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Advent

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“Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him”  Hebrews 9: 28  The season of Advent marks the beginning of the Church's liturgical year. The four Sundays of Advent are observed in most church traditions and are seen as a preparation for Christmas. All Christmas-related activities begin in churches during this time. For Christians, this signals the shopping, giving, decorating and cooking that comes with the season. But is Advent just a preparation for Christmas? If the Church wanted to focus on the preparation for the celebration of the first coming of our Lord, it could have called it the Christmas season. But we have a separate Christmas season, from Christmas Day to Epiphany. If this is so, how should we think of Advent? Recently, as I was going through the lectionary readings for Advent, I realised that the season is not only a preparation for Christmas, ...
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Working out your doubts

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  “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”  John 20: 25 Thomas doubted the words of his friends who said they had seen the risen Lord. He wanted to see the risen Lord for himself, examine the evidence and then believe. But we usually contrast his refusal to believe with the faith of the other disciples. This is unfair. Mark records that when Mary Magdalene saw Jesus, the disciples who were mourning and weeping did not believe her (Mark 16:10-11). Later, when the disciples on the road to Emmaus reported their encounter with the risen Lord, "they did not believe them" (Mark 16:12-13). Matthew records that even after several appearances just before the ascension, many doubted: "When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted" (Matthew 28:17). Doubt was in the minds of most of the disciples. Even those who believed did not believe because they understood the Script...
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Location: Durham, UK
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Christmas: A Celebration of the Mystery

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Altar Decoration of Sacriston Methodist Church, 2023 "The Word became flesh and lived among us" John 1:14 Christmas is a celebration - a celebration of the miraculous birth of the baby Jesus. Matthew and Luke describe this unique historical event in their Gospels, telling us about various events that took place around the birth of Jesus two thousand years ago.  Our celebration often takes this narrative route. We focus our carols, sermons, decorations, customs, etc. on these events and characters. The themes that emerge from these events and characters are further elaborated by additional layers of tradition that have been added over the centuries. One example is the proliferation of figures around the manger in the nativity scene - the donkey representing Mary's transport to Bethlehem, the three Magi when the Bible only mentions three gifts, and the camels that brought them to Bethlehem.  Another example is the tradition of exchanging gifts to represent God's gift to...
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Location: Durham, UK
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Advent: Time to focus on the child

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  She [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them   - Luke 2: 7   Christmas cards without Christ! In 1954, C.S. Lewis wrote a small satirical essay entitled "Xmas and Christmas" in which he describes the commercialised side of Christmas and calls it the "Exmas Rush" which eventually wears people out and prevents them from celebrating Christmas in a meaningful way. He talks about various practices that are just "commercial racket" that is "forced upon us by the shopkeepers" (What Christmas Means to Me). Taking the example of sending Christmas cards, he says,   “…having bought as many as [the cards] they suppose to be sufficient, they return to their houses and find there the like cards which others have sent them. And when they find cards from any to whom they also have sent cards, they throw them away and give thanks to the gods that this labou...
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Location: Durham, UK
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Generosity of Abraham

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  “By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”  Gen 24: 14   This was a short prayer said by the servant tasked by Abraham to find a suitable wife for his son, Isaac.  The servant, according to the tradition called Eliezer, was asked by Abraham to find the bride from his own family. Eliezer was not told anything more. But when he came to Abraham’s place, he stood near a spring and prayed to God saying, “May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’ – let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac.” (v.14)   Why did Eliezer need to place this unnecessary and hard test to find the bride? Was it not enough just to find a girl from Abraham’s relative? This would have made his job easy. But this test increases the odds against his success.    It is common knowledge that drawing water from a well is difficult, let alone ...
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Location: Durham, UK
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