A Message from the Rector:
Luke 2:8-20
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
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What were those shepherds doing in that field??? I know, I know, they were “abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night.” But what were they doing? After all, everyone else was on the move. Carpenters and their very pregnant wives were on the move. Remember? Caesar commanded that everyone go to their ancestral villages to be counted for the census so that they could be properly taxed. Why had the shepherds ignored that order? And why didn’t anybody care that they hadn’t?
In Joseph and Mary’s time, shepherds’ lives were so bleak that they weren’t even included in the tax count. Their testimony wasn’t admissible in a court of law. Towns had ordinances that prohibited shepherds from staying inside the city walls overnight. Shepherds worked on the Sabbath, and so were classed as sinners-by-vocation along with tax collectors and sex workers. Shepherds were the people who hadn’t found decent work and so turned to being shepherds.
The Good News is proclaimed first to the nobodies. The first moment of the first Christmas is news of Great Love proclaimed to the unnoticed, unloved, unworthy, unadmired.
When you are despised, and barred from polite and even semi-polite company, when you aren’t permitted to sleep where others sleep, when you are seen as unclean, when you are such a nobody that you’re not even worth being taxed, in what way could the Ruler of the Universe come to you so that you could–for an hour–stop hearing the voices of hatred and self-hatred that you live and breathe?
A tiny, helpless, infant tended by parents in a stable filled with animals would surely be a place that shepherds could find themselves comfortable and on familiar ground. Shepherds spent their lives amidst the smell of blood and milk and manure, the sounds of bleats and the gentle lowing of ewes to soothe their fractious lambs. What is a day with a human newborn but blood and milk and manure and feeble cries and quiet murmuring? Hands and feet that would be disgustingly dirty if they went to a shop in town became useful hands in a stable. In a stable, worn shepherd hands were the hands of experience and ease that could hold, grasp, tend, and do work that was needed by exhausted and grateful parents.
Perhaps it was this humble beginning and humble inclusion that made the shepherds confident and comfortable enough to go out into a world that had rejected and despised and ignored them to shout of the experience of Love come down among all of us. Our own Christmas celebrations are subdued this year, even bleak. Few of us are going anywhere; we will be right in the midst of our own usual messes. Perhaps this humble Christmas that has been forced on us will open hearts as it did for the shepherds on that first Christmas so long ago.
May it be so.
Jen+
Connect With Us
Rector’s Office Drop-In Time
Rev. Jen has set her office drop-in day as Wednesday of each week from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. for anyone who would like to stop in and visit. You are always invited to make an appointment for a time convenient for you. Mondays are her Sabbath day. NOTE: There will be no drop-in hours December 25 or January 1.
The First Sunday after Christmas
In-Person Sunday Morning Christmas Lessons and Carols Service, December 29, led by Karen Hirt-Mannon, 10:15 a.m.
You can stream the service via St. Andrew’s Facebook Page. Click on this link to view the Live Stream. We will start the Live Stream 5 minutes prior to the start of the service.
Click here for the service booklet for December 29.
The Latest Updates
KROGER COUPONS
If you have any unwanted Kroger coupons, please bring them to Hamilton Hall and place in the window ledge near the “Little Library”. We would like to make them available to our Non-Food Pantry recipients so that they might be able to take advantage of them to help extend their food budget. Thanks in advance!
SACRED POETRY GROUP
Our Sacred Poetry began meeting again. We will meet again on Wednesday, January 8 at 2:00 p.m. in the upstairs room of Advent House. All are welcome!
TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY
The Book and Bible Group has begun again, meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays with Evening Prayer celebrated at 4:00 p.m.
BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION, AND EXPLORATION OF CHRISTIAN FAITH
Our upcoming Confirmation classes are on January 5. Please let Jen+ or Renee know if you are interested!
VESTRY MEETING MINUTES
If any of you are interested in what your Vestry is doing, there are two copies of each month’s minutes on the top of the piano in Hamilton Hall. Feel free to read and return!
THIS WEEK’S SHOPPING LIST FOR NON-FOOD PANTRY
Please add baby wipes, disinfectant wipes, and Adult Depends (any size) to your shopping list for the NFP for the month of January. Meals and conversation in Hamilton Hall are going well. Patrons are now able to pick out items they most need. Your contributions help our budget go farther in helping meet the needs of those in Putnam County. The next Non-Food Pantry will be Saturday, January 25 from noon – 2:00 p.m.
FREE DAILY DEVOTIONAL
We have some large print Day by Day daily devotionals in the sanctuary that you are free to take home for your personal devotions–and if we know that people would like copies, we can order the right amount. Many of you may also appreciate the on-line version of Day to Day. Click here.
ON-GOING COVID PROTOCOL
We continue to respond to both our county’s current CDC designation and to the current variant. Masking is optional. Decisions on COVID policy have moved from the Reconvening Committee to Rev. Jen and the Wardens.
Prayers and Reflections for This Week
We have heard that the daily reflections and scripture readings provided during Lent were appreciated. The meditations are written by persons from Gobin UMC and Beech Grove UMC. They will be in the newsletter each week. Whether you enjoy these every day or as the Spirit moves you, may this resource continue to bring you spiritual food for the journey. Blessings!
Click here to view the readings and accompanying links.
Non-Food Pantry Latest
Saturday, January 25
• Noon to 2:00 p.m.
There will be a distribution in Hamilton Hall and light lunches will be served inside. We are grateful for all those who have worked so hard to obtain supplies for the Non-Food Pantry. Items are having to be purchased from a variety of sources making it much more expensive. Donations to help offset this extra cost will be gratefully accepted!
Top 3 Needed Items
Your prayers are asked for:
Haile Bane, grandson of Joanne Haymaker
The family of Vernon Bane, father of Joanne Haymaker’s daughter-in-law
Toppy Beach, sister of Skip Sutton
Beth Benedix, friend to many at St. Andrew’s
Kim Frank, sister of Pamalee Smith
Katie Gleichman, relative of Jim & Cathryn Ensley
Carole Greenawald
The family of Troy Greenlee, friend of Thom & Gwen Morris
The family of Richard Hassler, brother of Suzanne Hassler
Janet Jenks, friend to many at St. Andrew’s
Tom Kaiser, friend of Jen+ & Chris
The family of Lisa Breese Kincaid, daughter of Bob & Mimi Breese
Teresa Masten, friend of Karen & Jim Mannon
Sally Motsch, friend to many at St. Andrew’s
Mary Mountz
Jeri Mucia, friend of Joanne Haymaker
Tom Mullen, father of Patti Harmless
Marilyn & Leo Nelson, sister & brother-in-law of Joanne Haymaker
The family and friends of Kevin Sanders, friend of Mannon family
Elizabeth & Natalie Sheffler, daughter & granddaughter of Page & Narda Cotton
Skip Sutton
Karen Swalley, friend of Thom & Gwen Morris
Dwight Ziegler, uncle of Stephanie Gurnon
Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: Church of the Nativity, Indianapolis: The Rev. Ben Wyatt, The Rev. Yuri Rodriguez.
Our companion dioceses: The Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil: The Most Rev. Mauricio Jose Araujo De Andrade, Primate of Brazil and Bishop of Brasilia. The people and Diocese of Haiti and Saint Andre’s in Mithon.
Anglican Cycle of Prayer: The Episcopal Church.
Birthdays: Richard Cameron, January 2; Connie Macy, January 4.
Anniversaries: None.
Special Events and Services
