Faith
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Thinking the Faith, Praying the Faith, Living the Faith is written by the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship.
Thinking, praying, and living the faith is at the core of ministry in the Office of Theology and Worship. In the following videos, learn more about what thinking, praying, and living the faith means to the leadership of the Office of Theology and Worship. Discover why it matters and what difference it makes in our lives, work, and worship.
Charles Wiley
Barry Ensign-George
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Christine Hong
Karen Russell
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A Sign for You
This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:12)
I love John Calvin’s sacramental take on this verse:
The angel meets the prejudice which might naturally hinder the faith of the shepherds; for what a mockery is it, that he, whom God has sent to be the King, and the only Savior, is seen lying in a manger! That the mean and despicable condition in which Christ was might not deter the shepherds from believing in Christ, the angel tells them beforehand what they would see. This method of proceeding, which might appear, [from a human perspective], absurd and almost ridiculous, the Lord pursues toward us every day. Sending down to us from heaven the word of the Gospel, he enjoins us to embrace Christ crucified, and holds out to us signs in earthly and fading elements, which raise us to the glory of a blessed immortality. Having promised to us spiritual righteousness, he places before our eyes a little water: by a small portion of bread and wine, he seals the eternal life of the soul. But if the stable gave no offense whatever to the shepherds, so as to prevent them from going to Christ to obtain salvation, or from yielding to his authority, while he was yet a child; no sign, however mean in itself, ought to hide his glory from our view, or prevent us from offering to him lowly adoration, now that he has ascended to heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. From Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. XVI (Baker Book House, 1981) 117-118.
We give thanks for this sign:
a child, wrapped in bands of cloth,
who would break the bonds of death,
leaving linen grave-clothes in the tomb.
We give thanks for this sign:
a child, lying in a feeding-trough,
who would give his own body as bread,
food for everlasting life.
And so we join the angels’ song:
Holy, holy, holy Lord …
- Posted at 10:08 p.m.
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