Generosity and journeying

So the Advent series has drawn to a conclusion - much like the birth of a child: there is much anticipation and climax building and then, when here all must quieten in order for the babe to sleep. It is a time for even more pondering...

Over the last four weeks I have travelled with the excellent people of Stewardship on their #adventwonder series and on the way we have paused to wonder about angels, shepherds, innkeepers, gifts, Mary, Joseph, and so much more that fills the story of anticipation and arrival of the Messiah. I have deliberately set aside time to wonder about all of these aspects (I've been assisted at times by also using a little book called 'C is for Christmas' (Wiersbe and Wiersbe)) and I have become rich for the experience. My preparation for advent and Christmas itself in times past has often been the place for commenting 'I just don't feel Christmassy yet!' - on this journey I felt ready physically, emotionally and spiritually for the joyous celebration of Christ's coming to earth. I am truly grateful for the opportunity and the journeying with my friends across the world who have used the same way by using #adventwonder.

Thanks for travelling with me! (See you in February for #40acts !)

It's a birthday!

Tomorrow is Jesus' birthday (possibly not the real date but we don't really know), yesterday was Jack's birthday (also possibly not the real date as his parents were given the choice of 23rd or 24 th because he was born on the stroke of midnight).

Tomorrow we will celebrate Jesus' birthday with gifts and a big meal.

Yesterday we celebrated Jack's birthday with gifts and a big meal.

Jesus spent a lot of time with his friends.

Jack spends a lot of time with his friends.

It really feels good having Jesus in my family as well as Jack!

When Jesus was born the Bible say that Mary 'pondered' upon that which had gone on: angels, shepherds, stables and the like. We have no record of her thoughts but that she took time to think.

When Jack was born he was the third child (a fourth was to follow). We took care of him as any parent would, we wanted the best for him. That takes a lot of 'pondering' for any parent. The balance of aspiration and reality.

These days we are so proud of who Jack is. His character and personality are warm and friendly, he make friends easily, he is good company, he has great taste in music, he is a phenomenal drummer. Some of those things we thought about a long time ago - some we didn't.

I can't help but wonder what thoughts were in Mary's mind as she held that baby in a borrowed shed...

Maybe I should spend more time myself wondering about her baby as well as mine...

Bread for Today

Today I am wondering about bread.

One thing I really enjoy is baking. I have a pretty small repertoire but I can produce a pretty good cake - in fact yesterday before breakfast knocked up a chocolate Swiss roll and turned it into a Yule log which impressed Catheime no end!

However my attempts at bread making are not so successful at all. If the lock builders yard runs out of house bricks I can supply them straight from the oven! Bread is such a basic commodity that when Jesus taught his disciples how to pray daily bread was the practical prayer he made.

Fortunately I can go to a supermarket and buy the bread I cannot bake - but I'm the blessed one. I have money, ability, and freedom to do so. Not everyone ia blessed in this way. 

Today I will be looking at my funds to consider if there is a charity or individual I can help to receive their duly bread. Christmas is a time when many people over indulge - I want to ensure it'ss a time when all people can eat bread at the very least.

It's a mystery

With Christmas only a matter of days away for most of us the focus is on preparation. Even the simplest Christmas requires some preparing. Whether it is food to be bought, gifts to be wrapped or rooms to be readied for the visitors who will arrive soon activity is the order of the day.

In the midst of the activity there is little opportunity to pause, stop, reflect on the mystery of Christs birth.

Yet mystery it is. 

Why should God wrap himself up as a scrap of humanity?

Why would he do this via a betrothed teenager in what we now call the Middle East?

Why would he choose a stable for his arrival?

Or shepherds as his first visitors?

Why would wise men bring such bizarre gifts as gold, frankincense and myrrh?

There is mystery here - and wonder- wrapped in faith and hope. Don't be so active that you miss the mystery of Bethlehem.

Baggage and Fear

Baggage and fear.

Two things that get carried through Advent and grow at the same time. Today I am caused to wonder about these twins - through the story on the edge of the Christmas tale, that of Herod.

Here is a man that carries both baggage and fear: the baggage of being a roman puppet king, the fear that his power could disappear any moment, the baggage of personal failure in relationships and the fear that those who come to him might undermine his position - and no doubt many other things beside. His holding on and his terror causes him to enact a wicked law which leads to the slaughter of innocents. No wonder we tend to skip over this part of the narrative. I find myself having to pause at this point as our own news media have brought the story in recent days of the slaughter of innocents in a Pakistani school. Our hearts stop at this horror - our anger rises at the perpetrators. An act committed out of fear and the weight of assumed religious responsibility. A mourners simple placard reminds us that "Terror is not a faith".

