St Michael's Church (Church of England)

Last week Camilla talked about meeting with and greeting Jesus and we rejoiced with the family being baptized and those receiving Communion for the first time; they had already met with Jesus, greeted him and said ‘yes’ to being friends with him; and Camilla reminded us that we meet with Jesus by listening to our Scripture readings, through receiving Holy Communion and through having fellowship with each other: as Jesus said “when two or three are gathered in my Name, there am I in the midst of them”.

Today’s readings remind us that greeting and meeting Jesus isn’t enough – he calls us into relationship with him.

When the angel came with God’s message we are told that Mary was ‘perplexed’; what could all this mean for her? and she pondered on the angel’s words.

We, too, can be perplexed about what all this means, what Advent and Christmas really mean when the shops and media are presenting us with one message of shop, shop and spend, spend, spend and food and presents and glitter, and the Church is telling us to be still and prepare ourselves not just to celebrate the birth of our Saviour but also for the Second Coming. We need time to stop and think about it all and for the message to sink in.

And then Mary said, “How can this be?” - she asked questions. And we, too, can ask questions about God and Jesus and what that might mean in each of our own lives. As some of you have found already, a good place to start is with an Alpha course, or an enquirer’s course, or joining in Cassa’s Advent course – a safe place where you can ask questions and not be afraid of looking silly; and then there are the various house groups which will help you to explore issues further in more detail. Hopefully in the new year we will be running some more sessions where people can come and ask the question: “how can this be?”.

Then Mary listened – ah! That’s probably one of the hardest things to do in this noisy, busy, bustling world in which we live! But if we don’t listen how can we know what God is asking? How can we tell what it is he wants us to do? We all need those times of being alone in a quiet place to read and ponder the Scriptures and listen to God speaking in our hearts; and this, in turn, might lead us to discussing this further with a priest or spiritual director or other trusted mature Christian.

And finally Mary responded, she trusted in God and acted according to his will – and his will, in this case, was for her to be pregnant with the long-awaited Messiah and Saviour of the world. Mary became God-bearer; and in giving human life to Jesus he, in turn, gave life to her and her life took on new meaning because of that. And the amazing thing is that, like Mary, we are also told “the Lord is with you” and we are all invited to be God-bearers, to nurture the God within us and, in turn, receive life through him.

So we meet and greet Jesus and then ask him to be born in us; but how welcome is the Lord really in our lives? What part of our lives will we let him see and enter into?

Jesus was born in a noisy, overcrowded town and smelly stable, and I think we can take heart from this because – and I don’t know about yours – but my life often resembles that:- it’s not perfect with things in the right place, it’s dusty, it’s insecure – and God says:

“that’s ok; all I need is for you to want to make room for me and I will help you clear your lives and live more peacefully, more lovingly, more securely”. It is only when we are our normal selves, unpretending, before God that he can truly be born in us and live in and transform our everyday life.

Each one of us is unique and special and God says to each of us: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine”. God has called each one of us to a definite vocation, to become who and what he wants us to be, and this changes and grows throughout our lives – so, for instance, I have been a school friend, a choir girl, psychiatric nurse, wife, mother, cleaner, LLM, neighbour – they may be regarded as just jobs, some of them, but I knew that God was there supporting me and therefore “in” those jobs and relationships; that’s how our lives become sacramental and Incarnational. It’s a case of learning to trust God’s “fear not” and to let go of our sense of inadequacy so that we can see and accept ourselves as God’s loved and chosen ones. Whoever we are, whatever we do, God can enter and enrich.

Some of you may know the story of Brother Lawrence – he was a monk who worked in the monastery kitchen and he gradually realised that he, peeling potatoes, chopping carrots or doing the washing up, was just as much of value to God as were the monks visiting the sick or singing the Divine Office in the Chapel. Every life has its routines and boring bits but God still wants to be in it and transform it. It was a great revelation and comfort to me when I realised one morning that God was even there for me, in the situation as it unfolded, when I was shouting at the kids trying to get them ready and off to school!!! [not a pretty sight and I’m sure many of you have been there too!] There really is no place in our lives where we can’t welcome our Lord to strengthen, encourage and guide.

Jesus said that he came to bring us life in all its fullness; with him living in us we are helped to live more fully by becoming more generous, thoughtful of others, caring, encouraging, forgiving, peace-giving and peace-filled, so that, being brought to birth in all we say and do, our Lord can live in and transform the lives of our families and community and be the Saviour of the world.

[Prayer of St Benedict

O gracious and holy Father,

give us wisdom to perceive you,

intelligence to understand you,

diligence to seek you,

patience to wait for you,

eyes to behold you,

a heart to meditate upon you,

and a life to proclaim you:

through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ]

“

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