Readings (Click the links to see the readings)

Isaiah 30:19-26 | Psalm 147:1-6 | Matthew 9:35-10:8

Too Much To Ask
Luci Shaw

It seemed too much to ask
of one small virgin
that she should stake shame
against the will of God.
All she had to hold to
were those soft, inward
flutterings
and the remembered sting
of a brief junction—spirit
with flesh.
who would think it
more than a dream wish?
an implausible, laughable
defence.

And it seems much
too much to ask me
to be part of the
different thing—
God's shocking, unorthodox,
unheard of Thing
to further heaven's hopes
and summon God's glory.

Prayer

Almighty God,
as we prepare with joy
to celebrate the gift of the Christ-child,
embrace the earth with your glory
and be for us a living hope
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

"your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" Isaiah 30:21

Psalm 147, from the Scottish Psalter. Tune: "Thanksgiving"

The Scots, among others, take psalm singing very seriously. The lyrics of this psalm were written by a Mr Francis Rouse and presented to the Westminster Assembly. After two month of study and amendments by three committees, the translation was approved on 14 November 1645. After this, it was subjected to six years of scrutiny and revision by two different groups of learned and Presbyterian leaders; every was weighed for faithfulness to the Hebrew text.