December 29 - Christmas as pastoral act

I’ve been pondering what Immanuel means in these days after Christmas. The stories post Christmas are dark. The gospel writers throw in a relationship on the rocks, a tyrannical census, no room at the inn, an unhinged ruler (see yesterday’s blog), genocide, warnings, and the holy family as refugees. 

Incarnation into the world isn’t a sweet story. The Christ child is born in poverty, in the cold. The Christ child causes others to be threatened and lash out. The Christ child causes the world to be unsettled for a while. The Christ child is forced to seek sanctuary in a foreign land as a toddler and doesn’t know when it will be safe to return. Incarnation is about dirt, rejection, revolution and an identification with the poor, outcast and refugee in the world. 

The angel sings into the story. Peace on earth. 

Our carols get it right:

Above its sad and lonely plains they bend their hovering wings…

And…

He laid his glory by, we wrapped him in our clay. 

There was a tongue in cheek article on News Thump today that Jesus arrived on our shores in a small boat. He was sent away. “I thought the innkeepers in Bethlehem were a pretty bigoted bunch, but you should have heard the so-called Christians patrolling the beach I arrived on.

“I opened my arms to receive them warmly, but they all told me to get back in the boat and go back to where I came from. They were really quite aggressive about it. Even Pontius Pilate didn’t accuse me of being in a grooming gang of terrorists.” 

The good news of Jesus at Christmas is that he comes to quote Wesley again “contracted to a span.” One of us. One of us if we struggle. One of us if we face unknown journeys. One of us if we are unwanted. One of us if bombs drop on us because a ruler wants what he wants. One of us if we find ourselves on the move with no certainties. One of us if we have nowhere to lay our head. One of us if we are labelled not one of those we will accept. Maybe Jesus would have ended up in Rwanda.

The good news is that Jesus is for all who struggle. I wrote this pastoral note to my churches just before Christmas citing the image of Bethlehem that had just gone viral…

This image has just gone viral, it’s an artists impression of Christmas 2023 in Bethlehem. Christians in Bethlehem this Christmas are reminding the world where Jesus comes. He comes under the rubble. He comes with a different agenda. He comes to herald peace, mad as that sounds. The heart of Christmas is that peace is possible. Even when it’s absolute chaos.I know a lot of you have had a sad 2023 with loss and illness and uncertainty. For you Christmas though hard to do like the world does with its bonhomie and frills, can be a time God would give you his peace. Remember he comes into the heart of human experience, under the rubble of shatter hopes and uncertainty ahead. He comes also to  turn mourning into dancing. That’s why Christmas carols were originally to be danced to! I just want on this Christmas Eve to wish you a peace filled Christmas and a hopeful 2024. I also want to say thank you to you for your commitment to our work together. All six of my communities as we find ourselves nearly half way through my fourth year with you, have huge potential. Like shepherds and magi we need to look up and see what’s going on. God is ahead of us. 2024 marks the 25th anniversary in June of my ordination. After 25 years and seven Circuits, I remain convinced our best work happens when we are prepared to listen to God, celebrate our gifts and be positive about what we are called to be. This has been a year where we’ve seen significant change, not least me handing over two churches to Sarah. That wasn’t planned this time last year! 

Take time on this fifth day of Christmas to simply thank God he came in Jesus. He will never leave us. We are cared for - always.