In those days...

Luke 2:1

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.

In those days...

When darkness stalked the earth

When nations were at war

When people felt oppressed

When fear was a constant companion

When hearts were filled with longing

A decree went out...

And people complied or resisted

Responded with fear or compulsion

Were forced to be registered and recorded

Became united in their plight

or divided by their contempt

From Emperor Augustus...

The region's super power

Imposed and unelected

Revered and despised

Invoking terror or respect

Eliciting confidence or despair

Harbinger of ill to follow

All the world...

The high and the mighty

The poor and the lowly

The stranger and the neighbour

Every creed and culture

Minority and majority

Into this world

A world of hatred and division

A world of fear and contempt

A world of longing and of hoping

God intervened

Became flesh

And dwells with us

In those days

In these days

Hope, Peace and Light dwells among us.

Soon

Isaiah 56:1

The Covenant Extended to All Who Obey

Thus says the Lord:

Maintain justice, and do what is right,

for soon my salvation will come,

and my deliverance be revealed.

Soon?

Soon salvation will come?

How about now? 

When the darkness seems 

as dark as it can be...

Now would be good.

Now would be good.

for light to come

an dispel the darkness.

Soon.

Please, soon.

The Christmas Message

Luke 2:34-35

Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Our sanctuaries are busy this time of year - Carol Services, Longest Night Services, School Assemblies and soon there will be Watchnight and Christmas Day worship. A refrain I've heard a lot this week is: "If only it could be like this all year round!" 

Really?

Do we really want the frenzy of often forced joy with lots of strangers to be the norm that inhabits our worship space?

Do we want the often superficial greetings exchanged to be what characterises our time together in communal worship of the baby God, whose life as an adult impacts us not at all the rest of the year?

Do we want to keep on proclaiming a dumbed down, watered down version of God's story that appeals to the crowds all the year round in an attempt to woo folk back to worship?

What then, when "the season of goodwill" has passed - and hardship and difficulty must be faced? How has our seasonal worship of a baby prepared us for that? How has it helped build resilience or fostered trust enough to seek out those who care? Where is the space for doubt and sorrow, for anger and fear in the sanitised worship of a baby God so far removed from the world into which Christ was born?

And how, in sanctuaries filled with folk looking for something that neither challenges nor convicts, will we rediscover the urgency of the gospel that is for all the world when we've even forgotten how to nurture faith that makes a difference in those who come?

God is reshaping the church. Declining numbers in worship challenge and confront us to discover what God is about and begin to discern, individually and corporately, God's invitation to be part of that reshaping, to be part of God's mission in the world, beginning with the communities we serve.

Of course we can make an attempt to reach the Christmas revellers with the heart of the gospel but we'd probably be accused of being killjoys. 

Who wants to hear about fear and oppression and political unrest and hardship and poverty, about the slaughter of innocents, about refugees, about vilification and tyranny and corrupt government...

All contained within the Chrsitmas story.

Not the things we want to focus on in our Christmas Carol Services and Nativity plays.

And yet...

Much more akin to the world around us today.

Much more in keeping with what we read in our daily newspapers or watch on our television screens in our nightly news bulletins.

Perhaps we need the escape just for a while - to flirt with joy and wonder and angels and shepherds.

But let's not long for that all the year round.

Christ was born into a world much like this.

To challenge and confront.

To proclaim, through living and dying and rising again, that the world can be different.

And to call us to work alongside him in not just proclaiming a new kingdom but in working to build that kingdom now.

Now who wants to hear the Christmas message?

Longest night

Luke 2:8-10

The Shepherds and the Angels

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:

May the sparkle and glitter of each Christmas card we receive

bring messages from friends that surround us with love

May the twinkling lights on trees in homes and in streets

pierce the swirling darkness of our loss

May each Carol we hear sung or played in season

become a melody that infiltrates our song of grief

May shepherds and angels whatever their age

whisper the Christmas story again in our ears

A story of light dispelling darkness

Of hope overcoming despair

Of joy penetrating sorrow

And of love born in a stable 

to stay with us forever.

Christingle

Luke 2:20

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Light in the darkness

Love for all the world

The story of God's love born for us

told with laughter

symbolised by an orange

and sweet things 

for every season

and every corner of the world

Told for a new generation

and proudly carried home

A reminder

of God with us today

Maranatha!

John 1:9

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

Layer upon layer of darkness

Aleppo

Syria

Lebanon

Sudan

Somalia

Beirut

France

Brussels

Germany

War and terror

Political unrest

Prison riots

Industrial unrest

Withdrawal of labour

Grief and loss

And so it continues

Finding light in the darkness of 2016

takes some doing

Much like the world into which

Jesus was born

Born for those who grieve

Who were afraid

who were oppressed

who were displaced

who were longing

for a different way of life.

And still he comes

with the promise 

of light

in all the darkness.

Maranatha!

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

The signs

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.

The Service of Lessons and Carols 

like the Easter vigil

reminds us of where we have been

and points to where we are headed.

