Lots of us revert to personal traditions at Christmas. We watch the same film; eat the same food; follow the same itinerary for the day. In recent years my Christmases have begun to vary as marriages, deaths, divorces, and the associated house moves have been ‘mixing things up a bit’.

One habit which remains is the tradition that I lay the table for Christmas Dinner.  It is perhaps this role that explains my fondness for the Polish Christmas tradition of setting an empty place at the table.  The story goes that the extra place is for an expected guest, a weary traveller or poor stranger, a reminder that Mary and Joseph were looking for shelter the first Christmas.

Fondness aside, the question this begs of who the Mary and Joseph are for us this Christmas, and whether my arrangements even leave room to recognise their need is a radical challenge to my Christmas traditions. It is also a year-round challenge to us as church as we gather round the communion table.

“I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me!” Matthew 25 v.4

[Ellen Stuart]

The hospital is a funny place to be at this time of year. The over-decorated wards, the primary school children singing carols in the entrance, the porters in santa hats- all this Christmas cheer sits strangely beside the relentless progression of people’s lives and illnesses. Somehow the hope and promise of Christmas seems to magnify everything bad- loss feels greater, bad news harder to break. Death weighs heavier. Unsurprisingly a couple of bits of tinsel and a mince pie can’t cover the pain and brokenness in some people’s lives.

Perhaps you feel this same tension in yourself? As the year draws to a close and you reflect back, maybe you feel far from festive. Have you lost someone you loved, hurt someone you cared for or just not achieved what you promised yourself you would? Christmas can be an emotionally raw time, a lonely time, even a hopeless time.

This advent, learn from Mary the teenage virgin, visited by angels and pregnant with the Son of the Most High. Doubtless terrified, lonely and confused, this is the prayer she prayed;

And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.”

(Luke 1:46-55)

Mary remembers God’s goodness, and in her remembering finds strength to go on. God has delivered his people since the beginning of time and will continue to do so. He is mighty, merciful and compassionate.

If you are suffering this Christmas, take time to reflect with Mary on God’s character, his sacrifice and his victory, and take comfort in his promises for you.

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

(Isaiah 40:28-31)

[Ruth Crease]

I was fortunate enough to be reminded the other day of how we are living in Gods time, not our own.  In an age where we want it all, and we want it now, I find a feeling of incredible restfulness comes with the knowledge that God will make the best of things whenever they happen, and that some things we may have to wait for.  But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t still be getting on and doing things, working towards what we believe God would have us do.  Sure, we might get it wrong but, as the experience of so many people proves, God is the best sat nav, calculating a new route to lead us back to our intended destination whenever we take the wrong road.

And we don’t need to worry that we’re not the most experienced person to do the things that need doing.  The bible is littered with examples of God putting the greatest responsibilities onto the youngest and most inexperienced of people, ‘unlikely novices’ who God was transforming even as they worked out his plan.  David was the youngest in his family and only a shepherd when we was anointed as the future king of Israel; Josiah was only 8 years old when he became king and given the responsibility of restoring his people to God after a succession of wayward kings; Moses had a criminal record and had never given a public address in his life before being asked to represent millions.  And Mary, by the very nature of being a virgin in that day and age, was young and inexperienced when asked to take on the most overwhelming responsibility of nurturing God’s son – hands up anyone who’d be willing to take that one on right now!

‘Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life.  I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high society families.  Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretentions of the “somebodies”?’  [1 Corinthians 1 vs26-28 (The Message)]

Yes, advent is a time of waiting, but we can wait proactively – imagine all that we can achieve for him if we get over our fear of not being good enough, experienced enough, wise enough.  ‘This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life.  It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?”’ [Romans 8 vs 15 (The Message)].

[JM2]

Saviour eternal,
life of the world unfailing,
light everlasting
and our true redemption.

Taking our humanity
in your loving freedom,
you rescued our lost earth
and filled the world with joy.

By your first advent justify us,
by your second, set us free:
that when the great light dawns
and you come as judge of all,
we may be robed in immortality
and ready, Lord, to follow
in your footsteps blest, wherever they may lead.

[Salus Aeterna]

A bunch of us from church joined with tens of thousands on Saturday to march as part of the campaign for a fair and ambitious agreement at the climate change summit in Copenhagen this week. I was struck by how much hope there still is for something that is going to take remarkable sacrifice on the part of rich countries and consensus between countries with very different histories of carbon usage. And all wrapped up in communal guilt and uncertain science that cannot easily predict the future.

The overwhelming emotions can be frustration and hopelessness: frustration that politicians won’t listen, or that we won’t see an immediate impact, and hopelessness about what difference our little voices can really make.

As Christians though, knowing Jesus, one who was born and lived lowly and meek, and yet is all powerful, gives us immense hope. He is bigger than any one of us and all of us put together; and greater than any fear we have of personal or corporate failure or rejection. In him we place our hope for a renewed world, a healing of our brokenness, successful changes within ourselves, and strengthened social and working relationships.

We have to have the courage and humility to entrust to God all those things that could otherwise lead to frustration and hopelessness, trusting in the promise that He has it all in hand. This knowledge can allow us to bounce back from short-term failures and disappointments and to share in a long-term aim – to bring God’s Kingdom to earth.

Wait for the Lord, my soul waits, more than watchmen who wait for the morning, more than watchman who wait for the morning.
Israel put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.
Psalm 130 v6-8

[Michael Stuart]

Hope.

I have been thinking this week about Hope. The eternal Hope that we have. Advent is the time of waiting, waiting for the celebration and announcement of the baby Jesus but also the time that we acknowledge the waiting for God to come in power and restore all that we see to all that He intended.

