Epiphany 3, Year B – They have run out of wine…

Food and drink are an essential part of celebrations and can make or break the experience. That’s why, when I was a parish priest, we always had good quality bread at communion, the best wine, the best coffee and cake. It was part of the ministry of hospitality we shared together. Every newcomer, every guest we hadn’t seen for a while, would know that this was a place of welcome, hospitality, generosity and abundant life.

In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the first that Jesus does in his public ministry is to preach. In John’s gospel, things are a little different. The first thing that happens in Jesus’ public ministry is a celebration.

John begins the passage with, ‘after three days….’ But if you count the number of ‘and the next day’ s, it doesn’t add up to the third day. John isn’t interested in that mistake though. He gives us the ‘three-day’ reference because, like that last and most ultimate sign on the first Easter Day, this is a story of resurrection and transformation.

I love wine – what miracle could be better? Water into wine. The thing is, there is nothing wrong with water – but what Jesus does is to make that which is good and pure, even better. When things are running out, Jesus provides not just a little, but an abundance. When we run out of spiritual wine, the psalmist reminds us that when we trust in our shepherd, ‘my cup brims over’. (Ps 23).

The real miracle is that regardless of what happens to us today or tomorrow; regardless of what losses we suffer; regardless of what hills we have to climb; regardless of what hurts we have to endure – the grace of God greets us and is inexhaustible. The miracle is that God takes ordinary people, ordinary things, ordinary events and changes them into new wine, and gives them to us as gifts of love and grace. Gifts that strengthen, encourage and heal. I cannot tell you what will happen in your life tomorrow. But whatever it is, God’s grace and strength to face it will meet you on that day too. And it is good wine, the best wine, inexhaustible, abundant.

Today, as we paint in our minds he picture of that miracle, we can be amazed at the abundance of what Jesus did. I got 4 bottles of wine as part of my Christmas present stack this year….in this miracle Jesus provided wine enough to fill probably 700 bottles. As we paint that picture in our mind’s eye, I see each of us in that picture too. We are painted into the scene. When Jesus said to the servant, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward” I see each of us in the picture drawing out the wine and taking it to someone else.

That’s what we do in church, isn’t it? For one another in this place. And for one another in whatever place God puts us. We carry the wine to others. It is the wine of completeness, of the everlasting joy of the kingdom. This is no drunken stupor, it is a joy that brings no hangover – it is the joy of a kingdom that knows no limits, a joy that empowers and equips. It is a joy that builds up and enables us to grow into the Christ we worship – to grow to be Christ’s hands, feet, heart and eyes – that we might look at the world and see and feel what God, in Jesus, sees and feels – and respond with compassion and self-giving love.

John tells us that this was the first SIGN – not a miracle – a sign. It was a pointer along the way, directing our attention to the things that matter.

Sometimes it is easier to expect miracles to happen elsewhere, in fact anywhere but on our doorstep. But this sign challenges us to believe that God will reveal his glory and his abundant provision in our daily lives, on our doorsteps. And this story is particularly appropriate for us this week since we are in the season of Epiphany which is all about the revelation of Jesus Christ. We began Epiphany with the revelation of God’s glory in the baby Jesus to the Wise Men, then the revelation of Jesus Christ in his baptism when the voice from heaven said ‘this is my beloved Son’, and now the revelation of Jesus’ glory in his first miracle. We are in the season of epiphanies, of the revelation of God’s glory – but if we are not open to seeing them, they may just pass us by.

In this coming week, may God’s generous love be around you, especially when you run into situations where shortages and needs, whether of food, love, care, justice or peace, tempt you to despair. And ask yourself, as children of a generous God, who calls us to be his both disciples (people who are learning along the Way) and Apostles (people who are sent out into the world to reveal God’s love) what can we do to express that generosity and love to others? Someone is waiting for our ministry – our answer to that question this week. The task is to notice whether or not they have ‘run out of wine.’

