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JACKIE SMALLBONES

Christmas Day. FULL of GRACE and TRUTH

12/24/2024

Prepare to Listen. Light all the Advent candles. And the Word became flesh and lived among us.

Prayerfully Read John 1:6-14
6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.  8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  10He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.  11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.  12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.  14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
“He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.”  If Jesus came to earth today, would you accept and receive him?

His own, the Jews, those who should have known better, did not accept or receive him. They knew their scriptures about Messiah; ought to have known what to expect and should have eagerly welcomed him. They didn’t. He wasn’t what they expected and hoped for. They never saw his glory, never experienced his grace and truth.

The question we need to ask ourselves is whether we’d accept Jesus if he showed up today as he did 2000 years ago. The Gospel stories make it clear that Jesus isn’t anything like what most of us expect, or perhaps even want. Would we accept him? Or would we create him into an image we can control, one that hates what we hate and loves what we love? It’s a challenging question.

Accepting, receiving Jesus means receiving and loving what he loves because Jesus gives us “power to become children of God.” Only then will we see his glory, a glory filled with grace and truth. Living in grace and truth will be important to us, and what we diligently seek.

How can you welcome Jesus into your home this Christmas?

Prayerfully Respond
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming into the world in human flesh, living among us. May I seek your grace and truth today and always. Amen.

Live obediently. Live in grace and truth.

Christmas Eve. The LIGHT has COME

12/23/2024

Prepare to Listen. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Prayerfully Read John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
John begins his Gospel with the same words with which the Bible begins--in the beginning. Think about why John connects the gospel with creation.

It’s easy to get sentimental about Christmas with children’s nativity plays, a baby Jesus lying in a manger, carols that claim he was “asleep on the hay… no crying he makes.” But John’s description of Jesus can’t be turned into sentimental sweetness. This is no “gentle Jesus meek and mild,” who quietly sleeps in a manger. Instead, this is the Word, the one who is from the beginning, Creator of all things. Redemption in Jesus is related to creation. Christ came into the world and new creation began.

An important image throughout John that both describes and explains Jesus is the image of light. We live in a world where darkness dominates. Every time I listen to the news, I hear more darkness—a divided nation, broken churches, waring countries, and that’s just the beginning! It’s all stuff that is mostly beyond our control.

The good news is Jesus, who controls the darkness and who said, “I am the light of the world” (Jn 8:12). He “shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Light doesn’t eliminate darkness but keeps shining despite it. If we only see darkness, we’re looking in the wrong place or at the wrong person. The light has come.

How can you keep looking towards the light that is Jesus, rather than the darkness around you?

Prayerfully Respond
Lord Jesus may this Christmas be one where I see more clearly the light that is you and that it can’t be overwhelmed by any of the darkness around us today. Amen.

Live obediently. Look at the Light.

4th Monday of Advent (December 23). ALL GENERATIONS WILL CALL HER BLESSED

12/22/2024

Prepare to Listen. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

Prayerfully Read Luke 1:46-55 The Magnificat
46And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
  47and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
48for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
    Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
50His mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
51He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
    and lifted up the lowly;
53he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and sent the rich away empty.
54He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
55according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
Mary was unwed and pregnant, yet she rejoiced and proclaimed, “he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.” Wonder why she could say that.

Mary’s Magnificat highlights Luke’s key teaching about Jesus. It’s also a subversive and courageous song of hope, all about God and all about revolution, as Wright notes.[1] It’s a revolution that gives hope to Mary’s own class—the poor, the oppressed, the disenfranchised.  She sang “about God’s defense of the defenseless, God’s rescue of the lowly, God’s upheaval of the proud and overthrow of those in power.”[2] The ruling authorities would tremble at her words since they announced their demise, not as a future possibility, but as a present reality. No wonder she rejoiced.

Mary’s social justice theology was rooted in Scripture, with almost every word a quotation. She believed her pregnancy began God’s revolution that would reverse fortunes, and the poor would benefit the most. Jesus lived what she sang. He made room for the poor and marginalized, he warned the rich not to trust in their wealth and power, he promised God’s kingdom to the poor, not the rich. Mary’s trust in God’s word was so sure that she knew all generations would, one day call her blessed.

How can you participate in God’s social justice revolution begun in Jesus?

Prayerfully Respond
Thank you, Lord, for Mary and her deep insight into the scope of your salvation. Give me her courage today to speak up for the weak and powerless. Amen.

Live obediently. Participate in Jesus’ reversal of fortunes.
[1] Wright, N.T. Luke For Everyone. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. 2004, p. 14.
[2] B. B. Taylor. Always a Guest. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. 2020, p. 129.

4th Sunday of Advent (December 22). BLESSED AMONG WOMEN

12/21/2024

Prepare to Listen. Light the four colored candles on the Advent wreath. Blessed is she who believed.

