Blue sky Christmas

It’s been a glorious Christmas Day here on Holy Island. You will see from my pictures that this morning the sky was bright blue and that tonight there was a glorious sunset. In over ten years of coming here, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the sea round St Cuthbert’s Isle look so calm. I said to a couple on the beach tonight “this is the best spot in the world.” “We know!” they replied. 

Today has left me thinking about Christmas making a difference. If only the blue sky moments and the calm sea at sunset could come with us to sustain us in the dark skies and in the storms that will inevitably come. 

But can’t they? We’ve heard over the last weeks that Christmas is an abiding gift, not just for one day a year that is soon gone. We’ve all opened our gifts and have had I hope, things we can use well into 2020. Here’s my best gift! The Christmas Countdown by Frank Kelly is a classic and I’ve never owned it on CD before! 

The vicar reminded us in worship this morning of this well known story: 

Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered. Getting back together, they discussed the gifts that they were able to give their elderly mother for Christmas. 

The first said, “ I built a big house for our mother.”

The second said, “ I sent her a Mercedes with a driver.”

The third smiled and said. “ I’ve got you both beat. You remember how Mum enjoyed reading the Bible? And you know she can’t see very well. So, I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible. It took elders in the church twelve years to teach him. He’s one of a kind. She just has to name the  chapter and verse and the parrot recites it. 

After Christmas, the mother sent out her letters of thanks.

“Milton,” she wrote to her first son, “the house you built is so large, I live in only one room but I have to clean the whole house.”

“Gerald,” she wrote to another, “ I am too old to travel. I stay at home most of the time so rarely use the Mercedes, and the driver is so rude!”

“Dearest Donald,” she wrote to their third son, “ you have the good sense to know what your mother likes. The chicken was delicious.”

We use the gift we most find precious to make life better. But my CD will eventually wear out, the cheese footballs will have all been eaten, the wine consumed, and we will not be satisfied really. Why can’t we enjoy the gifts we have been given and not yearn for more? I love this picture:

How do we make God’s gift to us which is just what we need, last? How do we take the gratitude we feel about what we have received today into next year? How can we feast as heartily as we do today on pigs in blankets and sprouts when it is tough out there in a few weeks? 

It’s all to do with what we put in our hearts I think.

Mary pondered all these things and treasured them in her heart. She never left Jesus. Her heart seeing him die would be broken but she remains a disciple and ends up we think with John in Ephesus.

Joseph is told not to be afraid. He’s the practical one i this story. He leads Mary to Bethlehem, he finds the stable, he enables the safe passage to Egypt to escape genocide, he teaches Jesus in his early years to be a good, faithful follower of God.

The shepherds return glorifying and praising God for all they have heard and seen.

The wise men return by another road.

Simeon has peace now he has seen the child.

Herod goes into a rage. A rival with an alternative way always threatens a bully who thinks shouting is the way to lead a people. 

No one in this story is unaffected by it. Life is different afterwards. 

Tonight I walked on the beach and saw the sun set. The calm of the water is for me a parable of what Christmas should be. I need to take this calm, the blue sky, the peace, the joy, the gifts, with me. Sadly I can’t stay here for ever. Christmas will soon be over. I know of people who take down their decorations tomorrow! January can be a hard month. We all face challenges as 2020 opens before us. We leave the European Union at  the end of January. People face illness, benefit reassessment, many don’t know how they can survive mentally long term. For me, I continue building myself up doing more as I feel stronger before another move into a full time appointment in September. I’m really excited where the Church is sending me this time: a place I never expected. For those of you who want a clue, it has this cathedral in it! 

I picked a carol two Sundays running in the Fens Circuit and got grief as some people said they didn’t know it and one lady described it as “that dreadful carol!” But for me, the writer has sussed out how we make the Christmas gifts we have received, the blue skies and calm seas last... 

Cradled in a manger, meanly,
Laid the Son of Man His head;
Sleeping His first earthly slumber
Where the oxen had been fed.
Happy were those shepherds listening
To the holy angel’s word;
Happy they within that stable
Worshipping their infant Lord.

Happy all who hear the message
Of His coming from above;
Happier still who hail His coming,
And with praises greet His love.
Blessèd Savior, Christ most holy,
In a manger Thou didst rest;
Canst Thou stoop again, yet lower,
And abide within my breast?

Evil things are there before Thee;
In the heart, where they have fed,
Wilt Thou pitifully enter,
Son of Man, and lay Thy head?
Enter, then, O Christ most holy;
Make a Christmas in my heart;
Make a heaven of my manger:
It is heaven where Thou art.

And to those who never listened
To the message of Thy birth,
Who have winter, but no Christmas
Bringing them Thy peace on earth,
Send to these the joyful tidings;
By all people, in each home,
Be there heard the Christmas anthem;
Praise to God, the Christ has come!

I don’t expect any of you will be reading this on Christmas Day, but I hope you emerge with a Christmas in your heart that will sustain you and bless you when 2020 throws you surprises. 

Happy Christmas everyone!