December
21, 2016
“3 French Hens AND 2 Turtle Doves”
“3 French Hens AND 2 Turtle Doves”
Tonight we are only three days away from
Christmas Eve. And tonight we are in the
home stretch of our 12 Days of Christmas Song series. This evening we encounter the “3 French Hens
AND 2 Turtle Doves”.
The “3
French Hens AND
2 Turtle Doves” are the
closest to the beginning and have great meaning and value not only for the
song, but what and how we can connect them to our daily lives.
Simply the “3 French Hens”
refers to three ‘theological virtues’ that we should live by. They are ‘Faith, Hope and Charity’. We are a people of faith, because we believe
that in our baptism we have been given our faith. Our faith is like a muscle given in Holy Baptism
and we use it daily. From faith that we
will have enough air to breath, to faith that God daily watches over us and
even faith that the seeds we plant in our fields or gardens will come up and
give us flowers or a crop of wheat or corn.
We live by faith daily which leads us naturally into having ‘hope’.
When I am at someone’s bedside as I was
this past Sunday morning who is nearing entrance into eternity, I remind them
and their family of the hope that God promises us through Jesus Christ. For the famous hymn I sing for them begins, “My
hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Blood and Righteousness”. This is the hope that we have in Jesus Christ
and need to lay claim to each and every day of our lives, especially when we
encounter situations that place us so close to eternity.
As we use our muscles of faith and have
hope in Jesus Christ, we are empowered to use the final virtue of the “3 French Hens” from God of charity. Charity isn’t a virtue that we use all that
often. We live in a world that wants
cold hard facts and want what we want when we want it. But the reality the final of the “3 French Hens” of Charity is meant for us to use
generously each and every day with everybody.
We are to be charitable with our time, talents and even our treasure. For in our using our charity, we then come
closer to God like in the 12 Days of Christmas Song. And in our coming closer, by using daily the
“3 French Hens” of faith, hope and charity, we are given
the greater gift of Jesus Christ.
Hence finally we are led to the “2 turtle doves”. In the “2
turtle doves” their meaning is found in none other than the greatest
love letter ever written. The author is
none other than God. These “2 turtle doves” are the two
testaments of Holy Scripture, the Old and New Testament. Contained in these 66 books are 1189 chapters
and 31,102 verses. Each verse, chapter
and book is unique, but the entire Bible is God’s love letter to us pointing to
His Son Jesus Christ coming into the world in order to save us and take us to
be with Him in His kingdom. And the
message told by the “2 turtle doves”
is one of love of God for each and every one of us.
This is why the 12 Days of Christmas Song
is not only the perfect metaphor, it is the clear message and messenger of God
for us, crafted perfectly to introduce others to God and what He was willing to
do in order bring us into His Kingdom.
And we know this, because it all is accomplished in Jesus Christ Who is
the Gospel of our salvation. For without
Jesus Christ coming and being born in a stable, the stories recorded in the “2 turtle doves” and perfectly lived
out by Jesus Christ in the virtues of perfect faith, hope and charity of the “3 French Hens”, eternity would
be vastly different for each of us.
May we as we venture to the stable on
Christmas Eve, understand, Jesus Christ entrance in the manger that has been
foretold in sacred story, offers us the greatest gift we could ask for or tell
others about of the Gospel. For the 12
Days of Christmas are about upon us and we now not only remember how Jesus
lived out the “3 French Hens”,
but how recorded for mankind in the love letter they point to God’s gift in the
manger we find in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior in the love letter of the “2 turtle doves”. AMEN.
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