Scripture Focus: 2 John 12
12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

Reflection: Beyond Pen and Ink — Love of Advent
By John Tillman

John, the beloved disciple, is the most artistic and visionary writer of the New Testament. Unlike Luke’s chronological, journalistic approach, John chooses and arranges the signs Jesus performs like a playwright arranging the scenes of a play. Events are presented in the order of John’s artistic argument. When the curtain comes down, John’s artistic statement is complete. (John 20.30-31; 21.24-25)

For such a skilled and expressive writer, in his epistles, John lays more emphasis on seeing people in person. The technology of his age is dismissed in both this letter and the next. (2 John 12; 3 John 13) “Paper and ink” or “pen and ink” get dropped in preference to spending time face to face.

It’s popular to diss technological means of connection. Zoom, Facebook, and other social media are constantly targeted with critique. Much of it is deserved. Pretty much everyone, even the technology companies themselves, agree that we use screens and tech more than we should. Many also blame the degradation of our debates online on the dehumanization of interacting via text on a screen.

As much as I have devoted my life to writing, I have to acknowledge that reading words or writing words sometimes isn’t enough. Perhaps the ideas are too complex and the time (or word count) too short. Sometimes it is because I make mistakes. Sometimes it is because I am misunderstood. But often, it is just what John says; some things are better, face to face. 

This is one of the reasons for the incarnation. The Bible, even just the Torah without the New Testament, is a beautiful testimony of God’s love. But Jesus’s birth takes that testimony beyond pen and ink.

God could have continued to write to us, through prophets and priests, and scribes. But what he wanted to say couldn’t be said with pen and ink. He needed to touch lepers and write words in the dirt that spared an adulteress. He needed to walk through Samaria. He needed to mourn death. He needed to wash dirty feet. He needed to bleed.

What God has to say to you, through Advent, through the church, and through the scriptures, goes beyond pen and ink. In a miraculous way, when gathered face to face with believers, Jesus is there among us. Give that face-to-face love to one another this season and throughout the year.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Show us the light of your countenance, O God, and come to us. — Psalm 67.1

Today’s Readings
Esther 9-10 (Listen 6:25)
2 John (Listen 1:50)

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Scripture Focus: 2 John 4-6
4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

John 3:16-17
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

From John: We will be blessed this entire week with Jon Polk’s Advent contributions related to music from this time of year. Jon has always been a key source through whom I learned about unique music and artists worth discovering. Jon is a music connoisseur and collector with a massive collection of music, both on his shelves and in his heart. This week, please enjoy his exploration of the carols of Advent.

Reflection: The First Noël — Carols of Advent Love
By Jon Polk

English lawyer and member of the Society of Antiquaries of London, William Sandys was concerned that the celebration of Christmas, especially the singing of Christmas songs, was waning in the first half of the 19th century. He set about collecting and preserving Christmas carols from both England and France, publishing two volumes totaling over 100 songs.

His first collection in 1833, Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, also contained a lengthy 136-page introduction examining the history of Christmas celebrations. In this collection was found the first printed appearances of many classic English carols, including “The First Noël.”

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

The origins of the song date back to medieval Europe, a time when dramatizations of biblical stories called Miracle Plays were popular (early origins of Passion Plays and Christmas Pageants). The lyrics plainly recount the nativity stories of the shepherds and Magi directly from scripture.

Sandys’ carol collections helped revitalize Christmas celebrations in England. At the time, carol singing was typically done by singers gathering at people’s homes and was generally not to be found in church worship. Soon many cathedrals began including carols in Christmas services.

In 1880, Bishop Benson in Cornwall developed the first “Nine Lessons and Carols” service. Benson was concerned that the celebration of Christmas had become characterized by excessive consumption of alcohol and he developed a service of Christmas music and Bible readings, hoping to attract partygoers out of the pubs and into church.

The Nine Lessons service gained popularity across England. Ultimately, its most famous incarnation began an annual tradition at King’s College, Cambridge in 1918. At that inaugural event, “The First Noël” was given pride of place as the final congregational hymn in the service.

The song, along with recounting the nativity story, is unashamedly evangelistic, proclaiming the love of God for humanity through Christ’s sacrifice.

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made heaven and earth of naught
And with his blood mankind has bought

One could easily assert that in the modern day, the celebration of the true nature of Christmas has waned. The holiday has become characterized by excessive consumerism and commercialism. Christmas is widely celebrated in a mostly secular way, marked by Black Friday, holiday movies and time off from work and school for the annual family ski trip.

May the simple story found in “The First Noël,” describing the worship of the shepherds and the Magi, encourage us as Christians to re-examine even our own focus on Christmas, calling us back to the importance of proclaiming God’s love to those around us.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

Listen: The First Noel by Phil Wickham
Read: Lyrics from Hymnary.org

*If you’d like some ideas for how you and your family can recenter your celebration of Christmas, check out the resources from The Advent Conspiracy.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Look upon your covenant; the dark places of the earth are haunts of violence. — Psalm 74.19

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.
Today’s Readings
2 Chronicles 7 (Listen – 4:07)
1 John 5 (Listen – 1:50)

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…dear reader, to whom will you carry the light and joy of Christmas this year?