One of the great things about being a Christian is that our faith gives us the assurance that there is some definite meaning and purpose to life. We’re not alone in that belief of course because it’s one we share with people of other faiths. And we are, I think, blessed in that belief. To know that there is some ultimate meaning to life and that we have a definite purpose in life is one of the sources of joy we find in our faith because the alternative, that life has no meaning or purpose, that we’re born, we live out our time on earth and then we die could, and perhaps would, be the cause of despair and misery. I think it’s certainly the cause of much misery in the world because a belief that this life is all there is and that there’s no meaning or purpose to life other than personal happiness and satisfaction for the few years of this life, is what lies behind much the greed and selfishness in the world; the greed and selfishness that causes so much suffering and misery in the world.

So the belief that life does have a meaning and that we have a purpose in life is a great joy, both to us, and to others because it should stop us from causing pain and suffering to others by our greed and selfishness. But, having said that, one of the great problems we can have as Christians is knowing just what purpose God has for us, personally. We believe that we’ve all been called, by name and that God has a definite purpose for each and everyone of us, a purpose that’s been given to no one else and so a purpose that won’t be fulfilled unless we fulfil it. But it’s often very difficult for us to discern just what God’s purpose for us, the one he’s committed to us and no other, actually is.

That’s a problem summed up very well by St John Henry Newman in some words from his work, Meditations and Devotions. I’m sure some of you will be familiar with these words but if not, they’re well worth reading and getting to know.

‘God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.’ 

If we’ve ever thought seriously, as all Christians should, about just what God is calling us to do, and been unsure because the answer isn’t clear to us, as it very often isn’t, those words will resonate very strongly with us. We often aren’t certain what God wants us to do with our lives but, if we can’t discern God’s purpose for us in specific terms, we can all, always, follow God’s purpose for us in general terms until that specific purpose does become clearer to us. And we can learn a lot about following God’s plan, at least in general terms from today’s liturgies.

Our Gospel reading today was the story of the 12-year-old Jesus putting his parents into a panic by going missing in Jerusalem. Then when they found him 3 days later in the temple,

‘…sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.’ 

simply dismissing his parent’s concerns with a response that in modern parlance would amount to ‘What’s your problem?’ And by way of explanation, Jesus simply said to them,

“Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” or “… about my Father’s business?” 

depending on the translation. But what is being about the Father’s business? Isn’t that simply another way of saying we’re doing what God wants us to do, or that we’re carrying out God’s purpose for us?

So what this tells us is, that in general terms at least, to be about God’s business, to do what God is calling us to do includes being in his house, not only to worship him and to pray, but to talk about and learn about our faith. For us, that means coming to church and using that time, not only for worship and prayer, but as a time to talk to people about our faith and to learn about our faith. But how many of us do that?

We worship God and pray in church and, hopefully, we learn something about our faith by doing that. But how many of us ever talk about our faith to the fellow Christians we meet in church? I don’t intend this as a criticism but as an observation; when people talk to me in church, they very rarely ask me anything about the Christian faith. And yet one of the things I was specifically ordained to do and instituted as vicar of this parish to do is to teach the faith. That is part of my specific purpose in life as a priest of the Church. But isn’t it true that the conversations we have in church, with our fellow Christians, are far more likely to be about what we saw on the TV this week, or where we’re going on holiday this year, or to arrange or discuss our social lives and calendars? As interesting, and necessary too, as these conversations are, they probably won’t help us to discern God’s specific purpose for our lives. Jesus’ example is to use our time in God’s house as a time for worship, prayer and learning, not least through conversations about our faith with those who share it.

Today, 26^th December, is St Stephen’s Day. This year, because it falls on a Sunday, we transfer St Stephen’s Day to the next free day in the Church’s calendar, which this year is Wednesday, 29^th December. But I make no apology for introducing St Stephen into today’s liturgy because St Stephen is also someone who can teach us something about God’s purpose for our lives.

We know that St Stephen was one of the first deacons of the Church. We also know that the first deacons were appointed to carry out the ‘daily distribution’ of provisions for the needy so that the Apostles could concentrate on preaching and teaching the Gospel. We read all this in Acts 6. But in Acts 7 we read that, in addition to the daily distribution, St Stephen was also proclaiming the Gospel, a heresy to some of the Jews, and so he was arrested and stoned to death. Being appointed as a deacon, what we would now call being ordained to holy orders, was St Stephen’s specific purpose in life, his calling from God. But his calling can help us to follow our calling in life too. 