What does it look like to wait in that eternal hope?

It made me ponder about the things that we wait for, that phrase that can so often knock around our heads

‘I’ll do XXX when I have …. seen the world, got married, had a my children, bought a house, secured my career, invested in a good pension, paid of my student loans, made my parents proud, made my friends proud, achieved all the goals in life I wanted.

I am not suggested that these are the things that motivate all the time, but I know that I can easily slip into this frame of mind. If we are waiting for these things, does that mean that we are putting the same amount of hope into these as we are our Eternal hope?

If we could live in a way where we slipped into this frame of mind less and less and we lived in a way that was actively waiting and being part of Gods coming Kingdom, what would we worry about? what things would stop us acting now? What would hold us back? What would we have to make us feel like we had things to ‘achieve’ or in fact that we were not achieving enough…

Today just spend a few moments asking God to help you be able to actively wait and Hope in the eternal and not in the fleeting.

[Bee Arnold]

Picture by michaellepperadr

Twice in the nativity story comes this refrain, it is one of my
favourite phrases in Luke’s gospel: ‘But Mary treasured up all these
things and pondered them in her heart’ (2:19) ‘But his mother
treasured all these things in her heart’ (2:51)
These are such intimate words- words that resonate with any parent as
they see their own daughter or son growing up. Moments, activities,
jokes, mess, tears and a sudden dawning – ‘these are precious times’.
And so Mary sees her boy growing up and she has sudden dawnings –
‘these are precious times’.
But Mary has another level to her treasuring. Her entire life must
have been spent trying to comprehend that she was now ‘her Father’s
mother and her Maker’s maker’ and that she had ‘immensity cloistered
in her dear womb’ (John Donne).
Notice each phrase starts with ‘But Mary…’ as if Mary was taking a
step backwards, a step away from the chaos of shepherds and the trauma
of losing her son in Jerusalem. There was a conscious marking of the
moment, a conscious treasuring – an acknowledgement of worth and
weight.
I love this idea of the heart as a treasure trove ready to be filled
with treasures (needing to be filled?). The danger of London life is
that we feel so transient, that we’re passing through that – along
with the littlest hobo – maybe tomorrow we’ll settle down and so we
sit lightly to our friendships and community. We don’t mark the weight
and worth of the moments around us.
The heart is indeed a treasure trove. Mary reminds us to take that
step backwards and treasure the precious people and events around us.
Christmas reminds us that there is treasure large enough to fill the
gaping trove of the heart and he came to us as a little baby.

[Samuel Chaplin]

“Most Christians aren’t Christians at all, they’re theists. They believe in God but they don’t believe in incarnation”.

At this time of year, I remember those who first waited for the fulfilment of the revelation that everything is sacred; that Love is here and that he dwells among us. Incarnation is earth-shatteringly good news, but it is so messy! I suppose that’s why Jesus was born in a stable. Incarnation means that true community is possible, a new openness; good news for the poor. It means that even among lives bearing the scars of neglect, abuse and segregation, there is hope. It also means that God uses me, despite of me. I celebrate the incarnation, and as I do so, I await its fulfilment in me and in all creation.

[Jon Osborne]

You hear a lot about how the real meaning of Christmas has been overtaken by commercialisation, consumption and overindulgence.
For me, my ‘other god’ at Christmas is the time off.
That is what I have been holding the most dear – the time to stop, step out of the busyness and run away for a week or so.
It is as if you’ve been underwater holding your breath for a long time, and at Christmas you have time to come up to the surface for air.
‘If I can just get to Christmas, it will all be ok.’
I am sure I am not alone.
How has it got like this? How has this desperation for a break become the most important thing about the season? It’s not rocket science, but it’s probably
to do with being too busy, and the rhythm of ‘normal’ life not containing enough rest.
I was very struck by the ‘How you spend your days is how you spend your life’ poster used at Greenbelt this year.
If this resonates with you too, join me in a prayer for today.

Dear Lord our father,
We commit our days to you, as we do our lives.
We commit our timetables to you and ask that you tell us what needs more time and what needs less.
We commit our priorities to you and ask that you tell us if we’ve got them wrong.
We’re sorry for the ‘other gods’ of Christmas.
Thank you that you are with us, in the busyness, and in rest.
Amen

[Ruth Dickinson]

I went back to work full time just over two weeks ago and in that short amount of time one thing has become very clear to me: I don’t like to wait. I don’t like to wait for the bus. I don’t like it when the IT department puts me on hold (again). I don’t like the line in the Pret or the client who won’t return my email. Of course we all can get annoyed and impatient every now and then, but this seems to be all the time. I tend to think of myself as pretty easy going — I mean, I waited a year to find a job and was fairly cool about it — when did I become like this?

I think it has its roots in the fact that not only have I been master of my own schedule working from home (or not working at all), but also that I have had a fairly solitary life this year. Moving to a new place where I didn’t know anyone, with a husband who travels a lot and dog who’s not a great conversationalist, meant that while I had the luxury of doing what I wanted most of the time, I did it alone. I think being in community and having real relationships that require real work temper the self-centered impulses that lead us to want it our way. Right now.

All of that is a long way of saying that advent could not come at a better time for me. It’s a great reminder that waiting isn’t about keeping us from or goal, but anticipation of something bigger than we could experience on our own. There is no better example than the birth of Christ that God’s plan is better than mine, and well worth waiting for. This year I’m grateful to be wating for the celebration of Christ’s birth with all of you!

“Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is retraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.” 2 Peter 3:8-10 (The Message)

[Stephanie Manson]