Those familiar or not so familiar stories

that hint at a trajectory - 

Redemption

Promise

Fulfilment

Hope

Light in the darkness

And the Advent

of Immanuel 

God with us

The Great Cover Up

Matthew 1:6-11

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

She who must not be named - 

The wife of Uriah

aka Bathsheba

carefully disguised

in a genealogy

rooting Jesus

Son of God

firmly

in a line of ordinary

flawed

messed up folk

rooting Jesus

alongside the 

flawed

messed up folk

of every age.

Inviting those 

who would follow him today

to be among

the flawed

and messed up

and especially with those

whose names

have been erased

finding in the eyes of the overlooked

the face of God with us today.

The gift

John 4:7-10

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

The gift

of creating space

in which encounters happen

The gift

of inviting exploration

of thoughts

that long have been buried

tamped down

kept inside

The gift

of encouraging

playful imagination

giving free rein

to the unimaginable

opening up possibility

expanding horizons

encouraging growth 

All achieved

when one creates space

for the other.

Meanwhile...

Luke 1:76-79

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

to give knowledge of salvation to his people

by the forgiveness of their sins.

By the tender mercy of our God,

the dawn from on high will break upon us,

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Meanwhile, 

alongside the advent of God,

Zechariah and Elizabeth

were grappling with the blessing of the gift 

of their son, John

John who "was not the light"

but who was sent to

Prepare the Way

As if the blessing of new life

were not enough - 

To know that this child, their child,

would be the one

to herald the advent

of the long-awaited Messiah

bringing light into darkness

and peace on earth

What a gift!

Taming the message

Luke 1:50-53

His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

How we have tamed this song

A song once banned

because of its subversive nature

A song uttered with passion

in the face of grief and turmoil

used to shame the oppressor

an indictment for corrupt rulers

Now, at best, disguised in a complex choral arrangement

or, at worst, read without tone or inflection.

Mary, blessed among women,

knew how to express

the perverse nature of God

and , in all her wisdom,

saw the power in her womb.

Fix this

Leviticus 26:6

And I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one shall make you afraid; I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword shall go through your land.

When. O Lord

How long?

Promises, promises, promises...

When will they be fulfilled

When will the scenes we see in 

Aleppo

Iran

Lebanon

Sudan

Somalia

Afghanistan

Palestine

Pakistan

Turkey

Jordan

And all those places

that have stopped being "news"

be consigned

to Horrible Histories?

When will our world know peace 

and humanity

When will our nations

learn to stop looking away

and face up

to genocide?

God when will you step in

and fix this?

In every note

Psalms 146:1-2

Praise for God’s Help

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

Today, I am thankful

for the gift of music

Notes that lift in celebration

or plumb the depths with us.

Melodies that accompany 

our journey through life

Rhythms that spur us on

Cadences that slow us down

Doleful sounds

that become companions

when melancholy is in the air

Light harmonies

that soar with emotional highs.

All of a piece

drifting in and out of our day.

Giving thanks to God

for the gift of music.

What do you see?

Matthew 11:2-6

Messengers from John the Baptist

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

Are you the one?

A question asked

time and again

throughout all of history.

Are you the one?

The one to bring hope?

And light?

And joy?

And peace?

Are you the one?

Answered by:

What do,you see?

The blind see

The lame walk.

Lepers are clean

The deaf hear

The dead are raised to life

The poor have good news

Are you the one?

What do you see?

Prepare the way

Luke 3:4-6

as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

Down the High Street this morning

surprisingly quiet 

though i suppose it was quite early

The Salvation Army band

had stopped for a break

 And even the weather was unseasonably mild.

My companion remarked:

"it doesn't feel like Christmas"

But what does Christmas feel like?

All flesh shall see the salvation of God

What would that look like?

How would it sound?

How would it feel?

Like Christmas?

Keeping it all in

Luke 4:33-34

In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Let us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”

Standing on the edge of the platform

looking towards the approach to the station

Trains are criss-crossing over the tracks

Some arriving

Others leaving

Wending their way to who knows where?

Carrying human cargo

each of whom also carries so much

Joys, sorrow, excitement, anxiety, plans, despair, hope

All contained in carriages -

of trains 

of minds

of hearts

That containment 

makes the journey possible

An overspill would spell disaster.

And so we go about our business

We travel to our destinations

barely connecting with one another

lest we should breech 

those walls of containment

and risk being tainted

by another's overflow.

It's safer to keep everything

all tucked up

out of sight.

I can't help thinking

that safety is over-rated.

Wisdom to soothe

Luke 4:16-17

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

How did you cope,

day after day, Lord Jesus

with the questions

and the accusations

and the put downs?

How did you manage

not to simply retreat

and leave them to it- 

those who just wanted to trip you up

as well as those who desperately needed your wisdom?

How did you do it

with mettle

with grace

with compassion

with love,

often speaking hard truths

but never avoiding awkwardness

or difficult conversation?

How did you manage

to keep on believing

that truth 

and love

would prevail?

