Renew Your Mind

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; Authority rests upon his shoulders; And he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 Jesus It is Christmas Eve… Tomorrow we celebrate again, as people have done every year for two thousand years, the birth of God’s son. We celebrate the love of God for us, that was so great that He sent his son to become one of us. We wonder with Mary at the immensity of God’s plan, wrapped into something as small and helpless as a human child. We kneel with the wise men in worship before the Prince of Peace. And around us, we hear angels sing... So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her fir...

So the LORD God said to the snake: ‘Because of what you have done, you will be the only animal to suffer this curse- For as long as you live, you will crawl on your stomach and eat dust. You and this woman will hate each other; Your descendants and hers will always be enemies. One of hers will strike you on the head, And you will strike him on the heel’ Genesis 3 :14-15 Way back at the dawn of time, it looked as if man and woman had blown it. We had the chance to live forever in the garden of Eden, surrounded by good things, and we couldn’t resist the temptation to think we knew better. How the dark forces of this world must have laughed in triumph as God threw Adam and Eve out of Paradise– forever doomed to live with the consequences of their choice, realizing throughout the ages that not only was it a wrong choice, but that by their own efforts, men and women could never regain that harmony with God, with each other and with creation that had held out such promise at the begin...

Something important appeared in the sky. It was a woman whose clothes were the sun. The moon was under her feet, and a crown made of twelve stars was on her head. She was about to give birth, and she was crying because of the great pain. Something else appeared in the sky. It was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and a crown on each of its seven heads. With its tail, it dragged a third of the stars from the sky and threw them down to the earth. Then the dragon turned towards the woman, because it wanted to eat her child as soon as it was born. Revelation 12 :1-4 A cosmic Christmas If we are becoming tired of images of a stable in Bethlehem, with an infant in a manger, then look with John to this vision of Christmas. The woman in childbirth is there– but she is more than Mary here, she is adorned with the signs of Israel, she is the community of faith, God’s people on earth. And at her side crouches not the comforting figures of a donkey, the adoring shepherds or ...

When Herod found out that the wise men from the east had tricked him,he was very angry. He gave orders for his men to kill all the boys who lived in or near Bethlehem and were two years old and younger. Matthew 2: 16 Good News? When the angels appeared on the hillside, they promised that the birth of the child in Bethlehem would bring peace on earth. But straight away his birth is causing conflict. Mary and Joseph cannot return home, they have to flee as refugees to Egypt to escape from Herod’s cruel and jealous actions. For neither Jesus, his family or his followers was there much peace. Around the world today, the name of Jesus provokes conflict as often as peace.   Even at Christmas, we are told there is often more domestic violence and discord than at any other time. There is something more uncomfortable than comforting about God’s intrusion into human affairs. It stirs up emotions which can soon turn nasty. It confronts us with who we really are. Perhaps before peac...

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 Myrrh Even in the joy of a new born baby, in the jubilation of heavenly choirs, in the excitement of a stable full of shepherds and donkeys, there are premonitions that this story will not have a happy ending. What was the wise man thinking, as he unwrapped his present of myrhh? Did he sense somehow that this baby’s future had a shadow hanging over it? What did John the Baptist think, as he proclaimed Jesus as the Lamb of God? Did he really understand that the sacrifice of a spotless lamb for the sins of the people was about to played out with a human sacrifice? Christmas is not just about ‘good tidings of comfort and joy’, but about hard questions of life and death. And about a man who, through his life and death, may just hold the answer to those questions. A song for Mary... And did she see there In the straw by his head a thorn And di...

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.  Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake Revelation 8:2-5 Holy, holy, holy Incense...beautiful, fragrant, pervasive and elusive. A small amount burned in the corner of a room (or a stable?) can change the whole atmosphere. It tells of stillness, of softness, of time for meditation. It curls and winds, unwilling to be contained but seeking out all the hidden corners until the space is permeated with it. It hints of another dimension to life, of a world beyond what we...

