READINGS THIS WEEK CAN INCLUDE 2 SAM 7:1-16, PSALM 89, MAGNIFICAT, ROMANS 16:25-27, LUKE 1:26-38Since I last reflected on the Christmas story
I have actually been to "the little town of Bethlehem"
This place which figures so much
in the Christmas story
can easily be romanticised.
We may not see the wood for the trees.
It was a bit like that for me.
So intent on seeing everything
I found myself at the manger shrine and wondered
"What now?"
I am a bit shocked that I did not have a profound revelation!
All we Christians have loved Bethlehem
since our childhood.
And, if not Bethlehem, then the idea of the stable
and the birthplace of Jesus.
The modern shrine has
no stable
no inn
Indeed our learned Course Director, Kamal Farah,
invited us to critique
much of that which passes as 'truth' in the Christmas stories.
I am perhaps getting distracted. And am reminded that there is much about the Christmas story that needs to be unpacked
We experience a lot of Christmas input at this time
One good question I heard asked about various school and church presentations was:
Why all these stories and plays with a Christmas theme
What's wrong with the story of the stable at Bethlehem.........?
There are of course many representations of that story
and it is rich in symbolism, myth (in the finest sense of that word)
and cultural nuance
When in doubt we should allow God's Word of Scripture
to do its wonderful work in our hearts
So take time this week to read the readings
and just to allow them to speak to you.
As you sit through the Carol Services take time too to be a little more open. Remember, as we see in this week's readings,
hat Christmas is God showing himself to us in human form.
It is about understanding who God is,
and what God is about. So we find that Mary, when confronted by the angel has to begin on a journey of discovery because she does not understand what all this might mean
"29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be"
And Paul tells us at the end of Romans as we read today
"the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith"
The sort of message, that so puzzles Mary,
is God revealing in Jesus what has been true for all time.
This is the overarching message of the Christmas story.
God is revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
He is, what controversialist bishop, John AT Robinson
describes as The Human Face of God.
This is a description I find really helpful.
God cannot (or perhaps may not )be described...
he is indeed "the mystery that was kept secret"
our philosophy, our history, even our theology
does not come close to fully disclosing who God is
if we want to know what God is like
then the fullest revelation is Jesus.
So what do we see
We find at Christmas a deeply confronting story.
God chooses a young girl about whom we know remarkably little.
In the short passage of this morning's Gospel we know more about Joseph
.... a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David
than we do about Mary herself
At the very least we are reminded
that God views people differently from the way we do.
We make different choices about what is important
so we look for wealth, success, power and prestige ..
God looks differently.
There is an invitation here in the Christmas story
to look with different eyes at the world in which we live.
In the reading from the Hebrew bible too,
we read of David's desire to build a Temple.
This seems like a righteous desire, a good thing.
But it is not what God wants.
We do not always get it right,
we are often fixated on the material when God is inviting us to look deeper.
These are two modest insights
that we get from addressing the stories of the Bible
rather than sidetracking it.
Making room
Part of the frustration for us at Christmas
is finding Jesus amidst it all.
Let us not so much complain
about what Woolworths and Target do,
let us rather see the challenge to point ourselves and others to Jesus.
Ask tricky intelligent questions of your youngsters:
Why did God come as a baby?
What is he trying to tell us by being born in a stable?
Why did the shepherds and the wise men come?
and what do you think they said to Mary and Joseph?
What, indeed, would we say to them?
I have actually been to "the little town of Bethlehem"
This place which figures so much
in the Christmas story
can easily be romanticised.
We may not see the wood for the trees.
It was a bit like that for me.
So intent on seeing everything
I found myself at the manger shrine and wondered
"What now?"
I am a bit shocked that I did not have a profound revelation!
All we Christians have loved Bethlehem
since our childhood.
And, if not Bethlehem, then the idea of the stable
and the birthplace of Jesus.
The modern shrine has
no stable
no inn
invited us to critique
much of that which passes as 'truth' in the Christmas stories.
I am perhaps getting distracted. And am reminded that there is much about the Christmas story that needs to be unpacked
We experience a lot of Christmas input at this time
One good question I heard asked about various school and church presentations was:
Why all these stories and plays with a Christmas theme
What's wrong with the story of the stable at Bethlehem.........?
There are of course many representations of that story
and it is rich in symbolism, myth (in the finest sense of that word)
and cultural nuance
When in doubt we should allow God's Word of Scripture
to do its wonderful work in our hearts
So take time this week to read the readings
and just to allow them to speak to you.
As you sit through the Carol Services take time too to be a little more open. Remember, as we see in this week's readings,
hat Christmas is God showing himself to us in human form.
It is about understanding who God is,
and what God is about. So we find that Mary, when confronted by the angel has to begin on a journey of discovery because she does not understand what all this might mean
"29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be"
And Paul tells us at the end of Romans as we read today
"the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith"
The sort of message, that so puzzles Mary,
is God revealing in Jesus what has been true for all time.
This is the overarching message of the Christmas story.
God is revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
He is, what controversialist bishop, John AT Robinson
describes as The Human Face of God.
This is a description I find really helpful.
God cannot (or perhaps may not )be described...
he is indeed "the mystery that was kept secret"
our philosophy, our history, even our theology
does not come close to fully disclosing who God is
if we want to know what God is like
then the fullest revelation is Jesus.
So what do we see
We find at Christmas a deeply confronting story.
God chooses a young girl about whom we know remarkably little.
In the short passage of this morning's Gospel we know more about Joseph
.... a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David
than we do about Mary herself
In fact we know more about Zechariah and Elizabeth than we do about their cousin: belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. 7But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.What might this say to us?
At the very least we are reminded
that God views people differently from the way we do.
We make different choices about what is important
so we look for wealth, success, power and prestige ..
God looks differently.
There is an invitation here in the Christmas story
to look with different eyes at the world in which we live.
In the reading from the Hebrew bible too,
we read of David's desire to build a Temple.
This seems like a righteous desire, a good thing.
But it is not what God wants.
We do not always get it right,
we are often fixated on the material when God is inviting us to look deeper.
These are two modest insights
that we get from addressing the stories of the Bible
rather than sidetracking it.
Making room
Part of the frustration for us at Christmas
is finding Jesus amidst it all.
Let us not so much complain
about what Woolworths and Target do,
let us rather see the challenge to point ourselves and others to Jesus.
Ask tricky intelligent questions of your youngsters:
Why did God come as a baby?
What is he trying to tell us by being born in a stable?
Why did the shepherds and the wise men come?
and what do you think they said to Mary and Joseph?
What, indeed, would we say to them?
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