In being drawn into the first or twenty first century story it would be easy to ignore baggage and fear on a personal level.

I wonder how many people carry the baggage of expectation this season? Someone expects them to behave in a particular way - maybe it's the friends who expect riotous behaviour from the mild, maybe it's a selfish spouse who expects more than can be given, maybe it is baggage from childhood that makes this time of year a burden. 

And what about fear? There are those that fear the actions of those close to them that over indulge, there is fear for some in every purchase and every keying in of their credit card PIN number - knowing they will never afford this Christmas.

The essence of advent, the sense of Christmas is in love - and perfect loves throws fear into the rubbish bin. The astronomers seek the one born King of the Jews in order to lavish Him with worship and their love; Jesus in sent into the world to show how much God lives the world.

His perfect love casts out fear, releases the baggage and leads to the most beautiful freedom of spirit imaginable.

Listen...

I When I woke this morning just before six o'clock - my normal time for getting up - I start a conversation with God. He said to me 'just listen'. I tried to rationalise with Him but he said again 'listen'. And so I went to my normal place to pray, didn't do the things I normally do but just listened.

God reminded me of the importance of hearing Him. He brings a message of peace and of challenge. He brings comfort and, in the right way, disturbance.

I felt a little bit like Zecharaiah who was placed in a position of only being able to listen until he named his son John.

I felt a little like Joseph who listened to the voice of an angel to reassure him that his life was to be changed beyond imagining.

I felt like a shepherd in the darkness of the night having my normality changed and presented with the chance to witness God at work.

I felt like a disciple hearing 'come and follow me'.

My 'Advent wondering' has taken me many places in the last three weeks or so. To 'just' listen is a place I must visit more often...

Who's coming for Christmas ?

Christmas is about 'gathering'. The coming together of generations of families to celebrate the Holy Family.

Advent is about anticipation and waiting with expectation.

There is a romantic notion that Joseph and the heavily pregnant Mary made a lonely way to Bethlehem across windswept plains and through lonely streets. This is depicted in film and on cards - the stranger born in a manger.

I suspect that the truth was quite different - Joseph was heading to Bethlehem because there was a census to be held. Everyone had to be registered in their 'own town' so the whole family made their way to Bethlehem. Parents and children would have gathered en route to travel together to the placebos census. Every step bringing conversation and expectation of meeting up with those in the family who had not been seen for a long time. The Roman imposed census had presented the very family oriented people with an opportunity to get together. 

Christmas still does that - we have an opportunity to gather together once again, generation with generation, brother and sister, cousin, grandparent - even those who are unrelated are welcomed in...

Every year across the world the Advent of Salvation is acted out in our homes. And we miss the significance!

When Jesus came he came into community, he created community.

When we gather together unwittingly we are doing the same - we are recognising family bonds, the love that holds us together and, at the same time, welcoming in those who have no bloodline with us but share a relationship.

Christ's coming was for the family of the Jewish nation - and ultimately embraced the whole community of humankind.

Who are you welcoming into the community of your family this advent? 

A star; Promoted to Glory

I normally come to blogging, especially in Advent, with a definite lightness in my heart and hands. This is tinged today with the knowledge that over the last few days I have received news of numerous people who have ministered within the Salvation Army who have, as we say, been "Promoted to Glory". Today my thoughts king the star of the East will blend with my thoughts on these people.

As a child I used to love looking at the night sky, the 'space race' was very much part of my early years. I remember the Apollo missions (just) and recall the excitement of looking to the heavens with my white telescope and 'Observers Book of Astronomy' with the hope that I would have a vague idea of what was going on up there! I can still identify numerous constellations and even explain why some planets appear to go backwards occasionally. Looking at the night sky on a daily basis reminds me that this is a map of the universe with fixed points - never changing.

Which is why a star that stands still to guide men of wisdom fills me with wonder. A star should be moving with the rest of the universe. A star should twinkle in the back ground not point to a baby in a manger, directing the seekers.

My life has been full of 'stars' giving me direction, unfailing, full of faith, pointing the way to that same child in the manger.

