OTJ - MONTHLY OSMTJ DEVOTIONAL
December 2025
OPENING PRAYER
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord, thank You for Your constant protection and guidance. Help me to trust You, even when the path is uncertain or difficult. Teach me to be obedient to Your leading, just as Joseph was. Thank You for always watching over me and providing what I need. Help me rest assured of Your care and follow wherever You lead. Amen.
READINGS FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 28, 2025
Psalm 148 (NLT)
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens! Praise him from the skies! Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all the armies of heaven! Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you twinkling stars! Praise him, skies above! Praise him, vapors high above the clouds! Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for he issued his command, and they came into being. He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked.
Praise the Lord from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather that obey him, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals and birds, kings of the earth and all people, rulers and judges of the earth, young men and young women, old men and children. Let them all praise the name of the Lord. For his name is very great; his glory towers over the earth and heaven! He has made his people strong, honoring his faithful ones—the people of Israel who are close to him.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, it is now and will be forever. Amen.
The Gospel: Matthew 2:13-23 (NLT)
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
MEDITATION
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF CHRISTMAS
Peter Nafzger, 12/23/19
On the other side of Christmas, we find (1) senseless suffering and (2) unstoppable salvation. A sermon on these verses should be honest about both. The other side of Christmas, that is where we find ourselves this weekend. The extra services have ended. The special choirs have run their course. The gifts have been opened and the stockings emptied. The decorations remain, as do some of the relatives. But another Christmas Day has come and gone. In my pastoral ministry, I found this Sunday both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge was the inevitable let down—a mix of relief, exhaustion, and usually a little regret. We are not yet back to the routine, but we are close. Therein lies the opportunity. This is a no-frill Sunday. It is a Sunday to be clear and direct and probably a little more succinct than usual. It is a chance to send people from Christmas with a proper understanding of what comes next.
In the Gospel reading for today, Matthew leads us in this direction by keeping our attention on Joseph. On the Sunday before Christmas, Matthew gave us Joseph’s perspective on the birth. Now he invites us to walk with Joseph on the other side. He opens our eyes to what happened after the Lord of all creation entered into it. What is on the other side of Christmas? The text gives a twofold answer. On the other side of Christmas, we find (1) senseless suffering and (2) unstoppable salvation. A sermon on these verses should be honest about both.
The senseless suffering in the text came at the hand of the furious King Herod (verse 16-18). We do not know how many boys under the age of two perished as a result of his madness, but even one would have been too many. The Church has traditionally called them the “holy innocents,” and some consider them the first martyrs. Their (and their families’) suffering is hard to imagine. Or, it should be. Unfortunately, however, we are familiar with senseless suffering. It comes in many forms. Sometimes the resemblance with the boys from Bethlehem is strong. I live in Saint Louis, where at least eighteen children under the age of sixteen have been killed by gun violence since May. They are not alone. Unnumbered others have suffered violence even before birth, not to mention the countless children who live with regular neglect and abuse. The senseless suffering on the other side of Christmas is not limited to children, of course, and it was not unique to Bethlehem.
The preacher who highlights the senseless suffering in our day might imagine himself reenacting the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy in verse 18 on behalf of the congregation and community. This part of the sermon could become a time for all to weep and lament with those whose Christmas celebrations have been marred by the deadly effects of sin. To help, and as an alternative to the sentimentality and schmaltz which characterizes many of the Christmas songs we hear on the radio, find some time to listen to the 16th Century English lullaby “Coventry Carol.” It memorializes the “holy innocents,” and you might even include a version of it during the sermon.
But senseless suffering is not the only thing we find on the other side of Christmas. In the midst of the tragedy of life in a sinful and violent world, God’s plan of salvation proved itself unstoppable. No matter how hard Herod tried, God would not let this child suffer; not yet, at least. With a series of angelic visitors, God led Joseph to protect the Christ-child from the threat of violence. Much like His deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt, God called his Son out of Egypt again. But the promised land Jesus came to establish would be for all the nations.
God’s salvation in Jesus remains unstoppable. The effects of sin and death remain strong in our day. The reasons to lament persist, and the weeping never gets easier. But the God who delivered His children from Egypt through Moses, and the God who delivered His Son from death through a victorious resurrection, is the God who has sent you to proclaim the coming deliverance of all who are found in Jesus. That is the promise you get to speak this Sunday.
God remains mysteriously and incomprehensibly the Lord over all things—even senseless suffering—and His gracious salvation is the preacher’s response to the many reasons we have to lament.
CHRISTIAN POEM
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
By Unknown
We think of him as safe beneath the steeple,
Or cozy in a crib beside the font,
But he is with a million displaced people
On the long road of weariness and want.
For even as we sing our final carol
His family is up and on that road,
Fleeing the wrath of someone else’s quarrel,
Glancing behind and shouldering their load.
Whilst Herod rages still from his dark tower
Christ clings to Mary, fingers tightly curled,
The lambs are slaughtered by the men of power,
And death squads spread their curse across the world.
But every Herod dies, and comes alone
To stand before the Lamb upon the throne.
THE LORD'S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the
the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
BLESSING
Let the majesty of the Father be the light by which you walk,
the compassion of the Son be the love by which you walk,
the presence of the Spirit be the power by which you walk.
Respectfully presented by KT Lori Toro, Verger
International Chaplain Corps, OTJ
Translation assistance using DeepL
