Year
ABCParaphrases of the Scripture Lections
for Presentation of the Lord - Year ABC - 2 Febraury
Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary.
Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts (CCT)
P. O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.
* Malachi 3: 1-4
The LORD who rules over everything has this to say:
........“Look, I am sending my own messenger to get things ready for when I arrive. Then, all of a sudden, the Lord you have been looking for will turn up in the temple. You have been longing to see the messenger who will come to put my promises on the table. Well, he’s coming alright. But will anyone be able to cope with him when he does? Will anyone be able to stand firm in his presence?
........You see, he’ll be like a bush fire that clears all the debris from the from the forest floor, or like paint stripper that takes a surface back to bare metal. He will tear through the whole family of priests and burn away the rubbish once and for all, until they shine like pure polished gold. Then they’ll do what they are supposed to do and bring the right kind of offerings to the LORD. That way the offerings of the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to God again, just like they were in the past.”
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
* Psalm 84
The place where you live is just exquisite,
........O LORD, ruler of all!
With everything inside me, I long to be there;
........I go all weak at the very thought of it.
I want to be there, body and soul,
........singing my heart out for you, O God of life.
Even the birds find a home in your house;
........there are nests in every nook and cranny
................where pigeons and sparrows raise their young.
Bird song and incense rise together
........to honour you, Sovereign God, ruler of all.
How privileged are those who live in your house;
........joyous songs of praise are forever on their lips.
Those who have tapped into your strength
........have got it made.
The highway to heaven begins within them;
........a direct route to your holy presence.
They are like people who can find water in the desert;
........they drink from life giving springs
................that no drought can ever dry up.
They go from strength to strength,
........and will see you face to face on your holy mountain.
O LORD, ruler of everything, hear my cry.
........Tune in to my prayer, O God of our ancestors.
Your presence is our protection, O God;
........smile upon us, your chosen ones.
A day spent in your presence
........beats a thousand nights in a five star resort.
I’d rather scrub floors in your house, O God,
........than rub shoulders with the rich and famous
................beneath the flashing lights of greed and corruption.
O LORD our God, you are the sun that shines on us
........and the shield that keeps us safe.
You shower us with generosity and honour,
........and deny nothing to people of integrity.
O LORD, ruler of all,
........everyone who trusts in you has got it made!
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
* Psalm 24: 7-10
We hear the call:
........“Wake up! On your feet!
................Open the gates and form a guard of honour!
........Roll out the red carpet
................before the glorious sovereign.”
Who is this majestic ruler?
........It is you, LORD, supreme and dynamic,
................the conqueror of conflict.
We hear it again:
........“Wake up! On your feet!
................Open the gates and form a guard of honour!
........Roll out the red carpet
................before the glorious sovereign.”
Who is this majestic ruler?
........It is you, the LORD who rules over everything.
................This majestic ruler is you, our God.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
* Hebrews 2: 14-18
........For Jesus to share so fully in the life experience of the children, he had to be of the same flesh and blood as them. It was only in the same flesh and blood that he could go through the same death; and it was in going through death that he destroyed the devil who wields death as his ultimate weapon. That is how he broke open an escape route for those whose fear of death robbed them of their freedom to live. Now it is quite clear that he wasn’t doing this for the benefit of the angels. Rather it was for us human beings, who follow in the footsteps of Abraham, and so he had to become one of us in every respect. Only by being totally identified with us could he have the necessary compassion and loyalty to be the high priest who offers the costly gift to God to cancel out all we have done wrong. Because he himself has survived the worst that life can dish out without giving up, he is now ideally placed to help out those whose limits are being being put to the test.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
* Luke 2: 22-40
........Forty days after the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary went up to the Jerusalem temple to undergo the purification ritual required by the religious law. They took Jesus with them, and offered the sacrifice which the law of the Lord required of new parents. In their case, because they could not afford much, the required sacrifice was “a pair of young pigeons or doves.” While they were at the Temple, they took the opportunity to make the ritual presentation of the baby to the Lord. This too was in line with God’s law, for it specified that “every firstborn son will be marked out as being dedicated to the Lord.”
........A man named Simeon came into the temple that day at the prompting of the Spirit. Simeon was a man of deep integrity and prayer; a man clearly under the influence of the Holy Spirit. He was living in eager anticipation of the day when the sorrows of God’s people would be brought to an end, and the Holy Spirit had let him know that he would see the Lord’s chosen Messiah in person before he died. So when Joseph and Mary brought the child into the temple to do all the customary things that the law required, Simeon was there. He took Jesus in his arms, and began to praise God in prayer, saying:
“At last you are letting your servant go in peace, Lord,........The parents couldn’t believe their ears when they heard what was being said about their child. Simeon gave them both a blessing, and spoke to the child’s mother, Mary, saying, “This child is destined to be the making or breaking of many people in Israel. He will be a sign of what God is now up to, and many people will turn against him, and thus expose what they are really made of. And as for you, his mother, it will tear your heart out.”
........just as you promised you would;
for now, with my own eyes,
........I have seen your rescue operation underway.
I have seen the launch of the life you have been preparing
........in the midst of the world and its peoples;
I have seen the light which will make you known to the nations,
........the light which will have your people basking in glory.”