And not only me but countless others - numberless as the stars in the night sky - individuals being so fixed on one point that they were people of integrity and direction. And the point they have been fixed upon is the one who was pointed to by that star - over the years, in his name, they have served as Salvation Army Officers and clothed the naked, fed the hungry, welcomed strangers and pointed the way to Jesus. Some have done this through practical service, leadership writing of music, leading of worship.

It is with a real sense of wonder that I give thanks for these people - and all who still direct towards Jesus. I pray that I will be a 'star' too.

Did you get everything?

When I was about nine years old there was one thing that I wanted for Christmas. I made sure it went on my list: a super safe.

In these days of iPhones and Playstations etc a money box that looked like a safe complete with tumbler lock doesn't seem much - but it was what I really wanted. 

Christmas morning came and, as usual, we made our way down stairs to see in the glow of the fire what had been left for us overnight. The coloured paper, the ribbons, boxes large and small, the twinkling lights on the tree and the wonderful aroma of the fruit that had been placed in the room overnight: this sensory richness was the introduction for the opening of presents. Being the youngest I would start, my sister, Linda next and so on. We had wonderful gifts that year, presents that took your breath away! So many things we had asked for and got - and more besides. My parents always ensured we had a happy Christmas. It was wonderful! The memory as vivid now as the experience was then.

A few hours of happy playing, eating, eating and playing and we got to Christmas dinner. Once again the senses were almost overwhelmed.

After Lunch my mum asked 'did you get everything you wanted?' 'Oh yes!' Chimed Linda and I, no doubt thanking profusely at the same time. 'Are you sure?' '...erm, ...yes?' 'What about this?' 

A final present was produced and handed to me: before I took the wrapping off I knew what it was: the Super Safe! My joy, and my Christmas wish list was complete!

Now there are a number of things that make me wonder here: the brilliant childhood that I had, truly happy, with my parents pulling out every stop to ensure we had a great time not only at Christmas but throughout the year. it can't have been easy - but they showed us such great love. I am filled with wonder and thankfulness.

Then there's the richness of Christmas reflecting the richness of that first morning in Bethlehem - assaulting the senses in a different yet no less powerful way.

What strikes me most when I wonder about this memory is my own selfishness. The gift that I thought so valued was completely forgotten in the generosity I received. Too easily are we swayed from our own thoughts and values and swept along with the excitement / drama of what is going on around us.

Over the 41 years after this event there have been times when I have been overwhelmed by what is going on to the point of distracting me from important issues- because I was focusing on myself.

I pray it is a practice I have left behind.

Ethical Christmas

I expected to be writing about Joseph this morning, however, as I prepared for the day through my devotions I was turned in a completely different direction: ethical Christmas Shopping...

A few weeks ago I was looking for something 'smart but cool' to wear ( for those that know me, you will realise that this is not a style that comes naturally to me) and felt that I had found the very things - but they were in an ethically dubious shop... What to do? The price was in my budget, they were available, they fitted my 'style requirements'...

Our normal practice in my family is to start with the charity shops, we've bagged many bargains over the years, saving literally hundreds of pounds. When we shop for gifts for others we normally focus on small independent local traders, a unique gift that is helping an individual as well as fulfilling our requirements is an extra special present. We even support the Salvation Army through the Secret Santa in the office. Ethical shopping is part of our general make up.

How do we know, however, that everyone in the production and supply chain is being treated fairly? Who defines what is 'fair' anyway? I could go shopping iPad in hand to check the ethical statement of every company but to be truthful I would just be in the way and take a lot of time.

As I wonder about this issue I reassure myself that I take an appropriate stand but also that I could do more - and will do more - not only at Christmas but throughout the year as well. A habit established regularly will surely equip anyone better than a simple seasonal adjustment...

And, if you were wondering, no I didn't buy the clothes. Like a wise man from the East I returned home by a different route.

On a journey...

I suspect that on every reality show on TV the phrase 'I've been on an amazing journey' is heard more than once. I always hear and think "what a stupid thing to say!". This morning I have been wondering about this phrase as part of my reflecting on Advent - which is a journey of hope and discovery. 

In order for their to be a journey you need to move from commencement to destination, passing through "touch-points" or staging posts along the way. Most journeys are not a simple straight line, and this journey through Advent is no different.

As we travel towards Bethlehem and the arrival of the Messiah we travel through uncharted territory such as the existence and belief in angels, the prospect of a virgin birth and the vague possibility that Jesus was born in a cave not a wooden stable. These, and many others, cause us to stop, pause, reflect and move on. If we don't then the journey falters or possibly ends there and then.

