When Pastors engage in counseling they usually receive a lot of “flack” from counselees, like “I have a mental illness,” “I’m a victim,” or “I apologized kind of,” etc. Worse is “I’m letting go and letting God,” or “The Spirit/Jesus hasn’t changed me yet, I’m waiting on him.” That’s not only false, it is a sinful notion: the Bible is clear about Christians and the faithful putting off sin and putting on Christ. Scripture never says “wait till you feel the Spirit.”

“…as you have always obeyed…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” — Philippians 2:12–13. Yes, because God is in you, YOU must move and obey!

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry…But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another…” — Colossians 3:5, 8–9.

“…that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,…” — 1 Timothy 1:18–19. Notice Paul is holding Timothy responsible to act!

“I promise to keep your words” — Psalm 119:57.

“When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies” — Psalm 119:59.

“I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments” — Psalm 119:60

“I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end” — Psalm 119:112.

Even a few from David, an old testament saint! He takes full responsibility (notice the “I’s”)! And so should you!

The gospel reading for today (Luke 2:41-52) is a classic text among people of non-paedocommuion persuasion. They find from the story that Jesus never went up to the Passover celebration until he was twelve. Never mind the text doesn’t say that. And since Jesus didn’t eat the Passover Meal till he was twelve, then covenant children should not sit at the table till they are twelve, likewise. Covenant children don’t get to go into the “real Father’s house” until they are twelve and admitted to the Lord’s Supper. That’s the Bar Mitzvah practice; but when did that become normative for Christian practice and doctrine?

Funny how his parents thought he was with the entourage, as if running around with cousins was a normal thing to do on this trip! It’s also “funny” that at the institution of the Passover in Exodus 12, there was a lamb “for each household,” (3), and if the household was too small for a whole lamb, then two households could share a lamb, “according to the number of souls, according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb” (4). One guesses children under twelve years of age aren’t a “soul/person,” and they can’t eat yet! Funny, too, that when your children ask during the killing of the lamb and preparation for the service, “What do you mean by this service” (26-27), the answer “for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt,” even though all the children in the houses were spared, nobody but those twelve and older got to eat. And, of course, only twelve-year-olders would think to ask such a question!

Funny, too, how Paul teaches that “all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink… from the rock, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians. 10:1-4) Apparently, only children twelve and older escaped from Egypt!

The gospel text of Matthew 2:1–12 for the second Sunday in Christmas is one of those texts you just can’t read lightly, lest you miss some really important stuff. One such important detail is that Herod is a new Pharaoh who kills little boys to prevent the Promised Seed from ascending his throne, and that he is “deceived” by the wise men as was Pharaoh by the midwives.

Speaking of the Wise Men, how many were there? We all know “three,” but the text doesn’t actually say that; just the Christmas carol, thinking each man brought one gift. Are you really paying attention to the text?!

Same thing with the “star” the men follow! Most Christians think this is an actual, cosmic star in heaven, no bother that stars are about 1000 times larger than our earth (don’t trust the science here!). But if you read your bible and connect even a few dots, you know this isn’t a cosmic star but the “Shekinah Glory,” the cloud of light by day and fire by night, the portable throne room of Yahweh and Jesus that moves around leading Israel in the wilderness and that picks up Jesus at his ascension. Paul gets a visit from it on the way to Damascus, and Jesus speaks out of it just like Yahweh did to Moses. So in our gospel account the “star” leads the men to an actual house and “sits” over it; therein they find Jesus.

So this invites the question: Why does the text tell us that David picks up “five” stones when he meets Goliath? Why “five”? We all know the answer: he was a Calvinist, one stone for each point. And all it took was one stone, since Goliath was “totally depraved!” But might it have been that David was preparing to get his four brothers (2 Samuel 21.15-22)?