Confusion

I find the time between Christmas and New Years Day can be very confusing. That can be quite confusing in the Church as well. As we move towards a new year so there are  a number of saints that the Church remembers.  First of these is the first Christian martyr Stephen on 26th December. Then there is John the Apostle and Evangelist on 27th December and the Holy Innocents on 28th. 

I think that the idea of things not being normal fits well with the gospel reading for Sunday (Luke 2:15-21). The reading tells of an incredible time as Jesus was born. Incredible to us and also to those who were there. To be honest though, it must have been rather confusing. I think that everyone who had an encounter with God experienced something confusing. 

Firstly, there was Joseph. His life was sorted out, he was betrothed to a young woman named Mary. The financial agreements between his family and Mary’s family would have been finalised. Life was carrying on as expected. Life was good, but then… shock horror, Mary had some news that shook Joseph’s world.

The lovely young lady to whom he was to be married announced that she was pregnant. He knew for sure that he wasn’t the dad. But then, in case he thought of getting out of the situation an angel informed him in a dream that Mary was not to blame. (Matthew 1:20-21)  Joseph had an encounter with God that was far from normal.

Then there were the shepherds, who to be fair, were just doing their jobs when suddenly there was a bright light and singing. Confused – may have been the right description but they had a message from some angels. A message which caused them to find a baby and not just this but to be so excited that they ran out and told everyone what had happened!!  The shepherds had an encounter with God that was far from normal.

Then we read of Mary. I feel sorry for her, she had just given birth when suddenly some shepherds came to visit.  This must have been confusing, yet we read that Mary treasured these things but not just in a ‘what lovely memories these will make’ kind of way. She really thought about them, she pondered them – what did this all mean? Mary had an encounter with God that was far from normal.

The gospel reading has elements that must have confused people. Of course, with the knowledge that Jesus came to save us it makes more sense. Strangely perhaps my biggest comfort comes from the epistle reading Galatians (4:4-7). In this reading there is the reminder that God sent His son to die for us. Not just this, but we are all children of God and able to call Him Father. 

I don’t do new years resolutions really as I can never decide what to do.  However, I do like to set myself a challenge. The challenge for this year is that I will remind myself everyday that, “I am a child of God and He loves me.” I want this to be my most used phrase in 2023.

What’s different?

I love the TV programme, the Vicar of Dibley. There is one episode when the vicar is getting ready to write her Christmas sermon. Her Churchwarden helpfully points out, that it needs to be good as otherwise you lose the people and send them elsewhere for the next year. The Vicar ends up preaching with the use of a Spice Girls Annual.  An unusual choice of text, perhaps !! There is a feeling that we want to say something new and different to grasp people.

This year, as every year, I have been struck by something which I will carry with me through the season. After all, Christmas is an amazing celebration. We have the best news ever to share. However, perhaps we can be so used to the wonderful news of God becoming one of us, living amongst us and then bringing us salvation, that we need reminding of the sheer surprise and joy of that first Christmas. 

The thing I have been struck by this year, which I will be using to focus my prayers is from an African American pastor, Shadrach Meshach Lockridge. I heard his words as part of my daily prayers with Lectio 365. The words were, 

My King is the King. 

He’s the key to knowledge.

He’s the wellspring to wisdom.

He’s the doorway of deliverance. 

He’s the pathway of peace.

He’s the roadway of righteousness . 

He’s the highway of holiness.

He’s the gateway of glory

Do you know Him?

These words are fantastic and they are a challenge indeed. How well do we  know God ? More than that, how prepared are we to ask people if they know God? 

On Christmas Day we celebrate the fact that Jesus came amongst us. I love the prologue to the gospel of John (1:1-18) which is the gospel reading for Christmas day. It explains not only where Jesus came from but that He is the word, existing before all time. Not just this, but He has shown us what it is to know Him. This is because as we know Him we see our Creator, and the one through whom we can know grace and truth. Absolutely fantastic! 

I have always enjoyed Christmas, it celebrates the most momentous news ever, but sometimes we can be guilty of forgetting how amazing it is. We have a King, who is eternal, we worship God who came in human form. 