Some things we need to take more time over, or return to, so that we can understand them a little better - it's not a straight road without detour, twist or turn. It is a journey of faith.

In fact our own journey of faith in Jesus is equally meandering and turning as we are challenged by His teaching, the giving of and use of Spiritual gifts, whether we display Spiritual fruits, how we live in community, whether my worship is about my preference or my motivation. Our hope rises and falls, our adoration likewise. We walk the road less travelled so there are few to help us on our way.

Perhaps a little Advent gift we could treat ourselves to is to find a travelling partner - or acknowledge the ones we already have - because travelling with a companion is always more pleasurable than travelling without.

If the reality contestants have experienced many or any of these feelings then maybe they are right - they have been on a journey.

Have you?

Lost things

Listening this morning to a devotional on sheep I was driven to thinking about the fact that the first people that are recorded as visiting Jesus, when he was born, were shepherds.

My recollection is that shepherds were not in the high class of society, not well to do, not even regarded as working class even - they were the roughest of the rough and the toughest of the tough. Frequently smelly, often without other friends, they were almost social lepers because of how they made their living.

I remember when we lived in London, leading a large Salvation Army Church, we had a drop in morning on a Thursday when anyone could come and have a drink and a chat, watch some television, or simply stay warm. Our youngest son was not yet old enough to go to school and so he came along with us almost wherever we went. These men - and one or two wome - became his friends. Often they were estranged from their own families and so the presence of a child was something they rarely encountered. As he played with his toys and talked to them he had his own ministry of innocence to them.

After a couple of years, when he had started school, he was taken on a school visit when he had to walk with his class to the destination. Following the trip the school contacted us concerned because he talked to everyone and went out of line to speak to the 'tramps'. We told the school that we trusted them to keep him safe, as we had done, but that these people were his friends and we could no more discourage him from talking to them than we could stop him playing football in the playground with his playmates (ironically the school managed to prevent the latter in due course!).

In a child's innocence is repeated the action of the Messiah. The lost, the last, the least and the lonely are welcome - in fact they are sought after by angels to come and worship.

As I #adventwonder this morning I can't help but think that I may have not been as intentional in seeking the lost as I could have been.

The Gift of Giving

My friends at Stewardship who run the #adventwonder programme threw me a bit of a curve ball this morning.

Their message today is about angels and how they were used to give the message of the birth of John the Baptist and then Jesus, how they spoke to the shepherds, how they could not help but reflect the glory of God such was the wonder of this message. Then they sucker punch me by turning this on it's head and challenging me about giving. Nice move - didn't see that coming! And it did challenge me significantly.

You see in my ministry knew of the things I have to do is challenge people about their giving - never comfortable but very necessary. The challenge is one that I take to myself, but when you hear it coming from elsewhere it has added power.

I'm not thinking here of my gift giving at this time of year - I try to be generous and thoughtful (especially to my wife who has a birthday four days after Christmas: always difficult to make it special). No, this giving is about my regular contribution to my church and other important worthy causes, generally charities.

I try to work towards giving a tithe (10%) but often miss the mark.

I try to support charities that are underfunded but often misjudge.

I try to support young people who go on mission trips but often they've been and gone before I know it.

I try to give cheerfully but, honestly, sometimes I do so begrudgingly.

And that last one is the key - the attitude of giving is as important as the amount. In real terms there are some occasions that to give more financially would put my family at risk (The Lord may love a cheerful giver but He also expects we will pay our heating and lighting bills and feed our children). But a generous attitude in giving what I can is about the motivation, and this is the spirit of the angels: sent to give a message to smelly shepherds in a draughty field, they could not help but praise God in the highest!

I am focusing on my attitude of giving as well as the amount of my giving - and that includes time and talents as well as financially. 

Thanks for the reminder!

Can I borrow your cave?

Can I borrow your...cave?

Really? Borrow my cave? What's this got to do with #adventwonder?

Everything!

Jesus was born in a cave on the edge of Bethlehem. No great surprise there - the farming folk and the livestock owners used the caves to store all sorts of things, including the life stock etc yes it was a stable - but it was a stable created from nature. And it was borrowed, or probably freely given out of desperation, by an innkeeper (possibly also a family member - don't forget that Joseph had to go to his ancestral town of origin) who didn't want the highly expectant and about to deliver Mary making his own dwelling ritually unclean by giving birth there - he had no rooms anyway! Add to that the fact that the cave would have been one of the cleanest places to take the fragile Mary to give birth because it was regularly cleaned and swept (not sure whether they used disinfectant) because the animals that normally inhabited the space were a precious commodity. You look at any farm today when the animals are out of the barn or the stables they get really cleaned!