Prayerfully Read Luke 1:39-45
39In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’

Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
Elizabeth is the first to describe Mary as blessed among women. Tomorrow, we’ll read Mary’s own claim that all generations will call her blessed. Why do you think Elizabeth called her blessed?

Elizabeth was the first person Mary told about her pregnancy. She travelled from Nazareth in the north to an unknown town in the hill country of Judea in the south. Since women, especially single teenage girls like Mary, rarely if ever travelled and never alone, it’s surprising that she risked the danger to visit her older cousin. The pregnant teenager met with the pregnant older woman, both miraculous pregnancies. What drove Mary to make the trip? Had Mary heard about Elizabeth’s miracle? Did she know Elizabeth would believe and support her? Remarkably, Mary didn’t need to tell Elizabeth her story. Elizabeth, filled with the Spirit, knew, and was delighted, even calling Mary, her teenage cousin, “the mother of my Lord.” Is that why she called her blessed?

I suspect Mary didn’t feel, at first, blessed. She was a pregnant, unmarried teenager in a culture that condemned and shunned girls like her. Elizabeth welcomed and enthusiastically affirmed her. She knew Mary believed and trusted the word the angel had spoken to her. Was it Elizabeth’s belief in Mary that gave her the courage to accept her role and declare that all generations will call her blessed? I wonder.

What about this story makes you wonder?

Prayerfully Respond
Lord, thank you for Elizabeth and all older women like her who encourage and affirm younger women today. May I be like her. Amen.

Live obediently. Believe the fulfillment of God’s Word.

3rd Saturday of Advent (December 21). TREMBLE, O EARTH

12/20/2024

Prepare to Listen. Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD.

Prayerfully Read Psalm 114
1When Israel went out from Egypt,
   the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2Judah became God’s sanctuary,
   Israel his dominion.
3The sea looked and fled;
   Jordan turned back.
4The mountains skipped like rams,
   the hills like lambs.
5Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
   O Jordan, that you turn back?
6O mountains, that you skip like rams?
   O hills, like lambs?
7Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD,
   at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8who turns the rock into a pool of water,
   the flint into a spring of water.

Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
When last did you tremble at the presence of the Lord? Tell that story.

I chose this psalm because of the final verse—turns the rock into a pool of water. Taking us back to the story of water from a rock in the wilderness (Exodus 17).[1] I also chose it because it’s a song about Israel’s redemption. It begins with deliverance from Egypt when “the sea looked and fled,” includes entrance into the land when “Jordan turned back,” and ends with water from the rock in the wilderness. It gives the whole plan of salvation—beginning, ending, middle. Advent focuses on the beginning of God’s plan of our salvation in Jesus. The end is still future. The middle of the story is where we live now, in our own wilderness wanderings, needing water from the rock.

As the psalmist wondered about God’s miraculous salvation, she became poetic, asking the sea, the Jordan river, the mountains and hills why they behaved contrary to their nature. Creation is powerful and has its set ways of being. Why did it suddenly behave against those set ways? She doesn’t wait for nature to respond, but instead speaks to it: “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the God of Jacob.” God’s presence in nature is astonishing and so too is God’s powerful plan of salvation. Thinking about it should cause us to tremble in awe at God’s power working in the world and in our lives for the full redemption of all creation.

Advent is a story of God’s miraculous works, making nature do God’s bidding. Try writing your own psalm to describe God’s work as you’ve experienced it.

Prayerfully Respond
Lord, your presence alone is the cause of our salvation. Help me live faithfully in your presence in the middle bit of the salvation story. Amen.

Live obediently. Tremble, with nature, at God’s presence.
[1] See devotion for 1st Saturday of Advent.

3rd Friday of Advent (December 20). MANY WATERS

12/19/2024

Prepare to Listen. Set me as a seal upon your heart.

Prayerfully Read Song of Songs 8:6-7
6Set me as a seal upon your heart,
   as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death,
   passion fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
   a raging flame.
7Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If one offered for love
   all the wealth of one’s house,
   it would be utterly scorned.

Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
Flood waters can neither quench nor drown love. What does this mean to you, especially when related to God’s love for the world?

Song of Songs is unique in biblical literature, a love poem focused, not on obedience to the law, but on love that sets one free. It’s a dialogue between the woman (bride) and her lover (groom). The two verses for today are sung by the woman and form the climax of the poem.

The first words are crucial—set me as a seal. A seal, in ancient culture, “was identified with a person’s commitments and integrity; it marked one’s word as binding.”[1] It also displayed to the world to whom you belonged.

The seal was needed because of love. Love is a powerful force, as strong as death. We don’t usually compare love favorably with death, but there are similarities. We often say that only two things in life are certain—death and taxes! By comparing love with death, the bride has changed that; love is as certain as death. And, unlike death that is a once-off future event, love is a continual present reality. We experience it now and always.

