'The gift of God, come down to man...' - Advent Day 8

But the skies were filled, with the praise of heav'n,
Shepherds listen as the angels tell
Of the Gift of God, come down to man
At the dawning of Immanuel

A popular and tragic theme of many romances is that of the lover who will never yield themselves.  They will treat their other half with respect and shower them with a myriad of presents, but there is always something held back. Over time, this absence becomes a crushing sorrow upon the other, until they finally let out that cry – ‘I don’t want your gifts…I want you!'

What if God was to treat us like that? What if He gave all the things we can often think He should give to us – a comfortable life, a stable society, an end to suffering – but withheld Himself? We’d be spiritually empty, and ultimately no better off than in our struggles, for God Himself is our greatest need. The great news of Christmas is that God has given Himself in Jesus Christ! His name is Immanuel – God with us. The tragedy of separation from God is over, and the angels cannot but proclaim it to those wandering shepherds.

We give presents at Christmas time in replication of the gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh bought as homage to Jesus by the wise men. But they speak of a deeper gift – ‘the Gift of God, come down to man’. So there is no place for living like the wilted lover before God, for He has offered Himself to us all. The question is, will we accept Him?  

From the squalor of a borrowed stable - Stuart Townend

'Heaven was filled with His praises' - Advent Day 7 reflection

                                    One day when heaven was filled with His praises,

                                    One day when sin was as black as could be –

                                    Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin.

What was life like for Jesus before his virgin birth? Scripture tells us that Jesus had always been with the Father, that all things were created through Him and that all heaven indeed was filled with his praises. Any serious meditation on this point leads swiftly to the heart of Trinitarian thought – that Jesus was forever the second person of the Godhead, and thus truly God Himself. This brings into sharp focus the colossal gap between Jesus’ station in Heaven and His remote, lowly birth on Earth.

The one who was worshipped by angels humbled himself to dwell in a human womb, to walk for 33 years on the Earth and to submit himself to crucifixion, all for the sake of bringing humans back to God. Today’s song – an epic contemporary reworking of a classic American hymn – dwells on the wonder of these truths, and also what followed, namely Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and His future advent as our glorious king.

It can be easy at Christmas time to think of Jesus only as a baby, but in doing this we rob ourselves of much of the wonder of the advent message. For it was God himself who came to Earth over 2000 years ago, a truth that demands to be reckoned with by us all.

One Day When Heaven (Glorious Day) - words by J Wilbur Chapman, additional words and music by Casting Crowns

'He, whom angels worship...': Advent day 6 reflection

I cannot tell why He, whom angels worship,
Should set His love upon the sons of men.

Consider again that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was incarnated as a human in the womb of Mary that first Christmas time. What do we make of such a thing? We could be amazed that such a thing ever happened. We could overflow with hope that the Messiah has come. We could be filled with confidence that God came to be with us. Or we could simply be without words at the wonder of it all – ‘I cannot tell…’

Yet the writer of these lines tells us two very important things to hold onto when considering the Christmas story: not to forget the great glory of Jesus before he came to Earth (‘whom angels worship’), and that his incarnation was an incredible act of love towards humans. And not merely sentimental love, but a love that said ‘I will give up all of this glory, dwell in the womb of a virgin and be born in a filthy stable for the sake of those who rejected God, to bring them back again’.

In our festivities, let us not miss out on the richness of Jesus’ love for us that the Christmas story displays.

I Cannot Tell Why He, Whom Angels Worship - words by William Young Fullerton

'Emmanuel shall come to ye...' - Advent Day 5 reflection

                        Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

                        Shall come to ye, O Israel.

Enduring an unwanted separation from a person – be it a child, a partner or a friend – is hard load to bear. And when we ourselves are partially or wholly responsible for that separation, this intensifies to often oppressive levels of sorrow. This was the prevailing spiritual climate in Israel in the years leading up to the birth of Jesus.

Israel, a nation chosen out of obscurity to bear the light of God to the world, had strayed far from their purpose. The knowledge of God’s presence with them had almost vanished. Those looking for something better were deeply troubled by this, and needed to hear the promise of Emmanuel – a name that means ‘God with us’. In the coming of Jesus, this promise was fulfilled.