 

Liturgy of Remembrance for a former colleague and friend

I had the humbling honour and privilege of being able to write and share the following memorial liturgy (below). It was for a treasured friend and former colleague. It was a way of expressing what needed to be expressed, separately from the funeral. It was a special time, just for our team – a moment along the way of grief, a signpost – not the destination.

We shared the liturgy together, built a cairn, dismantled it, and took our stones away with us to form the ‘foundations’ of a new cairn, perhaps, elsewhere along our way.

The liturgy can be downloaded here as a pdf document. Simply click the image below. 

Sermon for Epiphany 2, Year B

I have three funerals still to officiate at this week, a first draft of a doctoral dissertation to complete, as well as all the usual stuff of ministry and life….so I’m going to try and get ahead of the game a little: here’s a sermon for this coming Sunday. Hope it inspires and encourages you! You are loved and cherished by God – God loves us and knows deeply, and listens to us. Are we speaking enough? Are we listening enough? Blessings for the rest of this week and throughout this Epiphany Season.

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I was once given a mug for my birthday with the name “Jonathan” written on it. Underneath the name was a list with all the characteristics of Jonathan. Uncannily, most of the characteristics fitted me quite well. Uncannily that is, until I browsed amongst similar mugs in a shop and read the characteristics of Brian and Richard and Margaret and Hilary and discovered that they nearly all fitted me too!

The stars in the paper each day can sound very convincing, especially around the turn of the year when your ‘future’ for the coming year appears. Again, the characteristics often seem to fit, until you read everybody else’s predicted future and discover that almost all of it seems to fit.

There are some people who seem to be able to look into your very soul, and read your character just as if they’re reading a book. I wonder whether all of this is some sixth sense, along with astrology and fortune telling and spiritualism, or whether it’s a trick that can be learned, or whether it’s something else…

Perhaps it’s just an ability to listen well. I have come to realise, more profoundly than ever in my ministry as a Hospice chaplain, that the first principle of good listening is to reflect back to the other person in different words, what they’ve just said. In a way, it’s like holding up a mirror. But it’s often greeted with an astonished, “How did you know?” Some people can actually hear what isn’t said – almost being able to listen deeply to the soul. Sadly, many of us fail to listen to each other, to our own inner voice or even to the voice of God. Perhaps we’ve forgotten how to even make spiritual space to hear God.

Jesus was undoubtedly an excellent listener. But his powers went beyond simple listening into the realms of really seeing into a person’s soul. He always seemed to know exactly what a person needed to hear. It might not always have been what that person wanted to hear, but it was always the truth about them, and a truth which may well have been hidden deep in their own unconscious.

So Jesus saw immediately into the hearts and souls of the Pharisees and called them whitewashed sepulchres (Matt. 23:27). And when the rich young man asked him what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus told him to sell all that he had and feed the poor (Matt.19:16-22). But when a lawyer asked him the same question about eternal life, Jesus didn’t mention money but told him to love God and to love his neighbour (Luke 10:25-28).

Jesus saw into Nathaniel before he’d even met him, and he liked what he saw. “Here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit,” Jesus said about Nathaniel.

I think that perhaps one of the most attractive features of Jesus was his ability to instantly know at a very deep level the person to whom he was talking. It was especially attractive because he didn’t reject anybody, no matter what they were like inside.

Jesus knew the rich young man had a tendency to be selfish and greedy, and that his money was more important to him than life itself. But Jesus still offered him the route to eternal life anyway. And when the young man rejected it we’re told that Jesus was sad, because he loved the young man despite all his imperfections.

And the reason that Jesus was so ruthlessly and painfully honest with people, was that the honesty gave those people an opportunity to see themselves as they really were and to do something about it. Honesty holds up a mirror to the real person.

But it’s the most difficult thing in the world to receive real honesty from other people, because it means not only hurt pride, but also relinquishing cherished illusions about ourselves. And that’s a very painful process.

