It's Time to Put it Away!

 

It's been a tough old year! With war in Europe and threats of nuclear conflict hot on the heels of a global pandemic it could hardly have been anything else! But, for the Queen to die, and the British government to crash the currency and the economy on the way through three Prime Ministers - yes it has been tough. Now, on the brink of the New Year, it's time to put it away.

I love New Year. Christmas is good but New Year is better! (Don't tell anyone in my church I said that!) Yes, I know that nothing beats the coming of Christ into the world to save and heal all who follow him, but there's a whole lot of good stuff about making a new start in the Bible too.

In fact, God is described in the last book of the scriptures as 'the One who makes everything new' (Rev 21:5). St Paul also once wrote that if any person becomes a Christian 'the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!' (2 Cor. 5:17). So, God is in favour of us making a new start. Like a child at school opening a brand new excercise book, we get to start over in 2023. But there are problems -

Fear is a big one! We have taken such a pounding in the last couple of years that we can hardly be blamed for being scared, but fear is not just the opposite of faith, its the enemy of it too. Jesus taught a lot about fear because he understood its power to hold people back, even to destroy them. There are 366 'fear nots' in the Bible, one for every day plus one for a leap year! God doesn't want fear to make the decisions around here. Let faith in Christ be your choice and you will find that fear is lessened, and with time and God's help, can be overcome completely.

Exhaustion is another one. I saw this in a Facebook post the other day: 'A gentle reminder about why you are utterly exhausted… None of us began this year on a full tank.  Given the vicious onslaught of the previous two years  (let’s just call it what it was) most of us dragged ourselves across the finish line of 2021… frazzled, spent, running on aged adrenaline fumes… 

We crawled into 2022 still carrying shock, trauma, grief, heaviness, disbelief… The memories of a surreal existence… 

And then it began… The fastest hurricane year we could ever have imagined. Whether we have consciously processed it or not, this has been a year of more pressure, more stress, and a race to “catch up” in all departments… Every. Single. One. Work, school, sports, relationships, life… ' So, after all we have been through, that's why you might feel exhausted. Here are some wonderful words from Jesus about exhaustion.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:29 The Message)

 Loneliness is a big contender! A psychiatrist friend of mine warned me during the pandemic lockdowns that there would be a pandemic of loneliness after this! We must do something about this, but God has done so in setting the solitary into families - church families. I know you might not want to read this, but you don't have to be lonely if there's a really good lively church community nearby. Get there and check them out if you can, or at least take a peek at their Livestream (for my own church search YouTube for 'Vazon Church'). But let's face it, loneliness really hurts and can be fatal. There are lonely people around us all. Let's ask God for eyes to see them and a heart to care enough to reach out to them in 2023. 

So, I'm quite relieved to put 2022 into its sack and move on, aren't you? When it comes - have a Happy New Year!

When Christmas Hurts

We have just returned home after an eventful few days in the Channel Island of Jersey. We were there to visit our family and take gifts ahead of Christmas, but we found this island community, best known for its dairy herd (above), potato crops and finance industry, plunged into shock and grief by a double tragedy. At the end of last week the ferry from the UK and Guernsey collided with a Jersey fishing trawler and the crew of 3 fishermen appear lost presumed dead. In the early hours of Saturday morning this was followed by a massive explosion in the capital, St Helier, in which it is now known that 9 are dead, and possibly a few more will be found in the wreckage of their apartment building, almost certainly devastated by a gas blast. We stood quietly with thousands of islanders in Jersey this morning at 11am in a one minute silence to mark the sense of loss, grief and sadness that has engulfed this small community.

It is strange that Christmas so often seems marked by tragedy. I remember the Penlee lifeboat disaster from the 19th December 1981, and the downing of the PanAm flight 103 on December 21st 1988. Perhaps that is because our emotions are heightened in this season as we think of family far away and indulge in a bit of communal nostalgia, but it seems unjust for pain and grief to mar our anticipation of this special time of the year, or intrude upon our planning for the festivities. And yet - and yet this brings the true message of Christmas so much more into focus for us. The first 'noel' was marked by the pain of rejection, poverty and violence. Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus were forced to flee to Egypt as refugees shortly after the birth. Every baby boy under 2 years of age was brutally murdered in the area of Bethlehem as vicious murder squads fulfilled the orders of an insecure, drunken overlord, King Herod. Why didn't God prevent that? 

The 'silent stars' and melody of the 'angelic host' soon gave way to the howls of bitter sorrow from the mothers of Judah, and the screams of their infant sons. The road ahead of the infant Christ was already marked by blood. Why?

As we wrap ourselves in the warmth and familiarity of Christmas, we should never forget that God could not prevent the pain. Not if he was going to achieve the very reason for the season. Christ Jesus came into the world to save. He came to intervene in the headlong rush of mankind into a life and an eternity devoid of hope. Like the emergency services that have rushed to the aid of those affected by these unseasonal tragedies, Jesus came to bring us rescue and life, not just warm good wishes and a few cheery carols.

So, if you are in pain this Christmas, or grieving and alone, please know that Jesus came for you, to be with you in your need, and offers you and me his life, death and resurrection as God's response to the tragedies that so often mark this time of the year.

Whose Birthday is it Anyway?

 

The card shop in Town was extremely busy when I was there, trying to find gift ideas and get some cards myself, and the flustered Mum next to me was having great difficulty choosing her Christmas cards with a disgruntled toddler in tow.  “Be quiet!” she urged menacingly, as he protested at being prevented from moving on,  “I need to choose my cards!”.

The little boy looked confused and called out in a loud voice “whose birthday is it anyway?”. 

“It’s nobody’s birthday”, came the weary reply, “it’s Christmas!”.

At least that tired Mum was a tiny bit closer to the truth than another child who was interviewed on TV in the UK not long ago.  “Whose birthday do we celebrate at Christmas?” was the question being posed. “Father Christmas!” declared the delighted little girl, her eyes shining with excitement and glee.  

Who can blame her, though?  Despite the cost-of-living crisis it seems that very little of the frantic rush to spend lavishly on celebrating Christmas has diminished. The magic of the season must seem far more connected to gifts and glitter than to God, both for adults and children. As I perused the Christmas cards it was hard to find any with Christian themes. That may be sad, but does it really matter?

We used to live and work in Zimbabwe.  There, in Shona culture, birthdays are unusual.  Birth certificates are rare, and few celebrate the date of their birth annually in the way that we do.  They are, however, very much alive!  Life itself is celebrated, and frequently enjoyed in a much fuller sense than it is here where far greater material riches exist.  In that setting, the question “whose birthday is it?” is irrelevant.  The living presence of the person concerned is sufficient reason to rejoice.  Perhaps for Christians, that outlook is nearer what should be our concept of Christmas.  We may be feeling a little concerned as we approach the date itself, especially since it is being increasingly hijacked by commercial interests, but a personal relationship with the living, resurrected Jesus, - now that’s something worth celebrating, - and not just once a year!