Ss Peter & Paul, Kettering
Good times and Bad times
One of the things that I get most worried about when I talk to some Christians, and I want to emphasis that it is only some Christians, is the attitude that, if one believes in God then everything will be fine; there will be no problems, everything will just fall into place and no harm will ever befall you. If, however, something bad, sad or rotten does happen, then it must be because you have done something wrong or your faith is not what it should be – either way it’s your fault and you therefore deserve all the bad, sad or rotten things that come your way.
I find that attitude at best naïve, at worse dangerous. Because it flies in the face of a real understanding of the way God works in and through our world. It may be that it is a mark of committed and strong faith, but I feel it is a committed and strong faith in a very different god than the one clearly shown to us in the bible.
Of course, such attitudes have been part of the undermining of many peoples faith for centuries, not just in recent times. People have realised that good things happen to both believers and unbelievers, and bad things happen to both as well. This sentiment is even spelt out in a couple of the Old Testament psalms. So it is that many folk now seek some solace for their own troubles in the troubles of others, rather than seeking the solace of God.
This is most clearly demonstrated in the fact that so many people watch the Soaps on T.V. – viewing other people’s problems and so seeing their own in a different perspective. Indeed the most popular TV program this past Christmas Day was East Enders, with all it’s fictional but somehow possible life dramas, maybe linking with something we’ve experienced, seen or heard of before: Knocking Dr Who into second place – equally as dramatic, but very obviously a story line that cannot touch our reality of life or link to some experience or other except in some abstract way.
Real life is full of problems and to suggest that a life with God will somehow wrap you up in cotton wool and shield you from the bad, sad and rotten bits of life is unrealistic. Part of the reason that I don’t watch the soaps, apart from the fact that I don’t get the chance to watch much telly at all, is the shear volume of other people’s stories that I get to here and see. Some of them would make great Soap story lines.
I’ve a friend (and I’ve cleared this with him beforehand) who is of Indian heritage. On Christmas day his family, and they are Christians, told him that they have organised, through the world wide web, an arranged marriage for him, whether he likes it or not, whether he likes the girl or not. He’s not impressed: Some Christmas present!
And I was chatting to a lorry driver from
In his excellent Christmas Sermon (and I really mean that, I’m not just buttering him up) Dominic reminded us of the vulnerability and trust that God the Father had when he asked the question of the world, Do you want to hold the baby? As Dominic said, God knew that the world wasn’t just full of Marys and Josephs, shepherds and Wise men but it also contained King Herods and Pontius Pilates, let alone Hitlers or Saddam Husseins - or even you and me. God knew that the world would not be easy for the little Holy Family that he had set up and our gospel passage today really shows that very well indeed.
After a couple of years, the three of them are still in
I sometimes have wondered what Mary and Joseph felt when they heard the news of what had happened at Bethlehem when Herod’s cruel soldiers had arrived and killed all the young children: The feelings of relief must have been there, but also probably of grief and even maybe a deep sad guilt at being the cause of such pain for the mothers and fathers of those innocents who were slain.
And then after a while, a return. Maybe with joy, but also trepidation I’m sure as they had to start a new life in
What then is the meaning of all this? Why do we need to know this? Why do we consider the Holy Family today?
The answers can be many and complex but I’d put a couple to you for your consideration as this week goes by and we enter another calendar year.
Firstly: It is remarkable how families that have God at their centre are far more likely to remain together and functional during times of major crisis. The stresses and strains that hit family members can be countered by the commitment to each other that a strong family has. That bond between them is of course that of love. And when that love is founded on the great commandment of Jesus, to love God and love your neighbour as you love yourself, then that love, which finds its source in God, is far more effective.
The Holy Family went through major trauma but that did not split them up. Joseph and Mary were still together throughout Jesus’ childhood despite all that they had been through – starting with that unexpected pregnancy that must have caused Joseph so much confusion; starting off with a family that was not traditionally acceptable.
The example of the Holy Family who placed their trust in God and lived out that love for each other no matter what happened is an inspiration and a guide for all families, no matter how they are constituted in this day and age. Loving commitment to each other is the way of the holy family.
Secondly:
There is an underlying message that comes from the Old Testament: I normally relate this in rather blunt, engineering language but I’ll temper it this morning. The underlying message to the people of Israel was that, the reality of the world meant that troubles would come their way, life wasn’t going to be easy, but if they firmly believed and followed God and his ways, then they would overcome their difficulties and survive.
Take their eye off God, follow foreign gods, different ways etc, then they would fail and fall, and oh what a fall it might be.
Now…Was this message to continue in the New Testament? Would having Immanuel – God with us – change this message? Would it change the reality of the world?
Our gospel passage today shows that the reality of the world was still as fickle, still as laced through with the bad, sad and rotten as it ever was. But also it showed that that message of hope in God, that message to trust in God, that message that says whatever happens, hold fast to God and He will see you through it – that message is still the same, is still as valid. He did not even spare his own little Holy Family from the realities of the world, but he certainly showed that he was there to see them through it.
These then are points that we should remember as we start into the new year:
If we keep his commandment to love Him and each other as much as we love ourselves, being lovingly committed to our family, then we will truly be a holy family that can face whatever the reality of the world may throw at us: whether our family is of a traditional form or not.
And that God is there to see us through the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the fun and the rotten bits and – if we keep our eye firmly on Him – he will see us through it all. Amen.
Robert Hill, December 30th, 2007
Office Address:
The Rectory
Church Walk
Kettering
NN16 0DJ