The cave, borrowed, was the obvious place - the best place - for Jesus to be born. 

Humble, utilitarian, unadorned.

And how does the world celebrate this ?

I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions (but I #adventwonder if we will ever really understand Christ's coming without equally remembering that he left earthly life in the same way: wrapped in cloths in a borrowed cave...)

Waiting, anticipating...

Today I found myself wondering about Anna, the lady who spent time day after day at the temple in order to see the Messiah when he came.

There's a lady with a life full of hope - elderly and yet still looking forward with anticipation! Can you imagine her joy when it was confirmed to get that the baby she saw in his mothers arms was the prophesied Messiah?

Advent is all about waiting, patiently anticipating.

Waiting...

Anticipating...

Waiting...

Anticipating...

For Anna this took more than eighty years.

Catherine, my wife, doesn't like to queue, she is not blessed with patience, neither is she a great anticipator - yet she is full of faith and hope. I have learned from her to wait and anticipate things that are worth waiting for, the things not of this earth but the things of faith. She knows through discernment when it is time to see God at work and this she does actively.

This is where Anna comes in - she 'waited actively'. Watching all the time.

My #adventwonder today, inspired by two women of faith one ancient and one modern, one old and one young, is to wait actively on The Lord and to dwell in his house forever.

Angels with bagpipes

Nine years ago, while shopping for an advent wreath in North London, we received a telephone call asking if there was any reason why we could not take a ministry appointment in North Scotland (for perspective remember that, at the time, we had three sins in education, one had recently started a job, they were part of a large, young church in the suburbs of the most exciting city in the world). Almost without hesitation our reply was 'yes, of course'. It was a response that changed all of our lives - I am sure for the better. Within a few minutes I sat with coffee in my hand in the restaurant (it was a Garden Centre after all - not much about plants but lots of books, furniture, and Yankee candles) and let the news sink in to my heart and mind as I discussed it with Catherine. We resolved the next day to do what we always did  on a Wednesday morning - we would walk across Hampstead Heath from Kenwood to Parliament Hill Fields and pray and talk the issue through.

The next day duly comes and we did exactly that. This was a walk we took almost every week for a five year period of our lives, we frequently saw the same people and the same sounds. But this week was different. This week someone else turned up: an angel playing bagpipes! Yes, in the middle of our walk we started to hear the sound of the pipes and as we reached the brow as you approach the bandstand on the heath there, ahead of us, was an individual in highland dress playing the pipes. 

We had never witnessed this before, and we never saw or heard him again, but this day looking for surety about a move to Scotland an angel reassured us that we would be fine - simply by his presence.

My Advent Wonder today is about angels - we get to meet them when we are unaware, they herald the goodnews (of the Gospel not just of appointment changes), they reassure.

I wonder if I have missed an angel at some point when God has sent one? I wonder if Zechariah, Joseph, Mary and the shepherds could possibly have missed this wonderful visitation?

I wonder if you may have missed God's reassurance as well....

(It's also #givingtuesday - be an angel and be generous to those around you today- an early gift, a compliment, the giving of time, go on!)

His mother's son

The Magnificat is Mary's song. 'My soul magnifies The Lord...' She sings when she visits her older and, oh so different, cousin Elizabeth. This performance of joy, this exclamation of blessedness comes from a young woman, barely more than a child because something has happened to her that, by all rights, should end in her public disgrace and stoning.

A few years ago a read a first hand account of this practice from one of the modern day eastern countries. It is a barbaric practice visited on those women who live a life away from the holy writings of the country. It is both public spectacle and religious warning - 'act in this way and this is the outcome'. The man, I believe generally gets a slap on the wrist. 

With this in my mind I read the account of Mary and Elizabeth again... Mary's life is in danger before she has really lived but, and this is the thing that has really made me be filled with wonder, she is not only able to be composed about the whole thing she performs a song to praise God in the presence of her cousin who is the epitome of religious and social conformity.

My moment of #adventwonder has stirred in me the desire to look for and rejoice in the most extreme circumstances and decisions of this season. To observe, and even experience, adversity and see it as a blessing, to focus specific prayers for those who could not publicly declare their faith, and for those young girls who find themselves 'with child' and are full of fear of the reactions of others.

For myself, in this moment, My soul magnifies The Lord.