As Christians, we’re all called to good works, perhaps especially to helping those in need. And we’re all called to proclaim the Gospel, not least as we go about the business of our daily lives. So St Stephen’s calling, the specific purpose of his life, is part of the general purpose God has for all of us.

But if we’re going to follow God’s purpose for our lives, we have to remember that all of the things we’ve read and heard about today go together. We can’t pick and choose which bits of God’s purposes to follow and which not to follow.

There’s no point in coming to church if we don’t use our time in church to learn about our faith so that we can proclaim it and live it out in a better way. There’s no point in having great knowledge of our faith if we don’t proclaim it and live it out. There’s no point either in proclaiming our faith if we don’t come to church to worship God and to pray, just as there’s no point in proclaiming our faith if we don’t carry out the good works our faith entails. And despite what many people seem to think these days, good works alone do not make us Christians. People of all faiths and no faith can, and do, carry out good works so there’s nothing specifically Christian about doing that. For our good works to be true acts of Christian charity, the works must go hand in hand with our worship in church and our proclamation of the Gospel because it’s only when all these things go together, that the good works we do can be seen as acts of Christian charity. It’s only when all these things go together that the good works we do can be seen as part of our worship of God. It’s only when all these things go together that people can see that we know what our faith is about. It’s only when all these things go together that our good works can be seen as a proclamation of the Gospel by our living it out in our daily lives.

These are the things that all Christians are called to do, they’re all part the general purpose God has for all us, so we all need to carry them out to the best of our ability. What our own specific purpose in life may be is more difficult to discern but even if we can and do discern it, we can’t neglect to fulfil the general purpose God has for all of us. And even if we aren’t ever able to discern what we think God’s specific purpose for our lives is, as long as we do those things that all Christians are called to do, we won’t have gone too far astray.  Who knows, as St John Henry Newman suggested in the words we heard a little earlier, if we simply keep God’s commandments, if we do what he calls all people to do, perhaps we’ll have fulfilled God’s purpose for our own lives without even realising it?

Amen.

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The Propers for Holy Family Sunday (Christmas 1) can be viewed here.

Something that I think many of us will have been interested in over the years, if not still now, is what the N^o 1 record in the pop charts would be at Christmas. I don’t know if other countries have the same kind of interest in the ‘Christmas N^o 1’ as we call it, but in this country, it does seem to have been something of a national fascination over the years.

I’m sure we can all remember at least some Christmas N^o1s, and I’m sure we’ll all have our own particular favourites, but in terms of sales and chart success, the Christmas N^o1, in this and many other countries as well, must be Do They Know It’s Christmas?

As some of us will no doubt remember, Do They Know It’s Christmas was first recorded in 1984 as a charity record to raise money for famine relief in Africa, something it did very successfully. But the song has also been re-recorded 3 times, in 1989, 2004 and 2014, each time as a charity record, each time it’s reached N^o1 in the pop charts, and it’s actually been the Christmas N^o1, 3 times, in 1984, 1989 and 2004. But in spite of it’s success as a Christmas record, does Do They Know It’s Christmas really have anything specifically to do with Christmas?

The song contrasts the Christmas we enjoy in “our world of plenty” as the lyrics put it, with the suffering in Africa and urges us to do something to help at “Christmas time” those in the world who are suffering. But we could express the same sentiments at any time of the year, couldn’t we? The gulf between rich and poor, the haves and have-nots, is with us always, not just at Christmas and, although Christmas is a time when people perhaps think more than is usual about those less fortunate than themselves, that’s something we should do always, not just at Christmas time. So there’s nothing specifically Christmassy about the song Do They Know It’s Christmas; or is there?

In the song, there’s a line that I think encapsulates what Christmas is really all about more than any other single line in any other Christmas pop song. The line says:

‘The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life.’

Life, in that line refers, I’m sure, to survival. In the minds of those behind the song the greatest gift the starving people of Africa could get was help in the form of famine relief to enable them to survive, for life to go on. But if we look at that line from a Christian viewpoint, it’s a line that does encapsulate the true meaning of Christmas because what is Christmas but the greatest gift we could get, the gift of life from God?

 But the gift of life that God gives to us at Christmas isn’t simply about survival; it’s not about the simple continuation of biological life. The gift God gives to us at Christmas in the gift of a new life, a life lived to the full in loving relationship with himself and our neighbours. And of course, the gift of life God gives us at Christmas is, ultimately, the gift of eternal life. And all this is given to us through the birth and life of his Son, Jesus Christ. So what is the life that God gives us at Christmas?

