder why our churches aren’t bursting at the seams from the crowds joining their voices to celebrate such amazing good news. I think there are a variety of answers to that question. Some people hear everything I’ve just said as just a lot of empty talk. Some people think all this happened long ago and far away, and they’re more interested in the life they face right now.

I think there are many of us who hear the wonderful promises made in Scripture and believe they’re true—for everybody else. We have a hard time really accepting at the core of our being that God loves us that much. Some of us try to remedy that by putting up a heroic effort to be “good enough” to “get to heaven.” And there are plenty of churches out there who are willing to tell you exactly what you have to do to achieve that. Others of us have already decided that we will never be able to be “good enough” to “get to heaven” and so we’ve stopped trying. We hear the wonderful promises of Scripture, but we seem to labor under the belief that there really is some kind of “catch” that disqualifies us from actually “claiming” the prize.

But what we should not miss is that big, bold statement that Jesus made on that day in the Synagogue at Nazareth: “today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” In Jesus Christ, “the year of the Lord’s favor” has come, or as one version paraphrases it, “the time of God’s great acceptance has begun.” In him, God has already done everything necessary to secure our salvation for all eternity. There are no hidden conditions, no asterisks, there is no “catch.” And the ultimate promise is that God is working to restore everything and everyone.

When I was growing up, our offering envelopes had checkboxes that spelled out the expectations: attending Sunday School (check), attending Worship (check), reading your Bible daily (check), giving your tithe (check), and so on. It served to reinforce the idea that the “catch” to the promises of Scripture was that it all depended on what we did. But our faith teaches us that, as the late Desmond Tutu put it, “there is nothing you can do to make God love you more” and “there is nothing you can do to make God love you less.”[2] There are no “conditions” that might disqualify you because it’s all based on God’s unconditional, unrestricted, and irrevocable love. If there is a “catch” it’s that, as the hymn writer Isaac Watts put it 300 years ago, “love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all!”[3]

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[1] © 2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm Ph. D. on 1/23/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Desmond Tutu, God Has A Dream, 32.

[3] Isaac Watts, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” (1707), Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal, number 223.

Joyful Celebration of Life

 Joyful Celebration of Life

John 2:1-11[1]

Most of you know that my daughter, Carolyn, was married last month. While she and her new husband Peter made every effort to keep their wedding simple, there was no shortage of food and no shortage of drink. And I think it’s safe to say that everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. My father was able to be there, at 90 years old. And my youngest granddaughter Betty was there at 18 months. My wife’s family were there. My step-son and step-daughter and their family were there. We were all there to celebrate Carolyn’s wedding, and to give our blessing to her and Peter in their new life. Having four generations of a family that has blended together for over forty years made for a joyful celebration of life!

But what if the means for celebrating had given out? What if there had not been enough food for everyone? What if there had not been enough to drink? These days, the wedding reception is a party with a DJ playing music. What if all of a sudden his equipment had a glitch and the music stopped? I think we all know what would have happened. The guests would have stood around for a while, feeling awkward. But slowly, they would have made their excuses and found a way to leave. The joyful celebration of life would have been interrupted. And perhaps it would have marred the joy of my daughter’s new life with her husband.

That is precisely the situation that Jesus faced in our Gospel lesson for today. Jesus was a guest at a wedding feast in the small village of Cana in Galilee.  It would appear that this family was not wealthy, because their feast was only going to last one day. Traditional wedding feasts, even now, extend over more than just a day. Unfortunately, even at this meager feast, the family had not been able to buy enough wine. And to run out of wine at a wedding feast would have been humiliating to the family, and not least to the couple who were starting their lives together on this special day. It would have been a mark against them and their family that would not have been forgotten in a small village.

Now, at this point I think we have to recognize the place of wine in biblical festivities. In some respects it’s a bit naïve. We now know that for some people even a sip of alcohol can be pure poison. Of course there are places where the Bible criticizes drunkenness as a habitual practice. But there are several places where drinking a lot of good wine is an essential part of joyful celebration. Whether it’s a wedding feast, or even the feast that God promises to set for “all people” when the Kingdom comes in all its fullness (Isa. 25:6), wine is there as something that is supposed to make the celebration of life joyful. 

I think that’s why Jesus’ first sign by which he revealed the light he was bringing into the darkness of this world was the creation of a huge quantity of very fine wine. If the wine had given out it would have ruined the celebration of these two people beginning their new life together. The joyful celebration of life that should have been a time for their family, their friends, and the whole community to give their blessing to the new couple would have been spoiled. It would not only have marred the joy of the day, it would have potentially marred the joy of their life together as husband and wife. And so Jesus made enough fine wine to ensure that the joyful celebration of life continued.