Jesus hasn’t changed. He still has the ability to instantly know us at a very deep level. We may no longer see him face-to-face, but he still sees us under the fig tree and knows all about us. In fact, if God is within us as well as being out there and up there, then he is involved in everything we do, in every thought we think, in every emotion we feel.

We can do nothing apart from God, for he is as much a part of us as breathing. But we can hide from him, by pretending he doesn’t exist, or even by using church and ritual and tradition to keep him in a safe box where he can’t threaten our cherished illusions.

But if it’s eternal life we want, life overflowing with deep joy, then we need to allow Jesus to see us under the fig tree and to know all about us. We need to open ourselves to his deep listening and seeing into our souls, not in fear and trembling that he will discover our worst secrets, but confident that even when he discovers those horrors deep within, he will still love us.

And once we allow him to gaze upon those dark, hidden secrets, they will disappear, because darkness is instantly changed when the light flashes up on it. And secrets are secrets no longer when they’re out in the open.

And then perhaps, Jesus will say to us too, “Behold, here is one in whom there is no deceit.”

 

Powerful thought…

Purposeful conversing
Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

Ask me not where I live or what I like to eat….
Ask me what I am living for and what I think is keeping me from living fully for that.
(Thoughts in Solitude)

Spirituality and Spiritual Formation

The end is not nigh!

Although the Mayan calendar draws to a close in 2012, it may be, for you and for me, that 2012 can bring a refreshed and renewed approach to our spiritual formation – not the end of the world!

As people of faith, we believe in an apostolic Church: that is, a Church founded upon the notion that God, in Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, both calls us and send us out.

In our calling we a nudged by God to enter ever more deeply into relationship with God. Yet, at the same time, we are also called to share what we discover, for the sake of the world.

If you are struggling to find resources to help you in your journey of spiritual formation, I can wholeheartedly recommend the following website (simply click the image below to go to it):

Enjoy some great discoveries, particularly material and resources around Benedictine spirituality.

If you have some resources / links you wish to share, please do leave a comment. Thank you.

 

Come, Holy Spirit, and fill our hearts: kindle in us the fire of your love,

that we may live each day in love to you to one another.

Amen.

Sermon for the Baptism of Christ: Year B 2012

In this season of Epiphany – which simply means manifestation – the Church celebrates not one Epiphany or manifestation of the identity of Jesus, but three:

On Friday 6 Jan: the coming of the Magi, the Wise Men, from the East who had followed their star to find the newborn king of the Jews and fell down and worshipped him and presented their precious and symbolic gifts.

Next Sunday (15 Jan), we will be at Cana of Galilee for a wedding feast and the first of Jesus’ “signs” in John’s Gospel: the water made wine.

On this Sunday after the Epiphany, we are at the River Jordan to celebrate the second of these epiphanies: the Baptism of Christ. All three are seen as epiphanies; as manifestations of the glory of Christ.

They are different facets of the one glorious jewel.

Each gospel writer has his particular way of telling the story of Jesus; his own understanding to communicate; his own community to address in its particular situation.

So, what does Mark see? With this first chapter of Mark we are launched straight into the ministry of Jesus. There’s no hanging about, no infancy stories, just plainly and simply the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.

Mark sets the scene with a reference to Isaiah, and the one who will ‘pave the way’ for Jesus.

John the Baptist launches Jesus into his public ministry, and as he does so, the heavens were ‘torn open’ and the Holy Spirit came down, like a dove.

The opening of heaven in the Old Testament and other Jewish writings signified revelation. The opening of heaven at the baptism of Jesus signals that he is the Messiah and that the fulfilment of Israel’s ultimate hopes is at hand. If the closing of heaven brought drought; its opening would bring God’s blessings.

At his baptism, Jesus is ordained as Messiah by a God who loves him and tells him so. “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.” This powerful affirmation, this calling from God, will sustain Jesus through temptations in the desert (which comes right away in verse 12 if we read on) and then through the joys and trials of his ministry. At our baptism we too are claimed as the children of God. At his baptism Jesus is consecrated for his ministry. At our baptism we also are consecrated for our part in his mission. We are not being enrolled into some club or social committee; we are being called and set apart for the service of the others, under God.