Jesus, our Emmanuel, came to the Earth so that all people could know God with them. Jesus is with those people who seek him now. Jesus shall come again, and dwell forever with His people.  Emmanuel has come to us and healed that greatest and most devastating separation, the separation of God and man. Rejoice indeed!

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

'A day of freedom...' : Advent day 4 reflection

There is a day that all creation's waiting for;
A day of freedom and liberation for the Earth.

Longing. Perhaps there is no more commonly shared feeling amongst humans than longing. And perhaps there is no emotion harder to get a handle on – our longings are often indescribable, irrational and untraceable…yet undeniably real. What are we to do with this powerful force within, that so often seems unfulfilled? To keep us from turmoil, the sensible thing would be to subject such longings to a stoic realism, to lower our sights and board a carefully balanced craft of scepticism and light entertainment to pilot us through life. 

Yet Christmas refuses to allow such thoughts; the scrooge and the Grinch are lionised, decorations erupt with colour and light, and the festive spirit flows in abundance. The authentic root of this joy?  The stunning news of the Advent message that there is something better coming and our longings can be met. Indeed the Bible tells that not just human longings, but the longings of the whole universe will be met on the day of Jesus’ Second Advent. It will truly be ‘a day of freedom and liberation for the Earth’.

This song, by contemporary band Phatfish, extols us not to sacrifice our longings on the altar of ‘getting by’, but rather to ‘lift our eyes to the things yet unseen’. May it be so with us this Christmas time.

There is a day - words by Nathan Fellingham.

'God appears on Earth to reign': Advent day 3 reflection

‘God appears on earth to reign’

We’ve considered a little already the remarkable facts of Jesus’ first advent, his mission to overturn ‘curse’ and that his birth on Earth was announced as a great blessing to humans. But how? Through what means was God going to achieve these things? The answer is quite simple – God was going to re-establish His reign on Earth through Jesus.

Did it work? That we still see so much suffering, distress, faction and discord over 2,000 years after Jesus’ advent can tempt us to dismiss God out of hand, and certainly any notion of ‘success’ in overturning the curse of this world. But that is to have too small a vision, for ‘God’s appearing on Earth to reign’ is not yet fully complete, which is why today’s carol – Charles Wesley’s masterful ‘Lo! He comes with clouds descending’ – focuses unashamedly on Jesus’ return to Earth in the future. This will complete the work of restoration began in Bethlehem all those years ago.

But where does that leave us today? The good news is that the project is not ‘on hold’. Jesus is the Lord today, and God calls all humans to believe on Jesus as Lord and our lives to be a genuine response to this. Amidst the sorrows and evils of today, there is still much blessing being countenanced to us through Jesus. So are we prepared this Christmas season– like Mary – to humble our hearts to receive our Lord and his blessings?

Lo! He comes with clouds descending - words by Charles Wesley. The lyrics can be found if you click on the 'show more' button under the video description.

'To children's children...' : advent day 2 reflection

                        Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord

                        to children’s children and forever more!

These are the closing lines to Timothy Dudley-Smith’s working of the Magnificat. The Magnificat is the adopted name of a song recorded in the Bible (Luke 1:46-56), sung by Mary as she learned she would, as a virgin, bear the one who would be called Jesus, the Son of God. The contrast between the proclamations about Jesus – “He shall be great, and shall be called Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David” – and the lowly station of Mary is astonishing. For Mary was a young girl without children in a social, cultural and spiritual backwater, about as far from fame as one could get. Yet God, in his wisdom, chose her to be the bearer of the Lord Jesus. Incredible as it seems, the hope of all humans took up home in a virgin’s womb. It tells of the wider wonder of the incarnation – that the Son of God would take on flesh and live upon the Earth. Great is the Lord indeed that such things are so!

Christmas is a great season for story telling. Family stories, funny stories, heart warming stories. The films and the sitcoms go to town, and the tap of festive entertainment never runs dry. This reflects that there is an old, deep and true Christmas story to be told ‘to children’s children and forever more’. Let us make it our goal this Advent season to tell of that first Noel, the hope that it brings still today and the greatness of the Lord in effecting such wonders.

"Tell out, my soul" - words by Timothy Dudley-Smith, after Luke 1:46-56.