Reuben's Theme: " Only 12 days of Christmas?"
(Advent 2) - EVENSONG 1830hrs. at Saint George's - Cullercoats.
Sunday, 10th. December 2000 Anno Domini.
Morning Mass: Baruch: 5.1-9 Canticla: Luke 1.68-79 Philippians: 1.3-11 Luke: 3.1-6
Evensong: Psalm: 75. Isaiah: 40.1-11 Luke: 1.1-25

December 10, 2000 Cycle C Advent 2.

Psalm 75

1 The psalm text is placed here; it is kept in easy format.
2 It isn't often that the psalm is quoted from; but it is good if you can.
3 Always read the psalm; it is there for a reason.
4 Sometimes the theme is heavily featured. Sometimes it is a cornerstone to what you are trying to say.
5 Always put it here; it is important.


Isiah.40:1-11 (RSV)
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
6 A voice says, "Cry!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand for ever.
9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
10 Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.


Luke.1:1-25 (RSV)

1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us,
2 just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent The-oph'ilus,
4 that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechari'ah, of the division of Abi'jah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,
9 according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.
11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And Zechari'ah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechari'ah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth;
15 for he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God,
17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Eli'jah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."
18 And Zechari'ah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years."
19 And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news.
20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."
21 And the people were waiting for Zechari'ah, and they wondered at his delay in the temple.
22 And when he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he made signs to them and remained dumb.
23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying,
25 "Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men."

Reuben's Sermon:

Reuben's Theme: "Only 12 days of Christmas?"

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Well here we are.
The Second Sunday of Advent.
And because the Fourth Sunday of Advent is the day before Christmas, that means that it's only 14 days to Christmas.
In the three readings we heard this morning we heard...
In Malachi: An awesome messenger will prepare the way for the Lord to return to the Temple. God's people will be purified so that they may respond to Him as they did in ancient times,
In Paul's letter to the Philippians, Paul is looking forward to the day of Christ. The day when the redemption of the world is so complete that Christ will appear in glory to hand over the kingdom to His Father. With joy, Paul prays that the people of Philippi who have shared in his suffering, will live in a way that will prepare them for this day.
In the Gospel reading this morning, Luke tells us of John, son of Zechariah, and cousin of Jesus, calling for repentance and uses the beautiful words of Isaiah, warning people to prepare for the coming of the Lord, who will save His people.
Tonight we have just heard that very reading from Isaiah and also Luke telling us of Zechariah and Elizabeth and the events leading up to the birth of John the Baptist.
There's a sense of urgency leading up to Christmas.
There are sermons about making ourselves ready for the coming of Jesus.
And if not the second coming, which could be anytime, at least preparation to celebrate Christmas properly.

So, how do we prepare to celebrate Christmas these days?
Well, apart from coming to church,
attending Bible Study at Saint Hilda's with Fr. John on Wednesdays from 7.30 till 8.30 in the evening,
going to various additional reflective and devotional services
and, of course, making our confessions,
there are many odd things we do for Christmas.

Many of the things we associate with Christmas are very old, but not originally Christian (changed by early Christians to take over older pagan festivals).
Many of the things we accept about the celebration of Christmas are quite new (hijacked by the commercial world to make Christmas more profitable).
We can thank Coca Cola in the 1920's for the red and white "Santa Claus" image we know so well today
and many children think that Christmas is spelt Xmas, (which is blasphemy).

But whatever symbols, songs, dates or traditions we use...
...or put up with...
...to Christians, the festival of Christmas will always be a celebration of the most wonderful thing that ever happened. The day God became man, born as Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, sometime slightly more than 2,000 years ago.
I would, however, like to take a quick look at the concept of Twelve days of Christmas?
Why only twelve?
Well, it wasn't always twelve. It used to be a 40 day festival, many, many centuries ago.
Starting on Christmas Day and taking us to Candlemas on 2nd. February.
The concept of the Twelve Days of Christmas is rooted partly in a Pagan festival that we Christians took over.
The tree, placed inside the dwelling for the "Tree Festival", about the same time of year, had to be removed from the dwelling before twelfth night so that the 'spirit' of the tree would not invade the home.
The concept of a "Christmas Tree" became popular in Europe and Prince Albert brought the tree thing back to this country. The tree in Christian circles is supposed to symbolise the family tree of Jesus.
So, yes - we stole the tree from the pagans.
Christians did not invent the idea of "stealing" symbols and dates from other religions.
We learnt that trick from the Jews.
And even today some Jews, in a wonderful gesture of "anything you can steal - we can steal better" have stolen the Christmas Tree!
A Jewish friend of mine insists that his decorated tree, with lights on, is symbolic of the 'Burning Bush'.