Jesus’ baptism was a powerful, public and decisive turning point in his life. Many people experience moments which prove to be decisive turning points. They reach a cross-roads where they are confronted with radically different choices. It may be a moment of revelation, and eye-opening moment, a moment of illumination for the mind – suddenly everything begins to fall into place. If that grace is responded to, people are often lifted out of themselves, and start out on a new path. If it is not responded to, the opportunity may be gone forever.

Shakespeare put it like this:

There is a tide in the affairs of men

Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and miseries.

Such moments of decision can be thrust upon a person like a bolt out of the blue, or it may come gradually. Jesus knew such moments in his life, and his baptism by John was one of them. From this moment on, nothing would ever be the same. He found himself and his true vocation. All his hidden qualities, his power and his calling, which had been growing quietly like wheat in field, now manifested themselves and were given full expression.

Most of us can pinpoint key turning points in our own lives. However, the direction our lives have taken may not be the result of some major single decision, but a series of little decisions.

At baptism we were given a decision and a direction. God wants us to have the fullest possible life and in baptism we share the life of God. In baptism we are called to turn from old ways and be recreated in Christ.

There is a story told of a famous movie-maker who had a huge legal wrangle with his long-time mentor and guide. The younger man simply could not handle criticism, and ended up rejecting the person who had helped him so much. When it was all over a close friend summed up the entire situation: ‘It was all about an ungenerous father and a son looking for affirmation and love.’

It happens all the time: in families, businesses, all over. Many children grow up in our world who have never had a parent say to them (either in words or through hug or a look), ‘You are my precious child’, let alone, ‘I am pleased with you.’ In our Western world, even parents who think these things in their hearts are sometimes too tongue-tied or embarrassed to articulate it.

In a way the Christian gospel could be summed up in this point: that when the living God looks at us, at every baptised and believing Christian, he says to us what he said to Jesus – ‘You are my dear, dear child; I am delighted with you.’ Try saying that with your own name at the start. What is true of Jesus is true of us – simply because of the incarnation, God-with-us, God-one-of-us. When the heavens opened for Jesus, it was rather like a huge invisible curtain being drawn back and new reality, a new picture opening up before him, a new reality. A good deal of daily Christian living is a matter of learning to live by that different reality, that God’s-eye-view of us. Sometimes at those decisive moments I spoke of earlier, the curtain is drawn back and we see, hear or understand exactly what is going on; but most of the time we walk by faith, not by sight. The gospel reading today encourages us to see the heavens opened and hear the heavenly voice. Let that voice change you, shape you, make you somebody new, the person God wants you to be. But, Mark is keen to have his readers understand that, immediately following this wonderfully powerful and revealing moment Jesus is led by the Spirit into a wilderness of temptation and struggle with self and vocation. It won’t, after all, be plain sailing and smooth seas. There is a tension. We know that God loves us and that he delights in us, yet we also know that we will be weak in the face of temptation. It is, however, God’s grace that will cover our shortcomings. We realise that we have a somewhat precarious saint / sinner status. In other words we hear two opposites at the same time: “you have failed me. You are perfect.”

In today’s gospel we hear: ‘You bring me great pleasure’, yet the alternative is always lurking in the background.

As we stand at the beginning of a new year, not knowing the sort of rough seas and calm days we must face, perhaps we could ask ourselves, ‘What must I resolve to do in 2012 to be the recipient of God’s great pleasure?’

I’d like to suggest that together we try three simple things: First, resolve to give pleasure to God – we all know ‘people-pleasers’ with that spaniel attitude that will do anything to get stroked and petted. Living as a God-pleaser, however, gives a quite different complexion to life. It means we will be willing to look far ahead in hope; to envision the possible and dream the improbable. You might not change the world by being a God-pleaser instead of a people-pleaser, but you will change yourself.

