Pastoral Pondering

Written by Rev. Martha Langford, Senior Pastor at Second/First Church of Rockford, IL

When my daughter was still a toddler, she loved the book,
“Stars, Squares, and Busy Bears.” It was her bedtime favorite.
When the last page turned, she would often chirp, “Again!”
When she was three, she read the story to me for the first
time and didn’t miss a word—she wasn’t actually reading,
she had memorized the story.
We come to the Advent Season—the beginning of the
church’s calendar. In worship, we begin to hear the story of
Jesus, again! Advent picks up the story as the people ready
themselves for the birth of Jesus—for his entrance into
human history. The characters are familiar, the prophecies
are familiar, the speaking parts are familiar. Perhaps—like
Linus in his scene from “A Charlie Brown Christmas”—you
can recite some of them by heart.
…In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that
all the world should be enrolled.
Yet, there are parts of the story that are less familiar. Voices
that may be new to us. Experiences that wait our discovery
as we enter the story of Jesus, again!
Alongside familiar themes of hope, peace, joy, and love, this
Advent we will hear the stories hinted at in the genealogy

found in Matthew’s gospel. Yes, those 16 verses at the
beginning of his Gospel retelling that even the lectionary
committee skipped so that we could all get to the good stuff.
AND YET…
There are voices that come to us from Matthew’s genealogy.
Stories that lie waiting amid the seemingly endless roll call of
names. Stories that point us toward the working of God in
the people of ancient days and of our days.
I remember listening to the stories of family told by my
grandmothers and by my mother, now shared by the sisters
and granddaughters. These family stories give my life roots,
all while encouraging me to bloom.
Those are the stories that Matthew’s genealogy bring us. The
stories of mothers and grandmothers of faith, whose lives
have the power to root us in the biggest family story of them
all. In this season, may we hear these voices and think to
ourselves, “Again!”

Blessings, Martha