At Christmas God gives us the gift of a life of peace. We could, I’m sure, be forgiven on hearing the angel’s message, of peace and goodwill among men, for asking, ‘Well, where is it then?’ because, as we look at the world around us today and at the history of the world since the first Christmas, one thing we certainly don’t see too much of, is peace. But the angel’s message wasn’t primarily about peace between human beings, it was about peace between us and God, given as a gift, in goodwill, by God.

During Advent we heard the prophecy of Isaiah,

‘Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.’

We can see the angel’s message as the fulfilment of this prophecy; the battle, the war between God and man is over. God, through the human life of his own Son, will pardon our sins so that we can live in peace with him. So the gift of life we received at Christmas was the gift of a life of peace with God.

God’s gift at Christmas is also the gift of a life lived in peace with our neighbours, or at least, it’s a gift that God offers us through the life of his Son. But we have to want that life.

I’m sure that, at some time, we’ve all received gifts that we’ve not really appreciated too much. Maybe it was something we’d already got or didn’t really want. No doubt we’ll have thanked the person who gave us the gift and perhaps said to someone afterwards, ‘Oh well, it’s the thought that counts.’ But, because we haven’t really wanted or appreciated the gift, it’s probably remained unused, perhaps even unopened. And that’s exactly the way we can treat God’s Christmas gift to us of peace between us and our neighbours.

Through his life, Jesus taught us to love our neighbours as ourselves, but how often have we, and do we, see our neighbours, other people, as opponents to be battled with, perhaps even as enemies to be defeated? How much peace have we lost in our lives because of that? How much peace has the world lost over the past 2,000 years because of that? God’s gift of life at Christmas does include peace between us and our neighbours. Through his Christmas gift of the human life of his Son Jesus Christ, he showed us how to have that life of peace. Is it God’s fault that we don’t have enough goodwill towards each other to appreciate and use his gift?

So through the Christmas gift of the life of his Son, God gives us a life of peace to be lived in loving relationship with him and our neighbours. But the greatest gift God gave us at Christmas is the promise that life is not simply a matter of biological survival for our time on earth. The greatest gift God gives us at Christmas is the gift of eternal life. That’s a gift we see fulfilled in the Resurrection of his Son at Easter, but it’s a gift that’s given in the birth of Jesus at Christmas and through the human life Jesus lived.

In the song Do They Know It’s Christmas, we find the lines:
And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time.
The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life.

We might get snow in our part of Manchester this Christmas time, but that really makes no difference whatsoever to the greatest gift we’ll get. The greatest gift we’ll get this Christmas, or any Christmas, is life. Not simply life as survival, but the fulness of life lived in peace and loving relationship with God and our neighbour. A gift of earthly life that leads to eternal life with Jesus in God’s heavenly kingdom. It’s a gift we first received on that first Christmas Day over 2,000 years ago. It’s a gift that’s renewed for us each and every day of each and every year of our lives through God’s ongoing presence with us in the Holy Spirit. It’s a gift we’re especially reminded of at Christmas. Let’s hope it’s a gift we’ll always appreciate and use because it is the greatest gift we’ll ever get, this or any other year.

Amen. 

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The Propers for The Nativity of the Lord can be viewed here.

One of the things that’s often said nowadays is that Christmas begins earlier every year. I’m sure we’ve all heard people say that; we might have even said it, or at least thought it, ourselves at some time. And when people do say that it’s usually meant as a complaint, not so much about Christmas itself, but about what we might call the pre-Christmas build-up that we see on the TV or in the shops; the Christmas themed adverts, the TV channels devoted to Christmas films and music and the Christmas decorations and goods sold as Christmas gifts in shops that, these days, appear months before Christmas.

I don’t know about you, but I think this year has been particularly bad in that respect. TV channels devoted to Christmas films have been showing since the late summer and in shops, some shops at least, Christmas decorations went up for sale at the same time as Halloween goods went on sale in the early Autumn, so about 3 months before Christmas. Perhaps it’s because of the way the coronavirus pandemic restricted our Christmas festivities last year that ‘Christmas’ has begun so early this year. Perhaps people have tried to make up for last year’s quiet Christmas in some way by making it a bigger and longer celebration this year. But whatever the reason, Christmas, or at least what many people nowadays call the ‘Festive Season’, does seem to have begun very early indeed this year.

When we think about how long before Christmas the so-called Festive Season begins these days, and just how long that makes the season, it’s not really surprising that people complain about it. It’s not surprising that, after around 3 months, a full quarter of the year, of being bombarded by Christmas films, music, adverts and goods for sale, people are a bit tired of it all by the time Christmas really does come around. It’s not surprising that by the time Christmas Day comes people can’t wait for the whole thing to be over and done with for another year. It’s not surprising that, for some people, Christmas Day itself is greeted with more of a sense of relief than with the joy it should bring. 