Secondly resolve to look for the road signs of righteousness. As we seek to please God, there will be times we find ourselves going the wrong way. There is a simple prayer each of us can pray daily: ‘O Lord, make a dead-end street of every road that does not lead to you today. Amen.’ Dead ends are not endings but opportunities to turn round, readjust, reconsider and start again. If we believe Jesus guides our footsteps, our dead-ends ought to prompt less of ‘Why me?’ and more of ‘thank you Lord for this opportunity to turn round.’

Thirdly resolve to bear the cross. Not pleasing everyone; taking the road less travelled: these are God-delighting decisions. But sometimes we must sacrifice something of ourselves in order to embrace the love of Christ. The shadow of the cross is still cast over the wood of the manger in every crib – as a reminder to us of this truth.

It is sometimes not enough just to turn away from bad-news dead-ends. It is sometimes not enough to stop bending over backwards to please people, instead of bending at our knees to please God. Sometimes we are required to make actual sacrifices. That sacrifice might be to admit we were wrong; to welcome those we least desire; to give sacrificially of self and resources; to end relationships that hurt us, our families or our friends.

When we bear the cross out of love for Christ, out of a desire to live a Jesus kind of life, we end up with the greatest gift we could ever envision. We hear deep in our souls a voice proclaiming, “Well done, beloved. You bring me great pleasure!”

Sermon for the Naming and Circumcision of Christ (Christmas 1, Year B)

TEXTS: Numbers 6:22-27; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 2:15-21

Today’s theme is that of the Holy Family. Not a twee, cute family, but one that could hardly believe what was happening to them. Mary and Joseph and the infant Jesus provide a powerful example for us, not only for cute Christmas card scenes, but for the realities of life, of our faith life.

In the first 40 days of Jesus’ life, Mary and Joseph did three things with and for Jesus, things that bound them, with him, closer to God, closer to the people of God, and closer to one another:

1) They presented Jesus in the Temple, as the Law demanded – as it does with so many of the ‘first’ things – first fruits. Mary and Joseph recognized Jesus as holy, and they sought to nurture that holiness, and offer it back to God in sacrifice and in their desire to seek true holiness.

Not a bad way to begin a life – not a bad way to begin a year.

2) Mary and Joseph made Jesus part of the family of God. Families have done that in this community for generations, and will no doubt continue to do so: but making people part of the family demands responsibilities as well as bestows rights. This comes as a shock to some!

Mary and Joseph made Jesus part of the family of God, and this bound them closer to God – and closer to God’s people – and closer to one another. Not a bad way to begin a life – or a new year. Not a bad way to live.

3) Mary and Joseph named Jesus as Saviour. They believed in what they had been told in a vision of God and they obeyed. This bound them closer to God – closer to Jesus – and closer to one another. Sharing a vision draws us into a special intimacy, and living by that vision creates a special community. Not a bad way to begin life, a new year, for your family, or your church family.

So, today the Church remembers the naming and circumcision of Jesus. In today’s gospel text there is a declaration of Jesus’ name. This is the name revealed by Gabriel to Mary when the angel made his annunciation to her. The name “Jesus” means “God saves.” The Hebrew rendering is “Joshua.” It is not an unusual name. It is, in fact, a quite common name. The most extraordinary birth in history comes wrapped in a very ordinary name. The One whose name is above every name (Phil.2:9) is given a common name.

But “Jesus” is not this child’s only name.

Immediately after Jesus’ name is declared in the temple, Simeon reveals another name for this child: “the Lord’s Messiah.” Along with the identity of “Messiah” comes a host of other new names.

In Isaiah, this hoped-for child is named “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

In Matthew’s gospel Joseph is told the child will be known as “Emmanuel” (“God is with us”) and “Saviour.”

John the Baptist names Jesus the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29).

In Revelation (2:17) there is a reference to yet another name, a secret name “a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

When expecting a new baby in the family, at some point most of us get sucked into buying one of those baby-naming books or consulting one of those baby-names websites. Not only do they provide huge, long lists of names, from the common to the crazy, but they also give the linguistic origins of the names.