As I am writing this I can use the gospel from Luke (2:1-20). In this version we hear of the shepherds being blinded by angels who told them the good news that Jesus had been born, and not just this but He was the one they had been waiting for. The shepherds didn’t wait when they heard the news about Jesus from the angels they ran straight to Bethlehem. Was it curiosity ? Was it complete wonder?

I want Christmas to always have a sense of wonder to it, I never want to become too used to the gospel readings, however many times I hear them. I referred to David Wilbourne last week, and I will do so again now. This is because he said once that the birth of Jesus split history in two. This is amazing, the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, and we have seen His glory. My hope is that rejoicing will always continue as I move towards my Lord and Saviour in prayer. Amen

New Parents !

I have often had the joy of meeting new parents and seeing their pride at their new child. When a baby is born people often start to look and see who the child looks like or perhaps wonder what type of person they will be as they grow up. 

In the gospel reading for this Sunday (Matthew 1:18-25) we read of the birth of Jesus.  On this fourth Sunday of advent it seems odd to be thinking of what we will celebrate next week. Although, we surely can't really hear about the wonderful moment of God taking on our flesh and becoming like us enough times for it to become stale. 

In that reading Mary and Joseph experience the birth of Jesus. I am not sure that they will  immediately have thought of what Jesus would look like. After all, this was not an ordinary birth. However, they may have thought of what Jesus would grow up to be like. Any parent would! 

In the gospel reading we hear things from the point of view of Joseph. I know when I was a child the best part in the Nativity play was to be Mary. I am not sure that the boys were that desperate to play the part of Joseph. The reason is that Mary is the one who we, correctly, think of as the most important parent out of her and Joseph. After all, she said yes to the angel Gabriel when he told her what God was going to do through her.  Joseph, didn't have an easy run of things either, he was the one who accepted the embarrassment of his fiancé having a child. It would have been a scandal. I remember reading the book, ‘The Virgin Diaries’ by David Wilbourne. In this book he imagined Mary as being part of a family that made pizzas. On the news of Mary’s pregnancy the local boys wanted to throw hot pizza pans at her, and Joseph protected her.  A really great image, I can remember it 21 years after reading the book. 

Mary, and Joseph were new parents. I wonder if they would have pictured the future for their son. It was all totally unknown. If only they had been able to read the epistle reading (Romans 1:1-7). This is because it explained all that Jesus had done. He was of the line of David, who incidentally was the greatest King Israel had ever had. The country was peaceful, and had political power amongst their neighbouring countries. This was of course, known to Mary and Joseph. Also known to Mary and Joseph would have been the fact that the prophets of the Old Testament had prophesied the coming of a new King who would save the people. Whether they worked out immediately that the prophecies were about their son was another matter. They certainly knew things were different, they knew that Jesus was going to be God with us, ‘Emmanuel’. They had been told, but I am not sure that they could have imagined how things would turn out.

In the reading from Romans, we read that Jesus had brought salvation and shown Himself as the one who would bring this, through His death and resurrection. This is certainly not what new parents would have expected. 

I think that the main point is in the words from the gospel, that in Jesus, God is always with us. Our ‘Emmanuel ’. This is right at the beginning of the gospel of Matthew, and then right at the end of the gospel (28:20) Jesus, promises, on His ascension, that He would be with His followers always.  I want to always remember that God is with us always, He will never leave us, He is worthy of all our praise. In good times and in bad times, it’s a promise that can always inspire and comfort

Distress, hope, joy and waiting

Last week I was at a symposium event. It was very good, as it involved a lot of talking! I really like to talk and to listen to others. This made for a really good time. After one long discussion one man said it all boiled down to four words. This changed the conversation and just in the simplicity of these words everything we had been discussing was summed up. The words and the discussion aren’t relevant for this, but I really liked this approach and so as I looked at the readings for this coming Sunday I tried to sum them up in words. I did, and they are distress, hope, waiting and joy. 