There are a variety of ways to interpret the Song, one is to see it as a picture of Christ’s personal love for his followers. His love won’t be drowned in many waters, or destroyed by threats of chaos. Nothing, claimed Paul, can separate us from Christ’s love (Rom. 8:38). Love isn’t a commodity that can be bought and sold in the marketplace. Any attempts to buy love “with all the wealth of one’s house,” will be “utterly scorned.” We can only receive this love and respond with our love.

What symbolic flood waters have you experienced and survived?

Prayerfully Respond
Because of your love, O Lord, you sent your Son to us. Set your love as a seal on my heart so that I live in love towards you, myself and those I meet today. Amen.

Live obediently. Rest in Christ’s love that is certain and powerful.
[1] Davis, Ellen F. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. 2000, p. 296.

3rd Thursday of Advent (December 19). THIRSTY

12/18/2024

Prepare to Listen. O God, you are my God, I seek you.

Prayerfully Read Psalm 63
1O God, you are my God, I seek you,
   my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
   as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
   beholding your power and glory.
3Because your steadfast love is better than life,
   my lips will praise you.
4So I will bless you as long as I live;
   I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
   and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6when I think of you on my bed,
   and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7for you have been my help,
   and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8My soul clings to you;
   your right hand upholds me.
9But those who seek to destroy my life
   shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
   they shall be prey for jackals.
11But the king shall rejoice in God;
   all who swear by him shall exult,
   for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
Read v. 1 again and ask yourself: Do I desire God that much? Do I wish to desire God that much? Why/why not?

If you answered yes to either question then, writes Ellen Davis, “pray the Psalms.”[1] Not only will you find in them good company of God-desirers, but psalms will also focus your desire solely on God. Some psalms give the sense that desire, thirst has been satisfied. But in most psalms, like this one, the pray-er remains thirsty. The longing for God is as intense as physical thirst in a waterless place. God appears out of reach; the longing remains and the pray-er learns to live thirsty. He knows that “God never fully satisfies in this world, but instead continually stretches our desire toward heaven,” says Davis.[2] Learning to live with longing, always thirsty is expected in the spiritual life.

The psalmist accepted thirst because he knew God’s “steadfast love is better than life.” For this reason, he blesses God. Being thirsty didn’t lead to anger against God but to a deeper appreciation of the greatness of God and God’s love. Therefore, he says, “So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.” It’s not about God blessing us but about us blessing God, whether or not prayers are answered. Today we mainly focus on God blessing us, but the overwhelming evidence of Scripture is on us blessing God, giving God praise and thanks. No wonder Paul urged the Thessalonians to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thes. 5:18). The psalmist believed that blessing God daily was essential. It focuses attention on our Creator God, from whom all life comes. When we bless God, we’ll learn to live with longing, unfulfilled desire, thirsty.

Do you believe God’s steadfast love is better than life? How does this shape your life and longing?

Prayerfully Respond
Lord, keep me ever thirsty for you and forever blessing you. Amen.

Live obediently. Live thirsty.
[1] Davis, Ellen F. Preaching the Luminous Word. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2016, p. 117.
[2] Davis, E. F. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. 2000, p. 302.

3rd Wednesday of Advent (December 18). IF… THEN

12/17/2024

Prepare to Listen. The LORD will guide you continually.

Prayerfully Read Isaiah 58:9b-12
9bIf you remove the yoke from among you,
   the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10if you offer your food to the hungry
   and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
   and your gloom be like the noonday.
11The LORD will guide you continually,
   and satisfy your needs in parched places,
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
   like a spring of water,
   whose waters never fail.
12Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
   you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
   the restorer of streets to live in.

Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
If you… then…, writes Isaiah. How would you fill in the blanks that would be appropriate for you and your community today?

Twice the prophet says If you. There are three conditions with the first one. The first, remove the yoke, is a reference to injustice and exploitation of the poor and powerless, a repeat of v. 6, “to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke.” The next two conditions, “the pointing of the finger” and “the speaking of evil,” are less specific. Perhaps, says Brueggemann, they “refer to social recriminations, accusations, slander, and gossip that make neighborliness impossible.”[1] I suspect most, if not all of us are guilty of at least one of these three.

The second if you, is followed by further emphasis on helping the poor and marginalized—offer food to the hungry, satisfy the needs of the afflicted. That is, God’s people must attend to “those who are humiliated, exploited, and demeaned by social practice,” [2] and by lies from political leaders.

Too many today are silent about the poor, humiliated, exploited and demeaned. But the Bible is loud about it.  Sadly, I often hear Christians argue against helping them because then, they say, the poor will never learn to help themselves. God, says Isaiah, disagrees. We’re obligated to obey God’s Word not popular opinion; to heed God’s ifs, and not to choose a less demanding way. Remember, God’s then, God’s gift is conditioned on our response to God’s if you, not our own ifs.

