Cradles for the Living Christ - an Advent Prayer for December 10

Cradles for the Living Christ

Ralph Spaulding Cushman (20^th century)

 

Let not our hearts be busy inns,

That have no room for Thee,

But cradles for the living Christ and His nativity.

Still driven by a thousand cares
The pilgrims come and go;
The hurried caravans press on;
The inns are crowded so!

Oh, lest we starve, and lest we die in our stupidity,
Come, Holy Child, within and share
Our hospitality.

 

            “Because there was no room for them in the inn.”  A crowded city, all the lodging filled, no room for Jesus.  The image, as Cushman points out, speaks to the one who is too busy, whose heart is too crowded to believe. 

            Yet it speaks as well to the believers, to those who say, “Yes, Lord Jesus, come into my heart,” yet find that heart over time crowded with the cares of this world, with the busyness of a life of faith, and yes, with way too many messages in our in-boxes. 

            I made a feeble attempt at creating a flannelgraph presentation many years ago based on a short story, My Heart, Christ’s Home.  The storyteller invited Christ into his home (his heart), and moved from room to room as they explored together what the life of faith meant in the experience of the everyday.

At one point, Jesus tells the narrator that he’d been waiting for him every morning in the (with)drawing room, but that he’d been lonely, as the narrator didn’t appear.  To paraphrase, Jesus reminded the young man that their time together mattered to Jesus just as much as it mattered to him.  Makes me wonder, how often has Jesus been sitting alone, waiting for me to join him? 

 

Prayer Focus:  room for Jesus

 

An Advent Prayer for December 4

A Byzantine Traditional Prayer

 

Christ is born; give him the glory!
Christ has come down from heaven; receive him!
Christ is now on earth; exalt him!
O you earth, sing to the Lord!
O you nations, praise him in joy,
for he has been glorified!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

Amen.

 

            This ancient prayer has the feel of a psalm, as it trumpets the birth of Christ with an exhortation to praise and song on the part of the believer.  Perhaps it was a sung prayer as well, as its rhythms would suggest that a melody may have been a part of its expression.

            While I don’t know what notes (if any) may have accompanied its opening lines, its final line is the traditional Gloria Patri sung every Sunday of my childhood at the conclusion of the pastoral prayer.  As Presbyterians, we weren’t as strictly liturgical as some churches, but there was a pattern to our worship, and these words were included in that pattern.

            “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.”  We stood in the presence of God and affirmed our belief in the Trinity, one in three, and, as Salvation Army doctrine explains, “co-equal in power and glory.”  Present in the beginning, at the creation of the world.  Present in our day, as we walk in the Spirit, and present forever, infinitely God with us.

For this day, it will be the melody that echoes in my head. 

 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. 

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  in praise of the Trinity

An Advent Prayer for December 3

Christmas Prayer of Pope John XXIII

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (20^th century)

 

O sweet Child of Bethlehem,
grant that we may share with all our hearts
in this profound mystery of Christmas.
Put into the hearts of men and women this peace
for which they sometimes seek so desperately
and which you alone can give to them.
Help them to know one another better,
and to live as brothers and sisters,
children of the same Father.
Reveal to them also your beauty, holiness and purity.
Awaken in their hearts
love and gratitude for your infinite goodness.
Join them all together in your love.
And give us your heavenly peace. Amen.

 

What prayer does a pastor pray for his/her people?  Growing up in the Presbyterian tradition, each week the minister would pray the Pastoral Prayer, a prayer specifically for the people of the church.  In the same way, Pope John XXIII demonstrates a pastor’s heart as he prays this prayer. 

First, for faith, that the mystery of Christmas, the incarnation, might be known to us.  A prayer for personal peace follows, the peace that Jesus speaks of in John 14, perfect peace, the peace that passes all understanding.  And then John prays for relationships, a plea for connection, for a familial relationship as children of the same Father.

It challenges us this day to consider this: how do we, as pastors, Sunday School teachers, mothers, fathers, friends, co-workers, pray for the people in our lives.  And on a personal level, what is most dear to my heart as I pray for others (and for myself)?   

    

Prayer Focus:  our prayers for others