A very sweet Christmas!!

Rev Deb and I wrote this  as a short talk for teens and young people using chocolate and sweets from our local shop!! Thought you might enjoy our unusual sense of humour.

The Randoms that made a Ripple

This is a story about two people; two people who didn't fit in. It is a story about how they met angels, and wise men and shepherds and a donkey and how they all ended up in one place. Not who you expected, not the important or powerful people of the time, but people just like you and me, chosen for this tale.

Their names are Mary and Joe. And although this story happened a long, long time ago, it still means something now and I want to tell you why.

It may seem a little RANDOM as it starts more than 2000 years ago in Nazareth.

So ROLO-up and listen to a very sweet story because I don’t want to FUDGE it.

Mary is a young, unmarried girl of about your age who is visited by an angel. And the angel said: ‘I’ve got a KINDA SURPRISE for you. You’re not really CHUNKY my little KITKAT, you’re going to have a special baby who is going to change the World.

Joe is the real STAR BAR of this story because he took care of Mary when everyone else in the village SNICKERed, WHISPERed and laughed at her. No one would talk to her so when the census came, they were pleased to go to Bethlehem because that’s where Joseph was from. They were very excited and Mary did a little TWIRL.  

Now, you know how the story goes. The pair ventured to Bethlehem but there was no room at the local Hotel so they ended up in stable for the baby to be born, which believe me was no PICNIC.

There were some shepherds minding their own business with their sheep walking PAST, STILL wondering what would happen that night when a choir of angels came forth like a STARBURST from the sky. They told the shepherds to go to Bethlehem where Jesus had been born. It was the middle of the night, they’d had nothing to eat and they didn’t want to FLAKE out on the way. So they went to Bethlehem to see the new baby whom the angels had sung about.

Meanwhile the three wise men were SMARTIES who studied the GALAXY. One day they were looking at the MILKY WAY past MARS, when they spotted a MAGIC STAR.

So they followed the star to find the new King that had been born.

On the way they stopped off at the palace because they thought that would be the obvious place to find him.

They spoke to Herod who was furious and asked them to TRACKER him down. He pretended to want to go to worship him but secretly he REVELled in the idea of getting rid of him.

So they followed the star to Bethlehem and when they saw Jesus they produced their BOUNTY of gifts for the new born child.

The message of my story is this: you don’t have to be popular or clever or grown up;

Just look at this STAR MIX if you need a BOOST because these folk in my story are just like you and me and they started a RIPPLE that changed the World.

Santa and Jesus

We all know the Christmas song 'Santa Claus is coming to town', in it it talks about a widely held belief that Santa Claus watches all the children around the world all the year and only brings presents to those who are well behaved. Those who are naughty instead of nice, in Christmas  tradition, would receive a piece of coal in their stocking. Parents in most parts of the world where Christmas is widely celebrated use this belief to their advantage from around November each year, I include myself among them. When my son was young I would begin in around November reminding him that Father Christmas was watching and as the big day came nearer and nearer, each time he would play up or do something naughty I would remind him of the presents he was risking and he would normally stop immediately what he was doing. Off course, the threat was never followed through with and on Christmas day he would come downstairs to a number of gifts under the tree no matter his behaviour coming up to Christmas morning.

This blog post is named Santa AND Jesus for two reasons. The first reason being this, there are many Christian parents who feel that they are unable to share the Father Christmas tradition with their children, that in doing so they somehow take away from the Jesus story. Is there room at Christmas for both Father Christmas and for Jesus? For me the answer is "Yes". St Nicholas was around in the 4th Century, he is known for giving gifts to people in secret, especially for slipping a coin into people's shoes. It is this man that gives us the basis for our modern day Father Christmas and to me teaches an important lesson in giving to others with no thought of what you will get in return. Jesus, for the Christian tradition, is the main focus of the Christmas story. God reaching out in a unique way to touch the world in physical form. A helpless baby with an amazing message and some wonderful lessons to learn.

And so to the second reason and the main focus of this particular blog. It was the first Sunday in Advent and once again I was in a Church service listening to someone preach on the subject. The preacher reminded us that Advent now is no longer about waiting for the Christ child to be born, but paradoxically is instead about us looking to the second coming. The day when Christ will come again and divide the nations, the sheep from the goats, to end the world and to take to Heaven those who believe and profess his name. It would take a whole lot of blog posts to explain why I don't believe this to be true and that may be written another day. However, for today;s purposes I want to look at how both Santa and Jesus have gone from being inspirational images of hope and love and giving and have instead become figures who command belief and obedience through fear and threats.

The baby in a manger has been almost overlooked, the message of the angels of good news to all the nations has become about a possible future event where you need to have chosen the 'right' side or face an eternity of hell. No longer do we come to the manger seeking love, but instead we come in fear for our eternal soul. No longer is this a message of hope and love that can transform and inspire the way we live now but is all about buying our way into eternity when the whole message of the gospels is that we do not need to do this. The angel host on the hillside that night declared it the moment that Jesus was born, They bring good tidings of great joy which will be to ALL people. For today in the town of David a baby is born who is Christ the Lord.

Similarly, poor St Nicholas who was trying to live a life which was faithful to God and honoured Jesus, has been taken and become something not of love and giving to others, but a way to try and control children in the run up to Christmas day with threats of coal and withdrawn gifts. Anything can be corrupted and misused by people and sadly often will be. So this Christmas, as I am doing all this again because we have a beautiful daughter who will be 2 in February, I won't be telling her about how Santa won't bring presents if she misbehaves. Nor will I tell her how Jesus is watching every move and, depending on what she thinks or feels or does, will show up at any moment to love her or condemn her to hell.

My household and I are declaring that we will no longer be a house who believe because of fear, but instead we love because we were loved first. This Christmas time we look for the coming of the God of love, the God of good news for ALL people and a call for us to care for others and give of ourselves and that love to others because God is here right now, among us. Jesus Immanuel - God IS here!!