A WORD FOR TODAY, January 5, 2021
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, January 5, 2021
“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish. Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’ He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house; for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:19-31, WEB
It has been nearly two months since our neighbors started lighting their homes with twinkling lights. Quite a few began early, desperate for a little joy in this strange and confusing world. I saw multiple people post the desire to keep lights up until February, just to keep the spirit of Christmas going well into the new year. However, most of my neighbors began taking down their decorations on the day after Christmas. Our street was once bright with light and now there are just a few houses with lights, including ours. My husband is emphatic that we’ll be the lone house until Epiphany if need be and I have answered, “The wise men haven’t even arrived yet.”
Christmas has pretty much disappeared elsewhere, too. The clearance aisles are empty of Christmas merchandise and Valentine’s Day merchandise has filled the shelves. Trees are waiting on the curb for the garbage men. The radio stations are playing regular music again and the Christmas movies are packed away until next year. Many people think the twelve days of Christmas end on Christmas day, but that is just the first day of the Christmas season. For the Church, Christmas is not over until tomorrow, which is Epiphany or Three Kings Day.
Tonight is Twelfth Night, historically a special celebration though not very popular today. It was a day of parties, with special pastries and ceremonies. In one tradition, a person was chosen to be the Lord of Misrule, and for a brief period of time the world is turned upside down. The rich become like the poor, the poor become like the rich. The world was restored to normal at midnight.
Another tradition included the taking down of all Christmas decorations. In those days, the trees and wreaths and houses were often decorated with fresh fruit and other foods. The food taken from the decorations was then eaten at the feast given on Twelfth Night. Since fruit and pastries were very expensive, it was appropriate to use them to decorate the tree and then even more appropriate to enjoy a special taste at the party. Twelfth Night, then, was really a very special time.
Most of us will barely notice that today is even special. Three Kings Cakes are available in the stores. We won’t have special fruit or pastry treats because we don’t put anything like that on our trees. If we use apples, they are glass or plastic, and will be packed away in boxes until next year. I doubt that the world will be turned upside down with the rich becoming poor for a day while allowing the poor to become rich for the moment. Things are getting back to normal after the hustle and bustle of the holidays. On this Twelfth Night, let us remember these old traditions and think about what they mean to us in our Christian faith. After all, Jesus came to turn the world upside down.
Being rich will not send anyone to hell, but ignoring the fact that there are those in the world who are suffering will. The rich man in today’s story rejected Lazarus and refused to give him aid. The rich learned what it was like to be poor by living it for a day when they followed those old traditions. Hopefully they learned to have empathy and in compassion acted upon the needs of their poorer neighbors. I’m sure some were more merciful during the rest of the year because of their Twelfth Night experiences.
How will you take this tradition into your day on this Twelfth Night? Will you see those around you who need your help, attention and resources and do something to make their world turn right side up? We are generous at Christmas, but by the fifth of January we are back to normal. Let us constantly remember, not just today but every day, that Jesus Christ turns the world upside down and that we’ll be remembered not for what we have accomplished on our own but for how we shared our life with others.
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