in a world that remains deaf to the song of the angels no matter how many times they come to us in our dreams what are we to do?
We must do the same as Joseph did, ‘Get up… take the child, and go.’ Just as Joseph and Mary carried the Child who then carried them in to the life after life; so must we.
For this Christmas, for our Last Christmas, and especially for that final Christmas when we will sing in tune with heaven.
We live because Christ was born amongst us.
We can depart in peace because Christ came to live among us.
The angel announces a saviour, a way of salvation, that transcends the old laws of punishment and revenge replacing it with the gentle healing touch from the hand of a baby.
Jesu is the ointment for our healing, the salve for our souls.
These are the signs of the season…
Eyes and ears are opened.
Limpers and Lepers are welcomed.
Those who seem dead to our common life are born again.
Good News is shared with those who never thought they could afford or were worthy of it.
..and we are the ones who have been called to do this.
In the end it’s not about ‘wars and rumours of war’ nor is it about ‘one person being taken and the other left’. It is about keeping our eyes on Jesus.
It is about living Advent lives, watching and waiting and working for the Return of the King.
During ‘Twixtmas, like Mary & Joseph having been busy about the Festival we may have lost the Child at the centre of it. How will we use the rest of the season to find the One who came to find us?
May we, having witnessed the birth of the Babe of Bethlehem in our carols and our worship this night, become proclaimers of those same words to all those we meet this Christmas.
‘Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you;
he is the Messiah, the Lord.
Fear Not!’
To be able to provide a home for another is a precious gift, to know that our Beloved provides a home for us makes all our challenges, whether they involve squatting bishops or not, melt away.
Describing the gift of Christ at Christmas cannot be done by th use of one name alone.
We find in the manger a gift so large that it does indeed ‘hold the whole world in it’s hands’
Suffolk Vicar 