Lord, in all the messiness

and hurt

and mistrust

with which we grapple

may that same

calm, loving assured Spirit

be in our midst.

May we know you

who walked this way before

right there beside us

when we tie ourselves in knots,

unraveling the bonds,

bringing ease,

bringing hope, love and grace.

Running out of words

Luke 4:42

Jesus Preaches in the Synagogues

At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them.

On a day filled with words

Mostly good words

Although a few did rankle 

And clearly - some words were sent by God

On this word-filled day

I crave a moment of blankness -

(Even as I produce more words)

On a day lived under fluorescent lights

Lights of the meeting room

Lights of the lunch time venue

Lights of the train journey home

I crave darkness

On a day filled with voices

Encouraging voices

Gentle voices

Wise voices

I crave silence

On a day filled with reports and deadlines

and opinions and responses

and all manner of requirements

I crave the undemanding, 

dark, 

quiet, 

silent night

in which to dwell in God

who has been present 

in every aspect of the day

and who will be present

in every facet of the night.

Christmas Spirit

Joel 2:28

God’s Spirit Poured Out

Then afterward

I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

I met with some colleagues today, a wonderfully supportive group who have been meeting together for some time. We met in a local visitor centre coffee shop surrounded by Christmas decor. Santa even made an appearance.

In the midst of this winter wonderland, we were discussing the Spirit of Christmas, asking: What is it? And when and how does it arrive?

I described the years when I'd been concerned that it wasn't actually going to reach me, this seasonal accessory but, somehow, there was a point in the Christmas Watchnight service where God stepped in, bringing warmth and joy.

If Christmas Spirit is to be in any way meaningful, it must become more than an accompaniment to the season. It must affect the way we care for one another, the way we reach out to others, it must involve fulfilling the Jesus manifesto - bringing good news to the poor, sight to the blind, release for the captive, 

We celebrate the birth of a baby who came into the world over 2000 years ago. Surely God with us should make a difference all the time, not just at Christmas.

We may wait in vain for some Christmas Spirit - but God's Spirit is upon us. Our call is to make a difference by letting that Spirit infect us and affect all that we do - at Chrismas time and all the year round.

Glimpses of God

The train

in the early morning light

filled with folk commuting

to work

to school

setting out on business trips

settling back into routine

after a weekend

of who knows what.

Early Monday morning- 

not as busy

as late Saturday night

on the train

and a lot more subdued-

No carriage clowns

attempting to entertain

their travelling companions.

No loud discussions

and banter.

No sharing of food and drink.

I'm not sure they would be welcome

on a Monday morning

when in the half light

there is the quiet rustling of newspapers

the unapologetic application of make up

the low murmur of hoarse voices

even some catching up of sleep-

passengers beginning their week

quietly 

inevitably

perhaps reluctantly

Car headlights punctuate the dark

of the road that runs alongside the rail track

And streetlights illuminate

the frost covered verges between

and I can't help wondering:

Is God more present

in these quiet, tired commuters

Or in the raucous Saturday night passengers?

I think God has harder work to do on a Monday morning

when folks have their heads down

preparing for the week ahead

than in the Saturday night crowd

who are up for a party

and open to something new (or old).

But I also know 

that God is up for both

And God is in both.

Always.

With us, always with us

Luke 11:12-13

Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

God we thank you 

that you didn't just tell us what to do

You came to earth and showed us

And, when you left,

you sent the Spirit

who nudges us

when we forget

and stays within us

a part of you.

And so we are caught up

in the Divine dance

of Father, Son and Spirit

with us always

Speaking, acting, prompting

With us all the way

Thank you for the dance

that keeps us close to you.

From the inside out

Joel 2:12-13

Yet even now, says the Lord,

return to me with all your heart,

with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

rend your hearts and not your clothing.

Return to the Lord, your God,

for he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love

Longing for change

Not superficial

Not minor afjustments

But deep, penetrating change

Change that will last

Change that will come about

through journeying

through silence

through meditating

Change that will not be swift

but will seep in 

slowly

quietly

warming 

lightening

lasting

Changing the heart

Already here

John 1:9-12

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,

Already here

Unrecognised

Loitering in the shadows

with the poor

and the outcasts

the downtrodden

and the marginalised

Already here

bringing light into darkness

and hope into fear

And we do not see him

Incarnation

God with us now

God's kingdom

not some future hope

but here, now

as Christ lives among us

always showing up

bringing light and love

revealing the kingdom here now.

World AIDS Day

Matthew 10:8

Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.

In a world where tachnology

and in particular

medical technology

has come so far

but where love 

and hope

and humanity

are often withheld from the vulnerable

We pray this day:

For the misused

the stigmatised

the marginalised

the bereaved

the unrecognised

the rejected

the frightened

the lonely 

For those cast aside

left out

ignored

excluded

misunderstood

silenced

For those denied hope

whose voices are not heard

whose pleas are played down

whose needs go unmet in a world of plenty

Lord, forgive us

for we know just what we do.

Forgive us

and break our hearts

for those for whom your heart is breaking.