Chaplaincy Nativity and Carol Service

I'm, sure many of us are missing out on a traditional nativity and carol service this year so we'd like to welcome everyone to our Chaplaincy carol service which you can enjoy from your desk! This will unashamedly mirror the sort of family crib service Andrew and myself might have in our parishes, or maybe the Nativity plays your children or grandchildren have taken part in.

We're going to sing some much loved Christmas carols and hear what happened all those years ago on that first Christmas. We begin with O Little Town of Bethlehem

Let's set the scene for how our story begins.

Luke 2:1-5: In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to register. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.

So the journey has begun, a perfect opportunity to sing Little Donkey.

Our little donkey has taken Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem and Mary is very close to giving birth. Let's see what happens next in the story.

Luke 2:6-7 :While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Now Jesus has been born, not as you’d expect a king to be born in a palace or castle but in the place where the animals sleep. To reflect on that we sing Away in a Manger.

Let's hear about some other unexpected characters who join in the story of that first Christmas.

Luke 2:8-16: In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them: ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another: ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.

As the shepherds have come to worship Jesus we’ll sing our next carol, See Him Lying on a Bed of Straw

Now anyone familiar with the Christmas story knows there are some more guests yet to arrive in Bethlehem. 

Matthew 2:1-2 and Matthew 2:10-12: In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking: ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Of course we now need a carol about the wise men, it has to be We Three Kings

And so that was the first Christmas. Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born and visited by some unlikely guests. But it’s not the end of the story, not by a long way, in fact it's just the beginning. Jesus is going to do amazing things, and Christians believe he still does amazing things in our lives and through our lives. To prepare for some prayer time we sing Silent Night.

Let us pray

Jesus Christ, born in a stable,

Be with the poor and homeless this Christmas time.

As we pray, live and give;

shine your everlasting light.

 

Jesus Christ, born of Mary,

Be with young mothers across the world this Christmas time.

As we pray, live and give;

shine your everlasting light.

 

Jesus Christ, visited by Shepherds,

Be with all who have to work this Christmas, and those who long to work.

As we pray, live and give;

shine your everlasting light.

 

Jesus Christ,

who became a refugee,

Be with those who fear for their lives, and those who have left homes and families this Christmas.

As we pray, live and give;

shine your everlasting light.

Amen.

 

This is the story of our first Christmas. We wish you all a joyful, peaceful Christmas filled with love. As we go back to our work we go with joy in our hearts, singing Joy to the World.

Go in peace,

We go in peace

Go in joy

We go in joy

Go in love

We go in love

Amen.

On the ninth and tenth days of Christmas...contemplate

It's been hard to post the last two days as the sheen of Christmas and the lovely peaceful new year I had faded away and life returned to a semblance of normality, which included two very challenging shifts at work. With so much buzzing in my head after days like this and very little sleep It's difficult to form coherent thoughts, so all I want to do is look, think and be quiet.
These more contemporary images of the nativity give me something to look at and contemplate.

Advent word - Home

Merry Christmas and thank you to anyone who's taken the time to read my blog this advent. I'm always surprised that people do read it- I do it as a way of ensuring I take some time to think and be with God each day.

In the craziness of our lives, remember one thing: that God really does love you, and wants to make a home in your heart just as he made a home in that stable so many years ago.

-Br. James Koester

This is the sermon I preached at midnight mass, based upon Isaiah 9:2-7, Titus 2:11-14 and Luke 2:1-14. It reuses/rejigs part of a sermon on storytelling I wrote in October 2015.

I wonder what your favourite stories were growing up? I loved books as a child, I was always reading. When it came to fiction I loved fantasy and writers who built their own worlds like Narnia, Middlearth and Discworld.
Then there were bible stories- somewhere between fable, myth and reality. I went to Sunday school from being very small so I knew all the bible stories we tell to children, I think my favourite was always the story of Moses’ birth and how his mother saved him, but there were other Old Testament tales such as the Garden of Eden, Noah and David and Goliath. Then there were the gospel stories- feeding the 5000, Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem and of course the Nativity story which we’ve just heard retold.
These stories were part of my childhood, part of me, absolutely ingrained in me. I was really shocked when I went to high school and realised how few of my classmates knew these bible stories. It was just normal to me, going to church and having these tales be part of me, and I’m sure these stories have helped to shape me, my beliefs and my life, just as the stories others grow up with shaped theirs.
Because narrative and story-telling is an incredibly powerful thing. Stories matter. We’re a race of story tellers. Novels, fairy tales, family stories and bible stories. We remember them, we share them, and we pass them on to our children. Our story telling expands far beyond books or even the more ancient tradition of oral storytelling. Our lives are packed with narrative- TV, cinema, DVDs, online streaming, gaming- we may be more often immersed in imagined worlds than the real one. I could probably tell you more about the geography of Discworld than Europe.
Every culture has its important stories, those which are deeply imbedded in our history. They may go some way to encapsulate the core beliefs of that culture or society, family stories may do the same. This is who we are, where we’ve come from, this is what we believe. Stories may reinforce the stereotypes we buy into, or serve to challenge them. The stories our leaders tell us may shape how we view our national identities, and those of other nations.
The Hebrew people - like Mary and Joseph - would have grown up hearing many of the same stories as you and I – Moses, David and Noah. These stories are part of their identity, but I don’t think I had any bible picture books about the prophet Isaiah. There’s familiarity in the Isaiah reading, some of the words are repeated in the new testament and in our Anglican liturgies, and Isaiah is present throughout our Advent journey in the readings.
Isaiah and this narrative or story of the coming messiah would have been as woven into Mary and Joseph’s lives, as the Nativity or resurrection are for us. Children would know them as well as  I knew the stories I learned in Sunday school.
For a child has been born for us,
   a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
   and he is named
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually,
   and there shall be endless peace
Parts of the scripture led to expectations of what kind of a leader the Messiah would be; defeating armies, ruling nations, bringing peace. This saviour would be a great military leader or mighty king and monarch. He’d have to be to save and subdue.
And yet these expectations are completely subverted in the gospels. The expected military leader or political king becomes a prophet, a teacher and a miracle worker, and more than that, what those hearing the stories and prophecies never would have imagined; the Messiah was God. God incarnate. And it all begins here in the manger, helpless and fragile, a fragile, vulnerable God- what a paradox.
Stanley Hauerwas is a writer on the subject of Christian virtue ethics, and he’s a big believer in the power of narrative. He writes that Christianity doesn’t rest on abstract philosophical principles but on these stories, that God has indeed revealed himself narratively in the history of Israel and in the life of Jesus. These stories shape the character of the individuals and communities where they’re still repeated today. We tell and retell the stories in order to maintain our identity and we see the narrative of our lives within this wider story- the bigger picture.
By telling and retelling the stories about Jesus and his life we build that narrative into our lives and try to reflect something of him. But what story do we want to tell? Where do we want to fit in the story? Will the story of our lives be part of the ongoing revelation of the God who has concern for the least, most vulnerable members of our society? Who was born amongst the least, visited by the least? Who subverted that expectation that strength comes through military or political power, showing that true power comes when we make ourselves vulnerable.
What we have woven through the bible is the story of a people wanting to be closer to God, yet continually turning away from him, only to have God always draw closer to them again. Because we don’t in any of these stories get closer to God by any of our actions, it’s always God drawing nearer to us, and never more so than in the gift of the Christ-child.
This is our story. The ultimate story. God comes to us and dwells amongst us, reminding us of the infinite possibilities of life available to us, and we celebrate that in this season of good cheer, gift-giving, and community. And we tell and re-tell the Nativity story, reminding ourselves that God did, does and always will draw near to us.
Our part in the story is to reflect that in the way we live our lives, not being afraid to be vulnerable ourselves, honouring those perceived as being the least and most vulnerable and knowing that true power belongs to God and God alone.

