SHADYSIDE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Since you are the “God with us,” you know each of our stories better than we do. Some have the testimonies of prodigals, who made some huge mistakes and committed grievous sins before repenting and coming home to your waiting arms. Others are like the Apostle Paul, who could claim that before he knew Jesus Christ, he was already “blameless” when it came to “righteousness under the law.” …

Holy God, you knew that Jacob was head-over-heels in love with Rachel. Earlier we are told that he “wept aloud” when he saw her for the first time. But after working for her father for seven years to marry her, he got snookered and found himself married to her older sister Leah. Then the conniving father also allowed him to marry Rachel, but only after Jacob agreed to work for his father-in-law for another seven years. …

When your son, our Savior, unmasked the Pharisees by saying they were trying to kill him, there were those in the crowd who said he had demon. These days, the crowd would claim he was paranoid. But as the old saying goes, just because we’re paranoid, that doesn’t mean we were wrong about someone trying to get us. And as it turned out, Jesus was right – the Pharisees were trying to kill him. …

Our God, these days we are taught that seeing is believing. But you have always had your doubts about that. Your scriptures teach us that we don’t actually believe what we see. Rather, we see what we believe. So if I truly believe that you are present in this conflicted world that has fallen so far from the paradise you created for us, then I should be able to see you here in the mess with us. …

You said this to a Samaritan woman who had burned through five husbands and was now living with someone else. She may have just been bad at marriage. But since the Samaritans practiced Levirate marriage, she may have been passed from one deceased kinsman to another – and the last guy may have refused to marry her for fear of his life. It doesn’t really matter. This was clearly not the life this woman dreamed about when she was a little girl. Her soul had been parched for a very long time. …

You, holy Savior, were once at a wedding in Cana. After the wine ran out at the reception, your mother came to you with the stark words: “They have no wine.” I don’t know what she expected you to do. Was she just asking you to run to the liquor store? Was she saying that it’s time to go home now since the wine has run out? Or was she looking for a miracle? …

Your son, our Savior, said this after he had been talking about the manna you gave to the Hebrews as they journeyed through the desert. The manna was a curious way to sustain life on a long wilderness journey. It wasn’t much – just enough to keep them alive. Everyone had to get their own manna, and they had to gather it every day. All of these conditions provide helpful insights into how you care for each of us on the journey through the hard places of life. …

Holy God, it is interesting that your apostle John did not say whoever does well is from God. That would mean that you are behind all of our drives to succeed and do well with the agendas of life. Clearly this is not your point since Jesus consistently challenged the most successful people he met. So without even a salute to our grammar, you insist on claiming that those who do good are working on your behalf. …

O God of the silent, holy night, it is fitting that on Christmas we are reminded by this text of the extraordinary gift of your Son who was born as our Savior. You loved us so much that you could not leave us alone in the darkness of our own making. So you came to be with us, as one of us. …

Our God, to the best of my knowledge this is the only passage of the Bible that refers to you singing, or even exulting. To exult is to do more than simply be happy. It depicts a joy that erupts from a deep place, and so those who have this joy must burst into song. …