But what about the 12 days of Christmas?
The tradition of only 12 Days of Christmas is mainly due to a very old song.
Yes you know the one.
However, the song was hijacked by Catholics in England, during the 16th century, to teach their children basic doctrine.
It wasn't a good idea to write anything down in those days, so using a harmless song was a perfect way of teaching basic Catholic doctrine without getting into big trouble.
In the song, the days started on Saint Stephen's Day (26th. December), and went through to Epiphany (6th. January), the traditional day for celebrating the arrival of the wise men.
So...
...the first twelve days of Christmas...
...in the song...
...stolen by the Catholics.
I must warn you that I'm treading in "Deck of Cards" territory now, but you can blame the 16th. century Catholics, not me... Anyway... ...it's good fun.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
My true love is God, my Father in Heaven.

A partridge in a pear tree.
The mother partridge will lure enemies away from her nest of defenceless chicks in order to protect them.
She will literally risk her life for her children.
The partridge, in this song, is a hidden reference to Jesus Christ, who declared, "I lay down my life for the sheep".
The pear tree symbolises the cross, made of wood.

Two turtle doves.
The turtle doves stand for the two testaments in the Bible (Old and New), and also, according to some traditions, the two turtle doves offered at Jesus' dedication in the Temple when he was twelve.
All of the temple sacrifices are symbolic of the one sacrifice Christ made by giving his life as a just payment for the sins of the world.

Three French Hens.
French Hens were very expensive during the 16th century, and were therefore symbolic of the three costly gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh given by the wise men.
An alternate significance is symbolism depicting the value of the three Christ virtues, faith, hope, and charity.
Other forms of the song use the French Hens to symbolise the three persons of the trinity.

Four Calling Birds.
Well, that one is easy. The Calling Birds stand for the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Five Gold Rings.
The Rings stand for the first five books of the Old Testament, the "law of Moses", the "Torah" as they are called by Jews. The Torah tells the story of man's fall into sin and reconciliation through the Messiah.

Six Geese A-laying.
Eggs are an almost universal symbol of new life.
The "laying" geese, therefore, stand for the six days of creation.

Seven Swans a Swimming.
The swans symbolise the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in Romans 12:6-8:
We have seven different gifts, according to the grace given us.
If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
If it is serving, let him serve;
if it is teaching, let him teach;
if it is encouraging, let him encourage;
if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously,
if it is leadership, let him govern diligently;
if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Eight Maids A-milking.
The maids who milked the cows were the least of the servants in a home.
Their job symbolised Christ's faithfulness, even to us who don't deserve his love.
The eight maids stand for the eight "beatitudes" or blessings listed in Matthew Chapter 5 vv3-10:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Nine Ladies Dancing.
The nine ladies remind us of the nine "fruits of the Spirit" described in Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Ten Lords A-leaping.
Lords established the law in their own jurisdictions.
The Lords stand for the Ten Commandments,
which are holy and good... ...and by which we should live.

Eleven Pipers Piping.
The Pipers remind us of the eleven original apostles who did not forsake the faith, as Judas did in betraying Christ; and through whom the good news of the Gospel was preached "to the whole world".

Twelve Drummers Drumming.
This refers to the Apostles Creed which we all said earlier.
As Fr. John pointed out to me, a few days ago, there are probably about 112 possible doctrines that can be brought out of the Apostle's Creed,
but the basic twelve are the ones that the 16th. century Catholics were remembering.
The Apostles' Creed does summarise the teachings of biblical Christian faith.
Orthodox confessions are not meant to add to, or replace, scripture...
...but to summarise its teachings.
They can be recited at will to remind us of the basics of the Christian faith.
The Drummers "set the pace," reminders of what we believe by symbolising the twelve basic doctrines summarised in the Apostles' Creed:

So there you have it,

The twelve days of Christmas.

Those who start their Christmas celebrations in Advent, well before 25th. December, and are often eager to take down their Christmas decorations before the Magi even arrive... ...on 6th. January... ...may be interested to know that there are still some Christians, like me, celebrating Christmas...

.....from 25th. December...                ...until 2nd. February!

Only twelve days of Christmas?

© Reuben Condie December 2000
©Bible texts: RSV