Joy to the world?

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Now, in common with a lot of people, Paul was in the habit of putting the things that he thought were most important at the beginning of his lists. In this case, the emphasis is on the instruction to “Rejoice always”. One of the reasons that I think that this is the case, is that joy seems to have been a particularly important idea to Paul, and one that he valued very highly in the church at Thessalonica. In the very first paragraph of the letter, he wrote, “... you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers... ”1:6-7.

Now, I have to say that this is an instruction that I struggle with. How can I rejoice always when the world is in such a mess? How can I rejoice always when people that I love are ill or in pain? How can I rejoice always when people are losing their jobs and are afraid that they will lose their homes? Isn't it just insensitive and unrealistic?

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Weary at Christmas?

I wonder if you are feeling weary today? I know that I am, a little.

I think it might be worth naming some of those things that might be making us feel weary.

They might be health problems, either our own or those of people we are close to. Worry about finances, and how we're going to pay the bills this winter. Concern for children or grandchildren who don't know Jesus. The many ongoing tasks of keeping home and family fed, clothed, clean. The expectation of the Christmas season: presents to be bought, people to be entertained, church services to go to. Grief that won't leave us alone.

It seems to me that the things that make us weary are things that go on for a long time. They wear us out, wear us down, wear through us.

It is with these things in mind that we come to the promises of God we have heard read today.

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Suspended

Tom is very excited. His dad has been away from home for what seems like forever. But, he is coming home today. All week Tom has been counting down the number of sleeps left before it will be the day that Dad is coming home. At school Tom has been telling his friends about how great his Dad is, taller than their Dads, the best Dad in the whole world, and he's coming home. In show and tell on Friday morning Tom stood up and told the whole class about how he was going with his mum to the station to meet his Dad, his Dad who is coming home.

He woke up at five o'clock this morning and has been asking every ten minutes if it's time to go and catch the bus yet. On the bus he chatters on excitedly to his mum about all the things that he and his dad are going to do now that he's coming home. The other passengers overhear and smile to themselves.

Tom is sitting on a bench, on the platform, holding his mum's hand, his feet swinging. Suddenly the train swishes alongside the platform and it's all hustle and bustle, lots of people getting on and off. Where's Tom's dad?

There's a man coming towards them, it looks a bit like his dad, but he's shorter than Tom remembers, and he's limping a bit. Tom's mum stands up, but Tom ducks behind her legs, unsure, of the man and of himself. The man comes up to his mum and kisses her, softly and so tenderly, a kiss that Tom has not seen for a long time. His Dad is home.

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Exiled

Happy New Year. You might think that this is a bit of an odd thing to say, but we're in church, and the church can be a bit odd. One of the ways that it is odd, is that the church year begins about four weeks before Christmas, on the first Sunday of Advent, which is today. During this four weeks we do two things. Firstly we begin to remember the time when Jesus first came to live with us as a man. Secondly, we look forward to, and prepare for, Jesus' return.

To help us think about these things, I'd like to explore the idea of exile a little bit.

I wonder what makes you feel at home. When I say, “home”, what is it that comes to mind. It might be a place, a house you grew up in, or a room in a house that fits you and you fit it. It might be the city or neighbourhood where you know the people and the people know you. It might be the country that your ancestors lived in, a country where you can buy the food you grew up with, easily. It might be particular people, friends and family. Whichever of these apply to you, home is the place where you can be yourself and know yourself to be valued and loved.

Exile is the opposite of home. Living in exile means being in a place that is unfamiliar, where you feel isolated, threatened, and lonely. Exile is being far from home.

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Advent 4 - Mary

During Advent, this time of waiting and preparation before Christmas, our services have been themed around, “The Return of the King”. We started by thinking about the quality of our wait for the return of our King, Jesus. Are we fearful, unsure what to expect, or expectant and focussed. We went on to start thinking about our level of activity during the wait. The story of John the Baptist showed us that we are to be waiting actively, preparing the way, in our own hearts and in the world. Last week, in the context of the Christingle service, we saw that part of that preparation is for us to be Christ’s light in the world.

Today is the last Sunday of Advent, and we’re going to look at another aspect of the preparation of the way, in our hearts and in the world.

As we heard in the reading we are taking our example from Mary, the mother of Jesus. Although we are reading this story on the Sunday before Christmas Day, she would have had this experience 9 months ago. She has been waiting and preparing for the birth of her son since then, and probably is by now even more impatient for Christmas Day than we are.

The brief dialogue we have heard started Mary’s time of waiting and helped to sustain her through that wait and preparation for Jesus’ birth, and I believe that it can help to sustain us through our wait and preparation for Jesus’ return.

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Advent 4 - Joseph

They say that you wait ages for a bus to come along, and then two come along together. Well, here I am again for the second time in a month and, not only that, it’s the same Sunday as I talked on last year, The last Sunday of Advent, the last Sunday before Christmas. Last year, the reading focussed on Mary, and I felt fairly out of my depth trying to identify with a 15 year old, unmarried, newly pregnant, woman. This year, the reading focuses on Joseph, which, on the face of it puts me in a better starting position. If it weren’t for the fact that Joseph was in a fairly unusual situation.

Let’s walk this through. Joseph was a righteous man, a just man. So why didn’t he have Mary stoned? How would you feel? Your fiancé comes to you and says she’s pregnant, but you know you haven’t slept with her, and not only that but she says and angel told her it was from God.

I’d be devastated, angry, lashing out, vindictive. And the law says, in Deuteronomy that Joseph would have been well within his rights to have her stoned. But he didn’t. Not because he was merciful, but because he was just.

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