Another aspect of this story is that John tells us this was Jesus’ first “sign.” That may sound strange to us, because in other places Jesus refuses to perform signs for people. But in John’s Gospel, the “signs” are a central theme. The signs Jesus works are the actions by which he demonstrates what he is about and what God’s Kingdom is about. They are the means by which he reveals the light that he was bringing into the darkness. As John says in our lesson for today, the signs reveal Jesus’ “glory” (Jn 2:11) and they conclude with his being “lifted up (on the cross) in order to draw all people” to himself (Jn 12:32).

It may seem strange in church to hear that the inaugural sign of Jesus’ ministry in John’s Gospel was the creation of a huge quantity of wine—and very fine wine according to the steward of the feast—so that a wedding party could continue as long as it needed to. But we have to remember that the whole point of this miracle was to ensure that this couple’s joyful celebration of their new life together could continue. It was meant to keep the wedding celebration going so that they could receive the full blessing of their family and their community. The main point is that Jesus’ first sign, the first thing he does to demonstrate what he’s about and what the Kingdom of God is about, is to promote the joyful celebration of life.

We live our lives “in the fast lane” these days. Our daily calendars can be crammed so full that we don’t even have a moment to catch our breath. It’s a feature of life in this culture. We are a people who are driven: driven to have more and to do more. That approach to life doesn’t leave much room for “stopping and smelling the roses.” But the Bible insists that God’s creation is “very good,” and that one essential element of wisdom is to enjoy all that is good and to celebrate the life God has given to us. At a wedding in Cana, Jesus not only endorsed that point of view, he provided the means for the joyful celebration of life.

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[1] © 2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 1/16/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

And the Story Continues ...

 And the Story Continues …

Luke 3:21-22[1]

One of the challenges of our day is that it’s so easy for many of us to feel disconnected. If you have children at home, you’re connected to other families through their activities. Those of us who have extended families nearby have a connection there. And we come to church looking for a way to feel connected. But the pandemic has thrown a great big wrench into all those connections. Just the simple fact that some of us choose to get vaccinated and some of us don’t has the effect of weakening our connection to one another. And now this new wave of cases may have us all feeling like we’re wading through “deep waters” (Isa 43:2).

Those who study what it means to thrive in this life tell us that we need a sense of belonging to something bigger than ourselves. These days it seems like all the options for having that sense of belonging are in question. Our national identity as a people has been fracturing for years. Even our connection to faith has been changing in recent decades, as people become less interested in maintaining any kind of religious heritage. These days, most folks don’t care about names like “Presbyterian” on the church sign, and many have given up on church altogether. When the main sources of our belonging to something bigger fail us, where do we turn? 

I think our Gospel lesson for today can help us with that question. Yes, I’m talking about the story of Jesus’ baptism. It may seem strange that Jesus’ baptism has anything to do with this, but if we pay attention to the details, we might be surprised. I’ll share one hint at the outset: Luke’s version includes some important details that are different from the way we typically understand Jesus’ baptism. But that’s why it’s all the more important to pay attention to them.

First, Jesus’ baptism in Luke’s Gospel occurs as “all the people” were being baptized. It’s not entirely clear from the English translation, but in this version, Jesus’ baptism is framed as if Jesus were one of those standing in the line to be baptized by John. After Jesus was baptized, someone else stepped up for their turn. In other words, in response to John’s preaching about true repentance through daily acts of mercy and justice, the “people” came to be baptized. And Jesus took his place among them.

This may raise some eyebrows among us. The people who came to be baptized by John were coming to demonstrate their repentance. From that point of view, it may seem strange to us that Jesus needed to be baptized. While I wouldn’t say he needed to repent of any sins, I would say he needed to be baptized. The reason is that by doing so, Jesus identified with the Jewish people, even with all their failings. And he did that on purpose: Jesus redeemed the Jewish people by becoming one of them, and he redeems us all in the same way.

A second feature of Jesus’ baptism in Luke’s Gospel is that only Luke tells us that everything that followed happened “while Jesus was praying.” The “heavens opened,” the Spirit descended to him as a dove, and the voice from heaven all came to Jesus while he was praying. But that too seems to be an intentional detail in Luke’s Gospel. Although it may seem strange to us, Luke describes Jesus as coming to an understanding of his calling and purpose the way any person would. We might say that Luke tells us the story of Jesus’ baptism without a halo. In order to carry out all that he would do, he needed God’s confirmation. And so his baptism launches him into the work of God’s kingdom to which he had been called.

