The 12 Day of Christmas

 

Today is the 12th day of Christmas.

According to the song, 

My true love gave to me 

Twelve drummers drumming. 

 

That’s a lot of drummers!

And probably very loud. 

And that’s the point. 

By the 12th day of Christmas, 

My true love has given a hugely extravagant gift. 

The gifts have piled so high
that scarcity is no longer believable.

It is no longer subtle. 

It is almost overwhelming. 

 

And that, too, is the point of the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

The song dates at least to the late 1700s as an English folk song—
part memory game,

part celebration of abundance.
Over time, Christians began to use it as a teaching song,
a way to reflect on faith through repetition and accumulation.

Whether or not it was originally written as a secret code,
it became something meaningful:
a reminder that God’s gifts are layered, not sparse.

Each day builds on the last.
Nothing is taken away.
Everything is added.

 

God gives: 

Jesus 

The old and new testaments 

Faith, hope, and love 

The four gospels 

The Torah 

The six days of active creation 

Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.

The Beatitudes 

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

The Ten Commandments 

The witness of the eleven apostles 

And the church. 

 

God gives grace upon grace upon grace. 

 

We read this in John 1:

From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

Not grace once.
Not grace only at the beginning.
But grace that keeps coming—
for the doubter,
for the weary,
for the one who thought they had missed their chance.

 

So today, on this 12th  Day of Christmas,

May we resist the urge to rush past the miracle of Jesus

As the world has already done. 

May we be countercultural as we

Receive again and

Linger in

The gifts that have been given to us.
May we trust that from Christ’s fullness—

There is still more grace to come.

Grace upon grace upon grace.

 

Amen.