We all have the name given to us by our parents or by our friends. A family name with roots and history can give us a sense of who we are. A derogatory name, given by cruel children, can keep us trapped in one place all our life. Names can shape our lives, for good or ill.

Our public names are public knowledge. But each one of us also has a “soul name,” a name that God has given us as a guard and guide through our lives. Our secret name is the name we grow into, the name we learn to inhabit, the name that awakens in us as our soul grows and as we live our lives.

There is the name the world has given you: your “real” name. Then there is the name God has given you: your “soul” name.

What if this year your #1 resolution in 2012 was to find out what your soul name might be?

You won’t find out your soul name by going inward, by navel-gazing and being focused and fixed on yourself. Instead, throw yourself into the needs of the world. Let loose your compassion. As you do so, throw yourself into your passion. For it is your passion along with your compassion that will most likely reveal your “soul name.”

So this year, as we – like Jesus – take our place in the family of God, and have our lives presented to God as a living sacrifice, may we also seek to know Jesus better, make him better known, and discover our soul names as we go – with passion and compassion as we work for the coming of God’s Kingdom. Not a bad way to begin a New Year!

May 2012 bring blessings to you and to all those for whom you pray. Amen.

Happy Christmas! Blessings for St Stephen’s Day

Well, the rest of the world thinks Christmas is now over (its been celebrated since at least late October!)

BUT, Christmas BEGAN yesterday! So Happy Christmas to all my friends and subscribers to this blog. Please forgive me if I was not able to send you direct Christmas greetings this year: I thank God for your love, support, friendship and ministry. You are a blessing! Shine with the light of Christ – it is a light that no darkness can overcome.

It feels powerful to join our prayers today with the Church catholic, as we remember St Stephen. May we, too, keep our eyes fixed on heaven.

Blessings

J+

We give you thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors to your Son Jesus Christ, who stands at your right hand; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. Amen!

Sermon for Midnight Mass 2012

Bethlehem, in Hebrew, means ‘House of Bread’ – if this church is a kind of ‘Bethlehem’ this evening, then this is a fitting place for us to gather this Christmas night. For it is here that we will follow Jesus’ example to break bread, and literally be companions together – friends, family and strangers alike. It is here that we will cradle Christ in the manger of our hands; it is here that we will become, again, the Bethlehem of Christ.

 

I checked today on the Internet for good places to stay in Bethlehem. At the top of the list is the Jacir Palace Inter-Continental Hotel and Resort, conveniently located on the Jerusalem-Hebron Road. According to its website, it boasts 250 rooms, and 5 suites. Amenities include a 24-hour front desk, swimming pool, tennis court, barber and beauty shops, a hotel nurse, a laundry, valet, and, of course, each room comes equipped with a safe-deposit box, minibar, internet broadband, and satellite TV. Oh yes, and there are telephones in all the bathrooms.

A deluxe room for two with a king-size bed, at the special weekend rate, will set you back around £800. MasterCard, Visa, and American Express are all gratefully accepted. Availability? I checked on-line, they’re full. There’s still no room tonight in the inn.

Tonight’s the night to go to Bethlehem, but it’s so hard to get there.

Even if you were able to make it to Bethlehem, you’d realise what a fragile and vulnerable place it is – with its politics, violence, unemployment, difficult economy, its tensions. If you made it to Bethlehem you would not find the baby Jesus laying in a beautifully clean, idyllic, cosy stable, with cute animals, adoring shepherds and freshly cut straw. Far from being a Victorian celebration of domesticity, the Christmas story is of pregnant teenage Mary giving birth in an unfamiliar town, relying on the kindness of strangers and soon afterwards becoming a refugee.

The Christmas narrative of God born in a feeding trough leads us to search for ways to serve our neighbour whoever and however they are.