What challenged you in these words of Isaiah? What do you need to change to be receptive to God’s gift of then…?

Prayerfully Respond
Lord, forgive me when I get sidetracked on my own conditions, telling others ‘if you do what I say then you’ll be okay.’ Where I’ve ignored your conditions, I repent and ask for help to live this more difficult way that is not my own but all yours. Amen.

Live obediently. Try practicing at least one of God’s if’s today.
[1] Brueggemann, Walter. Isaiah 40-66. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. 1998, p. 191.
[2] Brueggemann, 1998, p. 192.

3rd Tuesday of Advent (December 17). LET JUSTICE ROLL DOWN

12/16/2024

Prepare to Listen. Let justice and righteousness roll down like waters.

Prayerfully Read Amos 5:18-24
18Alas for you who desire the day of the LORD!
   Why do you want the day of the LORD?
It is darkness, not light;
19as if someone fled from a lion,
   and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
   and was bitten by a snake..
20Is not the day of the LORD darkness, not light,
   and gloom with no brightness in it?
21I hate, I despise your festivals,
   and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,
   I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
   I will not look upon.
23Take away from me the noise of your songs;
   I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
24But let justice roll down like waters,
   and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
“Why do you want the day of the LORD?” How would you respond?

Amos’ people longed for the day of the LORD, hoping it would immediately restore the nation. Amos, who was fearlessly blunt, warned them that the day of the LORD meant judgment, “darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it,” what we least expect. Jesus also repeatedly warned his coming meant judgment.[1]

Amos warned that those who practiced religious festivals, made offerings to God, sang worship songs with musical instruments aren’t exempt from judgment. God was dismissive of their pious worship, “I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.” The problem? They neglected justice and righteousness. I wonder what God would say about our worship and pious moral standards, if we neglect what Jesus called “the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy” (Mt 23:23), if we fail to let justice, mercy, righteous roll over our communities like water and a flowing stream.

Justice and righteousness begin with love for God and for what God loves and emphasizes—the poor, the alien, the powerless, all those on the margins of society. God’s people, when characterized by justice, mercy and righteous, will have this same emphasis on the marginalized and disenfranchised. This is the river we follow and it’s up to us to get out of the way and let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

What do you think you need to do so that justice and righteousness flood our world, drowning the distortions and parodies of God and God’s way?

Prayerfully Respond
Lord, it’s easy to get stuck on my ideas of what matters because they are always less challenging than your demands. Forgive me for getting side-tracked and keep me faithful to the weightier matters of your law. Amen.

Live obediently. Let justice and righteousness flood the world today.
[1] See Luke 21:25-36, 1st Friday of Advent.

3rd Monday of Advent (December 16). LIVING WATER

12/15/2024

Prepare to Listen. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.

Prayerfully Read John 4:7-15
7A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. 8(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ 11The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ 13Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ 15The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’

Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
What stood out for you as you read this familiar story? Anything new or surprising?

She was a courageous woman. She came alone to the well, and bravely approached it despite the lone Jewish man sitting there. Jews and Samaritans didn’t get along and avoided each other. It wouldn’t be unusual for a Jewish man to harass a Samaritan woman. However, her need for water was urgent, perhaps her reason for coming alone at the odd hour of noon (v. 6), and then braving possible harassment.

I suspect she’d have ignored Jesus if he hadn’t commanded her, “You, give me a drink.” It wasn’t a polite request. Instead of obeying, she protested. Perhaps she wasn’t sure she could trust this tired looking Jew if she shared her cup with him. Instead of rebuking her, Jesus told her something he’d never said before—she should have asked him for a drink because he could give her living water. Since water from a spring or river was called living water, not surprisingly, she presumed he meant literal water. She challenged him and Jesus engaged her in intellectual conversation. He treated her as an equal, and she became the first person to ask: “Sir, give me this water.” She didn’t understand, but she had the courage and faith to ask an unknown Jewish man to give her his living water.

You can read the rest of her story, or put yourself in her shoes, use your imagination, and make your own response to Jesus.

Prayerfully Respond
Lord Jesus, you treated this Samaritan woman as an equal, slowly bringing her to the point of asking you for water. I too am thirsty today and I too have my questions about you. Help me live them today and be courageous and trusting enough to ask you for living water. Amen.

Live obediently. Engage with Jesus in dialogue.

Author

I fell in love with biblical stories when I was a child. Through them, I fell in love with Jesus. I still love reading and reflecting on the many genres of scripture and sharing them with whoever will listen. Reading the Bible is the most important spiritual disciplines for followers of Jesus. For this reason, I write devotions for the special seasons that teach us to love Jesus more.

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