'Light of Light' - Advent Day 13

God of God, Light of Light,
Lo! he abhors not the Virgin’s womb;
Very God, Begotten not created;

There are some things that cannot mix, oil and water for example. There are other things, such as love and hate, which are in such antipathy to each other that when they meet they invariably clash. Then there are things that we detest when they do meet, for example children and Class-A drugs.

Given the gulf that exists between God and humankind due to our turning from Him, we should not be surprised if the meeting of the two would be either impossible, result in a violent war or be an abhorrent spectacle to behold. The joyful news of Christmas is that this is, in fact, not the case and that God Himself in Jesus Christ took up residence in the womb of Mary. The Light of Light dwelt in the dark of a human! The uncreated One was incarnated into the creation!

What more can be said or sung about such mind-blowing truths than ‘O Come, let us adore Him, Christ our Lord!’

O Come, all ye faithful - words by John Francis Wade. 

'The soul felt it's worth' - Advent Day 12

                        Long lay the world, in sin and error pining

                        ‘Till he appeared, and the soul felt its worth.

What is more joyful than watching something come alive? To hear the first cry of a newborn, to see the virgin rays of dawn or to watch the unfurling of a flower. But even more satisfying is seeing a person come alive, be this through pursuing a passion, reconciling with an old friend or discovering fresh purpose.

Stories are often a catalyst to this process, which is one reason why films are so popular – at their best they lead to self-reflection and offer a vision of a better, higher self. The Christmas story is one such story, and it brings us alive in the profoundest sense. This is captured in these lines from ‘O Holy Night’, that speak of a bleak landscape of woe being shattered by the appearance of Christ. But what does it mean for ‘the soul to feel its worth’?

It means recognising that in our deepest being we were made to know and enjoy God and His glory; it means recognising that through our choice of pride we have surrendered that magnificent soul call; and it means recognising that only in Jesus Christ can we truly come alive once again.

O, Holy Night - from the French hymn by Placide Cappeau

'If I were a shepherd...' - Advent Day 11

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

Imagine you live in a town ruled by enemies. You live in constant fear of exploitation and cruelty; you know any hint of rebellion will be met with fierce vengeance; the fabric of your community is decaying by the second. After enduring this for what seems an age, your town is unexpectedly liberated by allied forces in a daring counterstrike. What is your reaction? Overwhelming thankfulness, of course. But how can you thank them enough? You can’t. What can you return to them in the measure they have given to you? Nothing.

This is dilemma of the protagonist of ‘In the bleak midwinter…’ Just how can I respond to this magnificent hope, this incredible grace, this new era? If I were there at the blessed birth, I would certainly give my lambs or my homage, but I wasn’t. So what can I do? The answer is that there is one thing that we can all give to God, and that is our hearts. And that is what God delights in – our love, our trust, our devotion, our affection.

This Christmas, let us not be cynical about hope and cheap with our affections; rather, let us truly take hold of what God has done for us in Jesus and be generous in returning our love to Him.

In the bleak midwinter - words by Christina Rossetti.

'Be near me, Lord Jesus...' - Advent Day 10

Be near me, Lord Jesus,
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me I pray.

At their best, Christmas celebrations are a wonderful time for enjoying, cherishing and deepening family relationships. The very nature of a festival and a feast is in its communal dynamic, which is why people being alone on Christmas day is such a saddening spectacle. It is also why those with difficult relationships often feel the tensions more acutely during the festive season.

Yet there is a far deeper relationship at stake at Christmas time, namely our relationship with God – Father, Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit – Himself. For all the hope and joy of Jesus’ Advent is purposed to an end– that we might know God himself. This prayer, taken from ‘Away in a Manger’, is an example of the childlike, humble and heartfelt prayer that God loves to hear from us.

So amidst the throng of our Christmas relational experience - present giving, TV watching, ‘heated debates’ over Monopoly, tussling over the stuffing – let us take time out to seek sanctuary and joy in that most precious relationship of all.

Away in a Manger

'Soon comes the cross...' - Advent Day 9

Sing lullaby!
Hush, do not wake the infant King.
Soon comes the cross, the nails, the piercing,
then in the grave at last reposing;
Sing lullaby!

Could there be a more shocking contrast? The hopeful birth of the long awaited Saviour-King, and the brutal execution of a condemned man through crucifixion. They don’t cohere, and it feels almost offensive considering them together, for we do not ponder the birth of criminals nor the death of newborns. Yet this traditional Basque lullaby makes us confront this most sobering of fact: the baby Jesus of our Christmas carols died a horrendous death at Calvary just 33 years later.

But the most shocking thing about Jesus’ death wasn’t that the hope of Emmanuel appeared over (for we all know the reality of disappointment). Rather, it was that this death was the means of fulfilling that very hope. For God’s plan of redeeming humankind and reversing the tyranny of curse rested on Jesus receiving, in our place, the wrath of God that was justly set upon all humans. In Jesus’ death, God’s perfect love and perfect justice toward humankind were reconciled. Jesus’ death unlocked God’s good countenance and so fulfilled, rather than ruined, the promise of the Saviour-King.

While we focus on the incarnation of Jesus at Christmas time, we should never forget that His birth was only the beginning of Jesus’ mission. It was not the end of the story of God’s grace, but the start. Easter follows Christmas, and their hope cannot be separated.

Sing Lullaby (The Infant King) - Basque traditional, arr. David Wilcocks

'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