More than that, Luke emphasizes perhaps more so than the other Gospels that Jesus needed the power of the Spirit to carry out his ministry. We tend to assume that, since Jesus was both fully divine and fully human, he had all the knowledge and power he needed from the very beginning. But Luke tells the story more from the perspective of Jesus’ full humanity. Like one of the prophets of old, “the word of the LORD” came to him to commission him for his work. And the Spirit empowered him to carry out God’s saving purpose.

The gift of the Spirit to Jesus at his baptism not only launched his ministry, but it also set in motion everything that follows. And that means that what happened that day in the Jordan river was a part of God’s larger story of salvation. By taking his place among the people lined up to be baptized, Jesus was stepping into that story of salvation. By serving in the power of the same Spirit that had empowered the prophets of old, Jesus was stepping into that story. And when the Spirit came upon the church to empower them, the story continued.

If we look at the story of the church in the book of Acts, we see more indications of how the story of God’s salvation continued. When Luke refers to his “first book” as being about “all that Jesus began to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1), the implication is that with story of the church, the story of God’s saving work continued. And when Luke concludes Acts in a way that doesn’t really provide an “ending,” the effect is to declare that the story of God’s saving work would keep going. And so it is that each of us, in our own baptism, take our place in God’s ongoing story of salvation that began with Abraham and continued through the prophets and through Jesus and the early church, and still continues to this day. That’s the “something bigger” that we all belong to. That’s what keeps me going day after day, week after week, and year after year, even in times of crisis. As we all take our place in the Body of Christ, the story continues.

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[1] ©2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm Ph. D. on 1/9/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

Where Wisdom Begins

Where Wisdom Begins

Luke 2:29-52[1]

Wisdom is something that we can recognize when we see it, but how to find it is another thing altogether. For centuries, the human family has wondered where wisdom is to be found. The ancient Greek Philosopher Socrates said we find wisdom by knowing ourselves well. William Shakespeare, in the play “Hamlet,” said that wisdom was about being true to ourselves. Eastern religion tells us that wisdom comes from accepting change as a normal part of life. And Martin Luther King, Jr. said wisdom was found in posing and answer the question “What are you doing for others?”

But, of course, these days I’m not so sure that “wisdom” is actually what we’re concerned about. Our technology has focused us more on “information.” Most of us have a device with us right now that can provide us instant access to all kinds of information. As helpful as that is, I wouldn’t say all the information literally at our fingertips has made us any wiser. In fact, with all the “alternative facts” out there, I would say we struggle with simple good judgment!

The Bible says that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 9:10). That’s probably not your favorite Scripture verse. It brings up images of an angry God who is demanding and swift to punish. But the “fear of the Lord” in the Bible is not about being afraid of God. It’s about an attitude of respect for God. The “fear of the Lord” is about honoring God with your heart and your life. That’s where wisdom begins.

Our gospel lesson for today tells us a unique story. It’s about a trip to Jerusalem that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus made when he was just a child. They went there to celebrate the Passover feast together. When the feast was over and it was time to go home, Mary and Joseph joined the group of family and friends they were travelling with and set out. But the Scripture tells us that Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem! And it’s apparent that Joseph and Mary didn’t know what he’d done, because they spent a day on the road. When evening came, and they looked for Jesus, he was nowhere to be found!

Naturally, they went back to Jerusalem. The story tells us that they searched for three days without finding him! I can only imagine what they must have gone through as they searched the city for their boy. Luke tells us that on the third day they found Jesus in the Temple “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions” (Lk 2:46). The “teachers” would have been rabbis and scribes, the Jewish religious leaders. I think we’re meant to understand that Jesus was not “sitting among” them as a student, but rather discussing matters of faith as an equal. The reason for this is Luke says that “all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers” (Lk 2:47).

While I’m sure there must have been some degree of parental pride at seeing her son dialoguing with the Jewish leaders, Mary clearly wasn’t pleased with Jesus. When they found him, she said to him, “why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety” (Lk 2:48). The fact that Jesus had stayed behind in Jerusalem was clearly not what Mary expected of her son. Some have even raised the question whether the boy Jesus broke the commandment to “honor your father and mother.”