They all sound like good Advent words to me.  In the reading from Isaiah (35:1-10) we read of the picture of a perfect place. A world where everything will be better. In the first verse we read of the desert rejoicing and blossoming. I have been to the holy land and seen a little of a desert and I have to say picturing anything sprouting and growing seems rather unlikely. The idea straight away in the reading is that what seems incredibly unlikely can really happen. There is hope here, things will be better and not just that but there will be joy. Brilliant. It all sounds perfect. 

In the reading, Isaiah was prophesying to people who had been exiled from their homes. He was saying that things would really improve and that what happens here is nothing compared to how heaven will be. I particularly like verse eight which talks of there being a highway and it will be called the holy way. This sounds rather lovely. I really like words and images, so the idea of a holy way sounds great. Not only this but on this holy way there would be no distress or people being pushed out.

I have a rather lovely opportunity next as there is an option in our readings. I could write about the Magnificat (Luke 1:47-55) or I could choose the Psalm (146:5-10). I have nothing against the Psalm, but Mary’s song is so perfect that I can’t resist commenting on it. 

I love picturing Mary being shocked by the visit of the angel Gabriel and this is added to by his news that she was going to have a child, who will be the Son of God. To be honest I imagine so many questions. I think I would start with how? what ? Are you serious? Have I fallen asleep? Mary responded with Hannah’s song (1 Sam.2:1-11)  and added in extras. This means that what Mary prayed is almost a manifesto of what Jesus would do. How God would change the world as He became one of us!

It is incredible and it talks of distress turning to joy, of waiting not only for freedom from exile, as seen with Isaiah,  but a promise that there will be joy.  Distress turned to joy, hope for the future and of course waiting for God’s perfect world to happen.

I am rubbish at waiting which is why I am so pleased that we get glimpses from our readings of how things will be.  Waiting is a real pain but waiting in hope of distress turning to joy, and now of course for the holy way highway (Isa. 35:8) sounds great.

‘My soul magnifies, the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.’ (Luke 1:47). May this always be my cry, even when I am fed up with waiting. 

Enlarging our hearts

This week we will be celebrating the second Sunday of advent. I have often thought of advent as a mini lent in terms of it being a time to get serious in asking questions of our relationship with God. I was really pleased to come across a quote from Rosalind Brown. She wrote, “Advent’s promise is that God will enlarge our hearts so that, more and more, we can delight to run in the way of God’s commandments.” (Fresh from the Word, pg.5). 

I love that quote with the feeling that in advent we are enlarging our hearts. This sounds absolutely beautiful to me. The readings for this Sunday almost feel quite harsh. In the Old Testament reading (Isaiah 11:1-10) we hear of judgement. There is the idea that God can see past all our good works, He can see past everything that we may think makes us seem good, He just knows if we are good.   This sounds quite scary until we read what will happen when the world is put to right. That is, that when everything is right the seemingly impossible things will make sense. In our world no-one in their right mind would encourage a toddler to play with a snake which is described in the reading.

I love the image in Isaiah, a perfect world but, of course, we need to be ready for this. We are back to our time of growing closer to God. We want to enlarge our hearts so that we will rejoice and delight in what He promises. 

In the gospel reading (Matthew 3:1-12) we are pulled up short again. This time we are introduced to John the Baptist. The kind of man you wouldn’t want to run into on a dark winter’s night. John who was preparing the way for Jesus could sound quite threatening. He was judging people and making sure that they were ready to greet Jesus. Of course, for us with Christmas around the corner, with our wanting to experience and delight in the laws of God this is a challenge. John had a go at those who thought they were doing right. He questioned the religious leaders asking more of them. It reminds me of the reading from Isaiah – God just knows. 

As I am writing this,  I keep singing in my head the song that Santa Claus is coming to town. ‘He’s making a list, he’s making it twice, trying to find out who’s naughty or nice…’ 

I think that the whole thought of advent is having the effect of me not being complacent in thinking that I am good enough. Clearly, the readings are working. In advent, we are getting ready and as we do this, we do it knowing that it will all be worth it. Yes, God knows if we are good. Yes, God does ask us to follow Him. However, when He does this, it is out of love and the promise of something so much better. A relationship with Him. I do want to have my heart enlarged and I do want to keep enjoying following the laws of God.

The final verse of our epistle reading (Romans 15:4-13) sums it all up well. 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Spirit.”

