Dear Friends
John 1 verse 14
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
I loved Sharon’s description of this verse in her sermon this morning: The Christmas story in just nine words ‘And the Word became flesh and lived among us’. In a year when so many of the people we love have to be kept at arm’s length, it’s extraordinary to think that God has bridged the gap between heaven and earth and experienced his creation at first hand.
Over the few weeks leading up to Christmas I have got rather bored with the continual programmes about cooking that that been on TV whenever I have switched on looking for the news. Don’t get me wrong, I love food; where eating is concerned I can resist everything except temptation. I quite enjoy cooking as well although I have a tendency to feed 25 when I’m trying to cater for 4. My family fondly remember my shepherds pie which fed an entire family of 6 for a week. The problem with watching cooking programmes is not only that you don’t get to taste the food; it’s also that they don’t teach you to cook. You only learn to cook by doing, not by observing (as I know to my cost). You only discover what something you have made is like by sampling, not by viewing it from afar.
God is fully qualified to understand the heights and depths of human life because he is part of it. He is born, has had snotty noses, and presumably felt the pangs of real hunger as his family fled to escape the marauding terror of Herod and his soldiers. And the converse is true as well. We only know about Jesus because he has been born, got cross with Pharisees and presumably had days when nothing seemed to go right. ‘we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.’ Jesus has made human life holy by sharing it, choosing to take it on himself. Therefore you and I have aspects of holiness about us. And if you accept this simple Christian fact that Jesus is the Son of God, then it’s easy to recognise the holiness, appropriate the forgiveness, raise your self-esteem … we must be loved if God has really come this close to us.
This Christmas, ponder these truths and allow the love of Jesus to transcend the barriers set up by Covid and remember that with Jesus we are never alone. That’s the glory we’ve seen. The glory as of a father’s only son, sharing the actual poverty of daily life. And if you ask me that’s far more glorious than all the than anything else I can think of.
A prayer
Lord God,
in the fullness of time you took the ultimate risk.
It was make or break.
This frail life in a stable was your life knit with ours.
You staked everything on one gambler’s throw.
Had we been God we would have been wiser.
We would have had more respect for our own name and dignity,
and taken steps to preserve it.
We would have made sure that a way of escape was kept open.
We give you thanks, you-with-us, Emmanuel,
that you chose us,
that you accept our lot,
that you hold nothing back.
We bless you from full hearts that you are God and not us,
that it is on you, rather than on us,
that the future of creation depends.
The wisdom of god is wiser than our wisdom.
The weakness of God is stronger than our strength.
Thanks be to God most high.
Amen.
Ian M. Fraser
This is one of my favourite Christmas carols.
Every blessing
Andrew