23rd December

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. -Matthew 2:11

The Magi start the tradition of unrealistic gift expectations. We understand the significance of each of the gifts but I'm usually more inclined to ponder upon Christina Rosetti's words:
"What can I give him, poor as I am?"
And the response comes from of my favourite Louis Armstrong songs:
"I can't give you anything but love- it's the only thing I've plenty of!"
Thankfully that's what we should be giving plenty of.

18th December

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” -Luke 2:15

The shepherds have found out about something amazing, through a terrifying and exhilarating experience, so their first thoughts are "erm...that was all a bit weird, better check it out then". They know their experience was a little unusual,  they've been told something amazing in the process. By this stage they're just going with it.

I found this lovely, simple poem which sums things up:

It was like any other night in winter.
We were alert.
The predators are always hungry in these months.
Lamb is always on their menu.
The cold, froze our words.
We were shivering
and then
we were still shivering
but now in fear.
Out of nowhere, well, the sky really,
this amazing light shone.
Day, in the middle of the night!
Shivering, trembling, cowering.
Paralysed.
Nothing to hide behind
–except sheep.
Even Big Jacob was jelly! 
The bright being declared,
“Don’t be afraid,
I’ve come to give you news
of the Christ –
the Messiah.” 
It’s a baby!
In Bethlehem!  
So we bolted for Bethlehem,
The sheep could look after themselves,
for a while.
This news was too good to miss! 
We found a mum, dad and baby,
by a feed trough,
and somehow,
as the mum, Mary
showed the baby to us,
we just knew,
what the angel said was true.
She held God in her hands!
And our lives, and the world,
Would never be the same
again

12th December

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. -Luke 2:8

Something that's been mentioned during my training is how useful the shepherd and pastoral images in the bible are to us today. In context the image makes a lot of sense, it's what the people knew and could relate to, but to us we might only think of shepherds in the context of their place in the nativity.
What image would would work for us today? The shepherds are supposedly at the birth to show this isn't the God of the the rich and privileged but of those at the bottom of the pecking order- in 2015 would the angels be inviting refugees or people vilified for surviving in benefits?
What of the image of a shepherd as one who lives amongst their flock, taking care of their every need? A classroom assistant? Care home worker? Customer service adviser?! I can't think of anything that works quite so well as shepherd.

11th December

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she 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 2:6-7

There's a popular theory in progressive Christianity (the model of Christianity I buy into) that the sin of Sodom is not a sexual sin but (if you read the book of Genesis carefully, and Ezekiel who states it quite plainly) their sin was a lack of hospitality. They had plenty but didn't share it with those in need. If this, as I believe, is the case then being hospitable and sharing with those in need is one of the most important things we can do as it's one of the things God values most.
We know very little about the people or person who took pity on Mary, about to give birth, and Joseph, anxious at her side, but they did something wonderful.
Whilst my husband has been looking for work we've found the most overwhelming generosity of spirit amongst people, sometimes people we don't even know that well. It's a timely reminder that people are good, and often reflections of God in our lives.

10th December

He went there with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. -Luke 2:5

Being heavily pregnant is the worst. Being heavily pregnant when there's important stuff to be done is exhausting - I can't imagine how Mary felt having to travel all that way in that condition.
My first child was born on 11th January so I spent a very uncomfortable Christmas whilst I was expecting her. My son on the other hand was born in the middle of a heatwave - which presents it's own challenges!
Yet pregnancy is one of the most natural and normal things imaginable. It's ordinary. God chose to enter the Wold in the most ordinary way possible.