Being in the light

This Sunday will see the beginning of Advent. I always used to love Advent as a child because the countdown to Christmas was beginning.  As an adult I have enjoyed the first Sunday of Advent as the beginning of the Church year. There is something reassuring in the consistency of one Church year out and another year in. I often used to get confused as to why we started the year before January when I was younger, but now it all makes sense. The Church year begins with a period of waiting. Like the people of Israel in the Old Testament we wait, except that we know that Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah has come.

In the readings for this Sunday, there is hope in Isaiah 2:1-5 with the description of people going to the mountain of God. A really beautiful picture of joy and hope with the final words, ‘come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.’   It is very encouraging.

In the epistle reading (Romans 13:11-14) we read Paul telling the people that salvation was near and this meant that they needed to be ready. It all sounds very exciting, we are to be alert. Not just this, but there is a dress code. It is that we are to put on the armour of light. Basically, we are to clothe ourselves with God, that is to live so much like Him that we are full of His light.

It all sounds great, advent will begin by us being told to walk in the light of the Lord and also to put on the armour or light. However, just in case it is all sounding too lovely I have noticed that we are being instructed to actually do something which involves us moving. We are to walk in the light and put on the armour of light. We are to make an active decision to allow God’s light

Now, it is sounding more like a normal advent to me. In advent we are waiting to celebrate God coming amongst us as a baby, growing and living in our world. We are also encouraged to make sure we are ready spiritually as we look towards Jesus coming again.

The gospel reading (Matthew 24:36-44) is a reminder to be ready for Jesus’ second coming. In the reading we are reminded of everyone carrying on as normal in the time of Noah. However, there was a nasty surprise when the flood came. This is a reminder that when Jesus comes again people could be doing normal things when suddenly there is a big shift and change. People will be taken by surprise. This is a good jolt for us as we enter into advent. We don’t know when the world will end, we don't know when Jesus will return. 

That all sounds a little less encouraging than walking in the light and being clothed in the armour of light. But it doesn't need to be because it does mean that by enjoying the light of God we will always be ready. As we wait, we wait in the knowledge that we know the light of God. Knowing that helps me, once again, to know that everything will be alright in the end.

Meekness and Majesty

This Sunday we celebrate Christ the King. Every time I think of those words I remember the hymn, ‘meekness and majesty’ by Graham Kendrick. The two words meekness and majesty go against each other perfectly. There is the thought that as we think of and worship Jesus, we are worshipping someone who became as nothing and died for us and yet someone who remains King and Lord of all.

The readings for this Sunday could seem really mixed up, unless we looked at them with the view of Jesus being our King. A King who is majestic, yet also one who was crucified for us. In the gospel reading (Luke 23:33-43) we read of the crucifixion. Jesus the King made nothing, dying the death of a criminal. It is a reading that sends chills. This is because, as I read it, I want to shout at the soldiers for mocking Jesus and His Kingship. I want to tell the passers by, who said that He could not save Himself, that ‘yes He could’, but He was too busy saving them. This very fact reminds me of Jesus as King. He could have stopped it but He didn't. Then of course with the two criminals by Jesus, there is the one laughs at him. This is because he could not see the strength and power of who Jesus was. The other criminal recognised Jesus as King. 

With the gospel reading being about the crucifixion we are reminded that, as we move into Advent next week, we are preparing to welcome in the King who was beyond all expectations. 

Mighty and majestic, the gospel reading reminds us that majesty seems to go with suffering on a cross. However, so we don't get confused or too mixed up, the epistle reading (Col.1:11-20) reminds us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Jesus was involved in creation. It always makes me think of the reading from John 1:1-19 which explains who Jesus is and what it meant to God to become one of us.  

This Sunday used to be known as stir up Sunday,  it was when we were reminded that we needed to get ourselves ready for Advent. To be ready to receive the greatest gift of all a Christmas. The post communion prayer for this Sunday explains it best,

‘Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people; they they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by you be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ 

After the first verse of the hymn ‘Meekness and Majesty’ we are called to bow down and worship. I hope that I will always be ready to bow down and worship Christ my King.