But his reply to his mother shows us that Jesus didn’t stay in Jerusalem at the temple out of disrespect to Joseph and Mary. He did so because of his growing devotion to his “Father,” God. That’s what he said to her: “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk 2:49). That last phrase is a difficult one. I would translate it differently: “I must be about my Father’s work.” Already as a child, Jesus was aware that God had a special purpose for his life, and he responded to that calling by devoting himself to “his Father’s work.”

This may seem beyond belief for a twelve-year-old boy. But the main point of this passage is that Jesus was filled with extraordinary “wisdom” because God’s “favor” was with him. In fact, that theme serves as “bookends” for this story. Luke tells us that from a very early age, Jesus was “filled with wisdom” (Lk 2:39). And at the conclusion, he tells us that “Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor” (Lk 2:52).

I’m sure one of the questions that must have been running through the minds of everyone who witnessed this event was where this young boy got such extraordinary wisdom. I would say the answer was right in front of them: “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”! Even as a child, Jesus had a growing sense that God had called him to do something special, and he honored that calling by devoting himself to God.

Perhaps that can give us some guidance in our day. As we try to process all the information, all the “alternative facts,” all the “fake news” that gets thrown at us, one way to sort it out is to begin with wisdom. One of the best paths to wisdom is to ask ourselves some tough questions. “What would Jesus do?” is more than a slogan, it’s a way to guide us to wisdom. Asking whether what we believe or do is consistent with loving God and loving others is another. Perhaps it would be helpful for us to use a form of that question from Dr. King: “am I doing this for myself or for others?” Wisdom is practical like that. And we would do well to remember that wisdom begins with honoring God.

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[1] ©2021 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 12/26/2021 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

A Light In Dark Places

 A Light in Dark Places

John 1:5[1]

The point of our service this evening is to remind us of the light that shines in the darkness. We need to be reminded of that because there’s plenty of darkness these days. The simple fact that this is the week of the longest nights in the year can make it hard for some of us. But there are other kinds of darkness we have to face as well. I think that’s one of the reasons why we go out of our way to make this time of year “festive.” It’s a way to bring some light into the darkness. But after the treats have been eaten and the packages opened and the decorations put away, we still have to face the darkness.

Some of us face the darkness of grief. The “holidays” can be the “worst possible time of the year” for those of us who have lost loved ones. For us, all the “celebrating” only reminds of those who are absent.

Some of us face the darkness of fear. So much about our world has changed, and it’s not going back to the way it was. At some point we all realize that everything we hold dear can be snatched away from us in the blink of an eye. Some of us don’t even know we’re afraid because we convert our fear to anger. But that’s a darkness just as deep.

Some of us face the darkness of doubt. Our lives are littered with broken promises, and it’s easy to decide that everything and everyone is corrupt. Instead of taking the chance of getting involved in the messiness of life, we put up walls to protect ourselves from being hurt.

Some of us face the worst kind of darkness: the darkness of despair. When we convince ourselves that we are beyond all hope, it can feel like we’ve fallen into an abyss where all love, all joy, all hope, all sense of meaning and purpose in life is gone.

After the Christmas “festivities” end, we still need a way to find the light that shines in the darkness. The Bible tells us God has promised to be God-who-is-with-us, and God-who-is-for-us. We celebrate this night because the baby born in the manger fulfilled the promise to be God-who-is-with-us. But more than that, when that baby grew up to be a man, he died on a cross, and fulfilled the promise to be God-who-is-for-us.

The manger and the cross are two very real reminders of the heart of our faith: the hope that “there is light on the other side of darkness.”[2] We can lose sight of that hope when we’re stuck. Sometimes we get stuck so deeply that not even the manger and the cross can relieve the darkness. We need something that can help us now. We may need to get out and take a walk—without looking at a phone! We may need to work in the yard. We may need to clean house or bake some cookies. We may need to listen to music that makes us want to dance—turned up loud! Sometimes, none of that helps, and all we can do is remember that if we let it go, the darkness will pass. The grief, the fear, the doubt, the despair will lift. And the sun will come up tomorrow.

As the Gospel of John declares: “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out” (Jn 1:5, GNT). The manger reminds us that that there is light on the other side of darkness. The cross reminds us that the light shines in the darkness. More than that, when Jesus rose from the dead on that first Easter morning, he defeated death.  Just as surely as Jesus was born in the manger, just as surely as he died on the cross, just as surely as he rose from the grave, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.” When the light dawns, the darkness must go.

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[1] ©2021 Alan Brehm. A Christmas eve meditation delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm on 12/24/2021 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Wounded Healer, 76.