A disappointing Christmas

I tore the Christmas paper off the big box, then eagerly lifted off the lid. A tartan-patterned dressing-gown. I can still remember the name on the label: McGregor. I was, however, disappointed. I opened a second present; it was heavy. A thick Collins Dictionary complete with colour photographs (quite a thing in those days, for this was 60 years ago). I was disappointed. Such presents fell short of the Corgi car transporter or maybe even the train set I’d been hoping for. The only decent present I had, so it seemed to me, was the Dandy Annual from Aunty Dorothy! It may sound like I was an ungrateful child but I was still only an immature 10-year-old and didn’t want to know about practical Christmas presents from Mom and Dad.

Do you realise that the Christian message, which Christmas is tied into, is about the God of the universe coming to earth on a mission? God, the originator of all things, chose to enter into his creation as a human being. This human being goes by the name of Jesus. This is what Christians focus on at Christmas. But why Would God come to us as man?

‘The name Jesus’ actually means ‘God saves’. A verse in the biblical account of the Christmas story explains ‘He will save his people from their sins’.

‘Save us from our sins’ may sound foreign to our modern ears. Look at it like this: it’s not rocket science to grasp that something is amiss with the world in which we live. War, political wrangling, human trafficking, child abuse, racism, family breakdown, earthquakes, hurricanes, famine, and COVID-19. They each speak of an amazing world which somehow is out of sync.

Now it may not be my fault personally that floods occur nor yours that hurricanes cause devastation. Nevertheless, we all participate in much that is wrong in the world. I know that if the world was as it ought to be and I took up residence there, then I would, by my thoughts, words and actions, put it out of sync quite quickly and I would incur the anger of the ruler of such a lovely place. True, I’m not as bad as I could be but neither am I as good as I ought to be. Can you identify with this? It goes a long way to explaining why the world is as it is.

The verse ‘Jesus came to save his people from their sins’ explains the oft used term ‘tidings of peace and joy’; this is the gem God offers to us expressed in the Christmas story. His coming has the goal of putting me and you in the right with God. Perhaps this Christmas present from God disappoints you. Going back to my own Christmas disappointment 60 years ago, the usefulness of that McGregor dressing-gown actually outlived the Dandy Annual. As for the Collins dictionary, it was in regular use until quite recently. Let’s not dismiss God’s Christmas present of Jesus too quickly as I did with those presents from my parents.

Where is our hope in COVID times?

During nine months of disruption, anxiety and uncertainty, 41,480 people died as a result of – no, not COVID-19 but German bombing. Eighty years ago, between September 1940 and May 1941, the United Kingdom was suffering at the hands of the German air force in what was known as the Blitz. Before the war’s end, 60,595 civilians had died in this country because of the aerial bombardment. That figure accumulated over a period of five years; who would have predicted that it is an awful possibility that we could see a similar number die in just one year because of a virus. Let us pray to God that this does not come to pass.

When I say ‘let us pray to God’ for a deliverance, I am in earnest. Both those in authority and ordinary people like you and me, seem to be putting their primary hope in a vaccine together with science in general. For those of us who claim to have faith in the Almighty God, ought we not firstly to be calling out to him for the deliverance we need? Then, having our perspective better aligned, we can ask for God’s help on behalf of the scientific community, health workers and all who have a role to play in the current crisis.

In past generations, when scientific understanding was less developed and medical care sparse, looking to God for help was more common. Nowadays, when trouble strikes (be it personal or corporate) there appear to be more options available to us before resorting to God.

Returning to the plight of this country 80 years ago, most readers will have heard of ‘The Miracle of Dunkirk’, when one third of a million men, against all expectation, were successfully evacuated from the French channel coast. When calamity had seemed imminent, King George VI made a stirring broadcast, calling the people of Britain and the Empire, to commit their cause to God with a National Day of Prayer. On Sunday 26 May 1940, together with members of the Cabinet, the King attended Westminster Abbey, whilst millions of his subjects in all parts of the Commonwealth and Empire rallied to the call and attended church to pray in their hour of need. The following morning, the Daily Sketch stated, “Nothing like it has ever happened before.” The amazing deliverance followed during the next week. I would welcome such an initiative now from our Queen, national governments and church.

Interestingly, the Prayer Book used by the Church of England has a number of prayers for use in such times as those we are experiencing at present. They may be found on the Church of England website ("Prayer in any time of plague or sickness").

Here is a prayer I’ve drafted as a suggestion, written in the spirit of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer.

"Almighty God, have pity on us distressed people who have progressively ignored you. We are now suffering great sickness and mortality; please will you withdraw from us this plague and terrible sickness; we ask because we have heard that you are merciful and forgiving; this being told and displayed to us by Jesus in the Bible.

Let it be so. Amen."

Sowing seeds

Journeying on rural roads last week, we saw tractor after tractor. Each was towing a trailer filled with freshly harvested potatoes. I think of morning assemblies at school where we marked the seasons with appropriate hymns of thanksgiving and praise. I well remember the headmaster berating us few hundred boys for taking a breath in the wrong place as we sang, ‘We plough the fields and scatter….’ ‘No, no, no,’ implored Mr Greenfield, ‘They don’t plough the fields and run off! There isn’t a comma after the word scatter. It’s “We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land.”’

We are used to getting our plastic bag of apples from the supermarket, each apple being virtually identical in size and shape. Our meat and fish in its tray looks nice and clean behind the taut clear plastic. As for my wheat? Well, it’s always been baked or comes in a yellow cereal box. I admit that for me there is some disconnection between the food in our cupboards and freezer and the hard work that takes place in the fields throughout the year.

When I was a boy, nearly all of our dads and granddads had a vegetable patch in the garden or an allotment. I think we understood our dependence upon the seasons and had some sense, at least, that our food was being given to us by God. This is certainly the idea behind the harvest festivals which we attended. We brought examples of the first fruits of our dads’ gardening efforts or, failing that, we resorted to something from mom’s shopping at the greengrocers. After the harvest festival service, the gathered produce was distributed amongst the local ‘poor/old folks’. At that time, it wasn’t so easy to find truly poor people in our locality. Today of course, food banks are in constant need of provisions and all the more so with the current COVID-19 crisis.

Back in March, when there were shortages in the supermarkets and the queues were long, I found myself appreciating my food far more. I was grateful for the shop workers, those in the distribution networks, those in food production but, above all, God himself.

Jesus taught that God demonstrates his love to all, even his enemies, by sending rain on both the ‘good and the evil’ and the blessing of his sunshine on both the ‘righteous and unrighteous’. This is what theologians call God’s ‘common grace’ i.e. the undeserved favour that God gives to everyone. There is another type of grace which Christians know as ‘saving grace’. This comes about following the planting of the seed of God’s word in the soil of a man or woman’s heart.

When God speaks his seed-like word into a person’s heart there is the potential for a new kind of living. If the soil of our heart is prepared and the seed of God’s word is embedded and nurtured by our faith, then God promises us a fruitful life to be enjoyed both now as well as in our experience beyond death.

Those truck loads of potatoes, at first glance, looked like lumpy mud! They would need to be washed and sorted out, before continuing on their journey prior to their reaching the dinner table. Jesus, metaphorically speaking, takes soiled men and women such as you and me, washes, sorts and leads us in order to make us fit to be brought to God’s table. This spiritual harvesting is what the message of Jesus Christ is about.