We three kings of Orient are Bearing gifts we traverse afar Field and fountain, moor and mountain Following yonder star treasure Christians have always had different views about money, wealth, possessions, and some of us still fell uneasy at the commercialism which surrounds Christmas today. In a world where some are so poor, is it right to spend so much? We try to appease our consciences by buying charity Christmas cards, or a gift of a goat. But the idea of gift giving at Christmas seems to have started right here in the Bible, with the wise men and their treasure. This was just the start of a paradox which seemed to follow Jesus throughout his life– a simple life where he had no possessions or home of his own, but where those around him were extravagant in their gifts to him. When a woman poured expensive perfume over him, the disciples protested at the waste– but Jesus accepted her gift graciously and praised her for it. God doesn’t demand offerings from us– but He del...

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." Matthew 2: 1,2 One step at a time Travelling was a time-consuming business in the first century. We have no idea how long it took the wise men to reach Bethlehem, but Herod’s command to find and kill all babies two years old or younger suggests the wise men could have been on the road for months rather than weeks. They had left behind their palaces, libraries and treasure-houses motivated by a desire to learn more about this star and what it might mean. What is our journey like? Do we begin each day expecting to make some progress? Are we daunted by how far we still have to go? Or excited by the glimpses God grants us of our final destination? Are we lifting our heads above our daily tasks to check we are still going in the right dire...

That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord’s glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone very happy. This very day in King David’s home town a Saviour was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying in a bed of hay.” After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about.”             Luke 2:8-12, 15                                                                     ...

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord! Unnumbered blessings give my spirit voice; Tender to me the promise of his word; In God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice. Do not be afraid! When Gabriel appeared to Mary, she was confused and frightened. He had to reassure her by reminding her how much she meant to God: “You’re beautiful with God’s beauty. Beautiful inside and out! God be with you.” And then he told her of her part in God’s plan…. We can’t begin to guess what her first reactions were. Whether it even made sense to her. She could hardly talk it through with Joseph– so she went off to visit Elizabeth, the only one who might begin to understand, to help her make sense of what was happening to her. Three months later, Luke lets us see what Mary is thinking. Is it a tear soaked page of her diary? Is it anger and outrage at God? Is it despair as she works out what to say to Joseph? No– God has brought Mary to a place where she can sing. We call her song the Magnif...

It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth, To touch their harps of gold; “Peace on the earth, good will to men, From Heaven’s all gracious King.” The world in solemn stillness lay, To hear the angels sing. angels The birth of God’s son to a young girl in a cattle shed in Bethlehem was so momentous, so exciting, so full of the promise of what he would be and do, that for a few moments heaven broke through to earth and the angels sang. Painters and song writers through the ages have struggled to show how ‘other-worldly’ angels are– they are not like us; their clothes, their music, their hair is different. But most of all their faces are different– they are glowing somehow, because they spend all their time looking on the radiance of God. They could have stayed there, in heaven where there is no sin, no poverty, no pollution, no greed, no violence. But the events of that first Christmas were so compelling that crowds of a...

When the two of them came near the village where they were going, Jesus seemed to be going further. They begged him, “Stay with us! It’s already late, and the sun is going down.” So Jesus went into the house to stay with them. After Jesus sat down to eat, he took some bread. He blessed it and broke it. Then he gave it to them. Luke 24: 28– 30 Food, glorious food! We spend a lot of time at Christmas eating… or preparing food… or eating….or thinking about what to prepare… or eating! Nigella Lawson writes “How we eat and what we eat lies at the heart of who we are– as individuals, families, communities.” Introduction to Feast Somehow the food we eat at Christmas takes on particular significance– whether it’s mince pies for the neighbours, turkey on Christmas day or a pavlova and barbecue! We have choices to make about food– sometimes simple and practical, like what do we cook? How much do we eat? Who do we invite? How much will it cost? But there are other choices we have to ma...

