The Collect
Almighty God, who madest thy blessed Son to be circumcised, and obedient to the law for man; Grant us the true circumcision of the Spirit; that, our hearts, and all our members, being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy blessed will; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 |
| Circumcision of our Lord |
The Epistle (Philippians ii. 9)
GOD also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
The Gospel (St. Luke ii. 15)
AND it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Circumcision of our Lord - Message in a Minute
The incarnation of Jesus highlights that Christianity is a religion which takes the world of the flesh seriously. God almighty created the material world through Jesus. Jesus came into the material world. Jesus took our human nature back with him when he ascended into heaven. He remains in the material world through the church and her sacraments.
This means that the Lord is down here in the real world with us. Nothing that happens in the material world is beneath God's concern. Everything that matters to us matters to him. He can respond to our prayers and change things in the material world. We can understand everything that happens in the material world in terms of what he wants for us and of his overall plan to save as many people as he can.
Because God is in the world, and because he has adopted us as his own children, he has made it possible for us to be familiar with him, familiar -- part of the family, part of God's family. We are his adopted children, we don't need to be afraid of God or afraid of alienating him forever by something we might think or say or do. Because we are God's children, he has put his Spirit in our hearts, and his Spirit lets us call him Abba - Father!
+++
