What can I give him?
Well, here we are at the end of Christmas.
For most folks in our town, I suppose Christmas is a long gone memory of an over-stuffed Turkey and the joy on children’s faces.
But hopefully for us Christians, we have still been thinking about the implications of the birth of the Christ-child: Emmanuel: God with us. Over these days since Christmas we have been following through this season with images of angels, shepherds, a dove, Wise men from the East, Water into wine and tales from the synagogue of the fulfilment of the prophecies.
As some of you will remember, my mind sometimes picks up on odd parallels and, for me, there is a sort of parallel here with the story of the Transfiguration on the Mount....When Jesus goes up the mountain with Peter, James and John, who then see him transfigured in radiant white and talking with Moses and Elijah.
Dear old Peter wants to build three tabernacles there to preserve the scene but instead they are to return down from the mountain and get on with Christ’s mission, now having been shown the glory of Christ in this special and encouraging way.
For us here and now, we too have gone through the same sort of thing. We have toiled up the mountain that is the Advent season of preparation and planning. We have gained the heights of Christmas Eve with Christ in the manger in his glory, as sung out by angels and in the adoration of the shepherds.
We’ve had this event globalised by the coming of foreigners, the wise men, to see the Christ and offer him gifts. The showing out of Christ’s glory and position continued to roll out as we see his power to change the ordinary into the special, as water became wine, and his pastoral care for the married couple who’s wedding would have been ruined if he hadn’t have shown such miraculous care. And we have seen his place in the divine scheme of things as he sits in the synagogue and reads from the scriptures of Isaiah and then tells those present that this scripture has been fulfilled in their hearing of it.
Such great and marvellous scenes, it’s no wonder then that some people want it to be Christmas all the time. However. I’m not sure I could put up with Roy Wood of Wizard singing ‘I wish it could be Christmas every day’ or Noddy Holder of Slade yelling ‘It’s Christmas!’ all year round – It’s bad enough just for 2 months let alone 12 – but I can see where that joyous and exhilarating part of our faith that is Christmas, would be something to hang on to all year. All the Joy, with none of the emotional rollercoaster of Easter and none of the, well, normality of periods like the weeks after Trinity Sunday.
Like Peter there are those that can get so caught up with the Christmas event that they want to try to bottle it somehow – maybe those who only come to church at Christmas are some of these. However, like those on the mountain top who had seen Christ in his glory with Moses and Elijah, we too must return from the highs of Christmas and descend to the plains of normality of life and the rest of the Christian year – and to our all time mission: to show Christ.
Both Simeon and Anna who feature in our gospel passage for today recognised the Messiah, the Anointed one of God in front of them and they both knew that the world was on a turn. For Simeon, it meant that all his years of waiting were over; he could die in peace certain that what was to follow next would mean the salvation of the world. For Anna, there was the same recognition but her task was to go out and tell everyone about it – to spread the gospel, the Good news that the Christ was there with them. And she was 84.
There is this great sense that, at the presentation, the arrival of Christ was complete, the work was now to start. Jesus was to go off and grow up, preparing for his ministry.
So where does that leave us? We have now come down from the glorious celebrations of Christmas and we will have only a couple of weeks before we get into Lent.
Like the disciples coming down from the mountain, we have seen the glory and meaning of the Christ and we must now take that and work with that in our hearts and minds for the rest of the year ahead. It will fortify us as we face the rollercoaster ride of Passion-tide and Easter, it will see us through the ongoing weeks of the Trinity season. It will inspire us as we face the long climb up through Advent to where we shall be re-visioned by Christmas once again.
So, do we just put on hold the thoughts of Christmas in our mind and plough on with life as though through some fog or foul weather until we can celebrate again? Maybe at Easter? Certainly not.
Those disciples certainly didn’t just wait for the next transfiguration, they got on with their mission and they did so enthused by what they had seen – carrying that vision with them – carrying that vision into all that they did. And so should we.
They didn’t just spend all their days on their knees in worship before Christ. And I’m sure we don’t do the same. They went about fulfilling what it was to be Christians – and we are called to do the same today – also inspired by all that we have seen and witnessed.
But How to do this? – it is a question that so many ask. Well, Christ himself reminded us that we should love God, and love our neighbour as we love ourselves. However, so many seem to think that it’s Ok just to do the first, that is, to love God but not really bother about the second for a whole variety of reasons. And believe me, I’ve heard so many reasons why some do not to bother about other people.
The prophet Micah also summed up our calling nicely when he says that what God desires is that we do justly, love mercy and walk humble with God. It’s interesting that for Micah, the stuff about our social responsibilities, justice and mercy, are put before our walk with God. The two lovable elements of God and neighbour are equal in their importance. We can see this over and over again in the gospels.
Indeed the two are seen to merge when, in the parable of the sheep and the goats, towards the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says that whatever we do for the least of those around us we do for him.
The question then comes, as we descend from the highs of this Christmas past, what are we going to do with the inspiration and insights into God and his Christ that we have gained. Are we going to just gather on a Sunday and reflect upon it, or are we going to respond to it as God would have us do in one way or another. Will we just let the world pass us by, or will we grab hold and engage as best as we are able.
In my post as Social Responsibility Adviser I have had the joy of meeting with Christians all around the diocese and I am continually taken by the way that some of our fellow Christians get stuck into their ministry and calling. Really living out what it is to be a Christian.
I know one lady who is unable to do a lot physically, but when it came to our Pilgrimage on Poverty last Autumn she was prayerfully with us hour by hour but not step by step, as she prayed through the booklet that we all had which showed the route and the poverty issues the walkers encountered. Over 130 people took part in that pilgrimage even if only 6 of us actually walked the route.
Another example could be that almost all of the 20,000 low energy light bulbs that we had last year have been distributed by parishes to people in need in our society; not only acknowledging the need for financial support in these days but engaging with the very real issues of Climate change and the environment. I’ve just got a couple of boxes left over if anyone here wants to join in.
Another Example - Nine deaneries have engaged so far with the Autism Awareness campaign that has spread across the diocese.
And Kettering Deanery will join in that to make it 10 deaneries this coming week. People have come out of the silence to offer their support and experience to those who feel isolated or excluded from church life because of this often mis-understood condition that affects not just the 1% of the population with the diagnosis but also their families.
These and so many more examples about how we as Christians, individually or as groups, congregations or deaneries, can go out there and give of ourselves because the Christ of God gave so much of himself.
Let us be as joyful as Anna and as relieved as Simeon as we know that the light which is the salvation of the world has shone in our hearts so that we can go out into the world: To go out, as we say at the end of the Eucharist: to go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
To finish with ....the last verse of what might be the last carol of Christmas: in the bleak mid-winter. Especially with the temperatures today – and it was snowing when I was in Northampton this morning.... Very truely, earth stood hard as Iron, water like a stone.
But that last verse....
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... I give my heart.
And that gift of heart is not just for Christmas but for all the days of the year. And I hope yours is too. Amen.
Robert Hill, 2nd February, 2010