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us John 1:14 God with us What an astonishing decision for God to have made! In the Old Testament, the people of God saw God’s presence with them as a pillar of fire and smoke, as they travelled away from Egypt across the desert. It was important for them to know in some tangible way that as they took the huge risk of leaving Egypt and striking out into the unknown, God was with them. Soon they were busy making a tent to be a sacred place, where God could dwell among them. John uses the same word for tent-making here as he attempts to describe God coming to dwell with his people in Jesus. Somehow as God becomes human in Jesus, he ‘tabernacles’ with us, makes a tent of human-beingness   so he can live on earth, as one of us. Not so he can identify with us, because he created us and knows all about us, but so that we can understand him . What a God we have! What love He shows us, that He is prepared time and time again to ...

God for whom we watch and wait, You sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son; Give us the courage to speak the truth, To hunger for justice, And to suffer for the cause of right Prepare the way of the Lord John the Baptist stands in a long line of God’s prophets. They were not comfortable people to have around. They ignored political correctness, prevailing opinion or current fashions. They were driven people– driven by the message they had to tell. And somehow, even though that message usually involved a judgement on what they saw around them, it was compelling. People listened. Where are the prophets of today? Who is speaking out against injustice? Who is challenging the world and its values? Are we being called to stand up for what is right in our corner of that world– in the playground, in the supermarket, in our office? May God give us courage to speak, to act, to make a difference. he Lord says “I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m fed up with y...

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and    regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.  Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the   assembled worshipers were praying outside.  Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of  incense. Luke 1: 5-11 Expecting God to show up? The Christmas story is full of surprises. God as a baby? Shepherds hearing the good news? Exotic visitors from the Orient kneeling in the...

Jesus Christ came from the family of King David and also from the family of Abraham. And here is a list of his ancestors. Matthew 1: 1 So far, so good. Jesus’ pedigree seems to have been established– everything you would expect from a King, the Son of God- he can trace his family back both to the founder of the nation God was to call his own, Abraham the Patriarch, and to the royal family headed by King David. From Abraham to King David, his ancestors were: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and his brothers (Judah’s sons were Perez and Zerah, and their mother was Tamar), Hezron; Ram, Amninadab, Nashon, Salmon, Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Obed (his mother was Ruth), Jesse and King David. Matthew 1: 2-6 What is going on here? For a start, instead of concentrating on the paternal line, Matthew keeps interrupting to tell us who the mothers were. 21st century feminists may well applaud, but no Jewish reader would have been interested. And then if we look at these women, their...

Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God. Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, When he became like one of us. Philippians 2:   6,7 Reputations When Joseph heard that his betrothed was already pregnant, we don’t know what thoughts went through his head. But we do know that he planned to break off the betrothal privately, to avoid the worse of the inevitable disgrace for both himself and Mary. Before God’s son was more than a cluster of growing cells, he and his family had lost their reputations. His mother Mary went off to visit her cousin Elizabeth early in her pregnancy. Elizabeth was celebrating with her whole community the end to her barrenness– was Mary still trying to keep her pregnancy secret? God, the LORD almighty, who had led the Israelites from Egypt with a tower of fire, who had demolished the walls of Jericho, who had shamed the prophets of Baal by consuming Elijah’s sacrifice and for whom Nehemiah rebuilt the temple now r...

Christmas is waiting to happen… A small velvet patch in the black night sky Stands ready to hold a newborn star, And oppressed peoples everywhere Cling wildly to prophecy and song And whisper the word: Messiah.                                  Gerard Kelly Waiting for good things For small children, the wait for Christmas is almost as exciting as Christmas Day itself. Why are they so excited? How can they be so sure that Christmas will be all they are expecting? I wonder if their trust relies on two things-          They can remember that it was worth the wait last year.          They know their parents love them, and can be relied on. When God entered human history as a baby in Bethlehem, the problems of that world weren’t all solved at on...