But, if we think about it, what is it that people are really complaining about when they say that Christmas begins earlier every year? What are they really sick and tired of by the time Christmas Day actually comes around? What are they relieved to see the back of for another year? I think the truth is that people aren’t complaining about Christmas itself, what they’re really complaining about is what’s grown up around Christmas over the years. The vast money-making industry that’s attached itself to Christmas and, for society at large, seems to have become what Christmas is all about. I think that’s what takes the joy away from Christmas for many people because they’re sick and tired of after being surrounded by it and bombarded with it for months before 25^th December, and that’s what people are relieved to see the back of for another year. Because, after such a long ‘Festive Season’, people simply want life to return to normal.

That’s a great shame because it takes away the joy that people should feel at this time of year but it’s tragic too. It’s tragic because all the paraphernalia of the Festive Season, all the humbug, the meaningless, secular things that have grown up around Christmas has so overgrown and obscured the real meaning of Christmas, that most people can’t see that meaning anymore. And that’s tragic because, if people can’t see what Christmas is really all about, how can they feel the sense of joy that Christmas should bring? 

When we think about what Christmas is really about, how can it not be a joyful time? How can people not look forward to Christmas? Christmas is our celebration of the Incarnation, the birth as a human child of God’s Son. It’s our celebration of that time when God sent his own Son in to the world to teach us and show us the way of life we need to follow, and to offer us the promise of eternal life if we can follow that way. It’s the greatest gift we’ve ever received and ever can receive, so how can that not be a cause for joy and celebration? And if we can see what Christmas is really all about, how can the build -up to Christmas not be a joyful time too? Christmas, and the approach of Christmas should be joyful times because, unlike the secular Festive Season, which is ultimately meaningless, these things have some real meaning to us and for us, all of us. And if they don’t give us cause for joy, that can really only be because people either don’t know, or don’t want to know, or have forgotten what Christmas is really all about.

If we can see the real meaning of Christmas, something else should become clear to us too. People can be relieved to see the back of Christmas because they want life to go back to normal.

But if we do understand what Christmas is really all about, we’ll understand too that life can never go back to normal. Life, human life, can never be the same and has never been the same since the very first Christmas when Christ was born. In fact, life has never been the same since the build-up to that first Christmas began.

Through Advent, we’ve been hearing about that build-up. We’ve heard the prophets who first told people that God would send a Saviour, who first told people about the coming of Christmas, in a sense. Life wasn’t and couldn’t ever be the same again either for those prophets or for anyone who heard them speak. We’ve heard about John the Baptist, the Messenger who was sent to prepare the way for Christ. His life was changed forever by the knowledge of Christmas and so were the lives of everyone who heard John preach and were baptised by him. Today we heard about Mary and Elizabeth, their lives were changed forever, as were the lives of Joseph and Zechariah, by the knowledge of the coming of Christ. Today we also heard about the joy that brought, as the unborn John leapt for joy in his mother’s womb at the sound of the voice of Mary, the Mother of the Lord. In fact, the lives of everyone connected with the Christmas story in any way were changed forever by the coming of Christ and by his birth. And through his birth, through Christmas, the lives of everyone on earth have been changed because Jesus, having been born on that first Christmas Day can never be unborn. Christmas can never be over and done with. Jesus, son of Mary and Son of God, lives forever so life, for any of us, can never be the same as it was before that first Christmas Day. 

Our celebration of Christmas, the true season of Christmas that is, not the secular Festive Season idea of Christmas, is almost here again, just 6 days away now, in fact. But if we do know and understand the true meaning of Christmas, we’ll also know that, in a sense, Christmas never comes and goes, it’s with us all the time because Christ is with us all the time. And so, while we may experience the joy of Christmas in a particular way at this time of year, the joy of Christmas should also be with us all through the year.

After months of Festive Season humbug, we may very well be relieved to see the back of it for another year. But if anyone asks us, before we answer them, before we say we’ll be glad to see the back of Christmas for another year so that we can get back to normal, let’s just take a moment to think about what it is we’re actually glad to see the back of. And rather than telling anyone that we’re glad to see the back of Christmas for another year, we might want to say instead that we’re glad to see the back of the Festive Season for another year so that we can get on with enjoying Christmas.

Amen.

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The Propers for Advent 4 can be found here.