We live in an anxious world – and a world where many men, women and children are suffering in communities disfigured by war, poverty and disease.  Christmas does not ignore any of that – Jesus is born into a perilous situation himself in a country under occupation.  But the festival of Christmas insists underneath all the modern Western tinsel and froth that because God is with us, we have hope.  Whatever the circumstances of our lives – and if we are adults, we’ve probably been through a lot – when we are ill, when our hearts are broken, when we are angry or despairing,  disillusioned or hurt, God is with us – not waving any magic wand, not even making us feel better – but God is poured into the life of the world into this fragile human life and by doing this, has showed us what human life could be like.

In the beginning was the Word and the word was with God and the word was God.  The poetry helps us imagine that God, the limitless energy of the universe, is somehow uttered – expressed – God is not remote – out there far away – God is expressed in a way we can relate to if not understand: in a life of love, forgiveness, peace and a joy in living, that death or the forces of death cannot destroy.

When God lived as one of us, God made our lives sacred, holy. It means that whenever we approach one another, without exception, we tread softly because we approach holy ground. Your body, like the body of that courageous young woman, Mary, is the nurturing space within which Christ is born every time we love, every time we forgive. At every Mass we remember this love with thanksgiving.

God’s life poured out into human life, bound by human limits, poured into ordinary bread and wine which for us, is food for our

journey through life. God was born among us. God’s word took on flesh at Bethlehem. God is with us.

Bethlehem is the place and every place where God is with us. The manger is the place where we can lay our heads upon Christ’s shoulder and, at last, feel safe. Christmas is a constant feast: the feast of the incarnation, the feast of God made flesh – with us, for us, among us, within us. Christ brings us a light and a lasting deep joy, which the darkness will never overcome it. May the light of Christ shine in your heart this night, and may you see that same light in the face of friend and stranger.

 

Lord Jesus Christ,

your birth at Bethlehem

draws us to kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth:

accept our heartfelt praise

as we worship you,

our Saviour and our eternal God.

Amen.

 

A fun Christmas Sermon: Christmas in a nutshell!

Many thanks to the Rev’d Dr Sarah Hartley (nee Archer) for this idea that has kept me going on Christmas mornings in different parishes. Hope you enjoy this too!

Take a walnut.

Get a junior hacksaw.

Saw around the central join of the walnut – do this VERY carefully – it takes some time.

Make the cutting as smooth as possible so that the two halves will go back together seamlessly.

Once you have the two halves, take out the walnut and any extra husky bits.

Eat the nut (or throw it away)

Cut out a strip of paper, with the following printed on it:

God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that none who believe in him might be lost,

but have eternal life. John 3:16

Carefully roll up the paper, place it inside the now empty walnut and glue together with SUPERGLUE. Do this VERY carefully. I nearly stuck my eyelids together one year!

Once dry, put the nut in a nice little box and wrap it up in Christmas paper.

The Service:

Beforehand

‘Plant’ the gift with a co-conspirator in the congregation. It’s best if you don’t tell them why. Simply tell them, “When I begin my sermon…..’In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ interrupt me, saying, “Oh, sorry Neil. I know it’s not the right moment, but I really must give you this gift now. Sorry.”

With another person, plant a nutcracker. Don’t tell them why. Just ask them to keep it in their pocket during the service.

You’re ready.

During the Service

Do everything as normal until you get to your sermon. Begin as normal, making sure your co-conspirator interrupts you before you get into your sermon (this is important, because there is NO sermon!!)

Look startled as they interrupt, but be humbled and graceful. Play a little. Ask people what they think it might be….shake the box. Does the nut rattle round inside? What could it be? Ask if it’s OK to open it. Perhaps someone would like to help. Involve them.

The walnut is revealed.

Be intrigued, humble, grateful.

Offer to share it….but unfortunately you don’t have a nutcracker. Does anyone else have one? Of course they do!! Co-Conspirator 2 comes to the rescue.

Break open the nut in the hope of sharing its fleshy contents. But….

Lo and behold, no nut, but a piece of paper.

Get someone to read it out…

Wow!

Christmas, in a nutshell!