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DECEMBER
20 December 2007
Christmas
message from the President of the Methodist Conference
The
President of the Methodist Conference, Revd Dr Martyn Atkins offers this message
for Christmas 2007;
‘“Are
you the one who is to come, or shall we look for someone else?” This is the
crucial question the imprisoned John the Baptist asks his disciples to pose to
Jesus (Luke 7:19).
‘Who we
are expecting to come at Christmas, is a crucial issue for many of us today, and
we are not always helped by the romantic images of an essentially Victorian
image of Christmas. So I thought I’d write a devotional piece.
‘When
Jesus Christ came into our world he was more ordinary and human
than many expected – both then, and now. The ancient Jews had expected Messiah
for a long time, and their expectations increased over time. Older expectations
of the coming of a great but essentially human King became anticipation of a
more supernatural figure. They expected a mighty warrior who, Superman like,
could remove invaders from the land, and purify the Temple with a wave of his
hand. Or he would be the perfect Law keeping machine, the immaculate Pharisee.
‘And
into the world God comes, self sent, as a baby. Among all the super
expectations, Jesus Christ comes, plainly human. “Our God contracted to a
span, incomprehensibly made man.”
‘It’s
ironic that many people today are so perturbed by the miraculous nature of the
Christmas story. “You do realise stars can’t switch on and off, don’t
you?” “A virgin birth? Yeah, right!” It’s ironic because the people of
the period were more perturbed by the very ordinariness of it all. “The
Messiah, here in this barn? Born of folk like this?”
‘The
coming of Jesus, against many expectations, today as then, is of one who comes
near, is like us, involved with the here and now and not just the there and
then. There is stupendous height involved in the coming of Jesus, but not remote
distance. His name makes that clear – he is Immanuel – God with us.
‘As the
thunder crashed, little Carol leaped out of bed, ran downstairs to her mother
and cuddled into her. Mum stroked her gently for a while then said, “there’s
no need to be scared, God will look after you.” “I know that,” said Carol,
“But I needed someone with skin on!” And God knew that was true for us all.
Which is why Christmas is as it is.
‘So to
those readers who feel God is far away, a remote figure, for a multitude of
reasons, I hope and pray you experience God in Jesus Christ drawing near,
Immanuel with you this Christmastide.
‘I
think too that Jesus was more gracious than many expected, then and now.
‘For
example, it is clear in the Christmas narratives that the One born of Mary is no
merely national hero or king, but is King of all. His saving coming is for
everyone, not just some. So that each time anyone tries to ‘capture’ him, or
make him ‘theirs’ he refuses to be held captive and goes beyond each and
every restrictive expectation. God’s graciousness in Jesus makes plain that
God’s love and saving intent is for all, not for some. Christmas is a
universal declaration of God’s desires and intentions for all, for the whole
planet. There is nothing small or cosy about Christmas.
‘But
there is a second way in which God’s great graciousness in Christ made clear
at Christmas needs to be realized and received, and I have wrestled with this
grace myself over many years. It is this. If God’s saving grace and universal
love is for all, then it extends to everyone, including us, and not, as
so many of us seem to believe, everyone else except us. Jesus Christ is
more gracious than we expect or deserve.
‘So
this Christmas, if you are being too hard on yourself, if you feel that you are
just so unworthy or unforgivable, remember that God in Jesus is more gracious
than you can imagine, and take heart.
‘Lastly,
I think Jesus was greater than many expected, then and now.
‘This
was the experience of Jesus’ disciples. After many experiences with him, one
day he turns to them and says “and who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter,
speaking for them all, replies, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living
God.” We cannot begin to imagine what it took for a loyal, monotheist Jew to
say such a thing. But it is clear that the more of Jesus they experience, the
greater he exceeds their expectations.
‘Often,
usually, the more we know about someone the more we become aware of their
failings and limitations. For example, by the end of the first week of a new
year at Cliff College, students are waxing lyrical about their new friends –
they are brilliant. But after three months, or three years together, they have
usually tempered their judgement! But experiencing Jesus Christ works the other
way round - it just gets better and better. There is always more to experience.
‘So, in
C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, when the children return to Narnia a second
time and meet the (Christ) lion, Lucy exclaims, “Aslan you’ve grown”. The
lion replies, “no child, you are older”.
‘Most
of our Christmas cards will have arrived by now. But when the first card dropped
through young Carol’s letterbox she ripped it open eagerly as mum watched on.
Carol’s face fell. ‘What’s the matter?’ asked mum. ‘It’s Jesus’
she replied looking at the nativity scene on the Christmas card, ‘he was a
baby last year, I thought he’d be walking by now!’
‘This
Christmas, and as we approach the year of our Lord 2008, I don’t know what
conceptions of God in Jesus Christ you have, but I suggest you make them
greater.
‘A very
blessed Christmastide to you all.’
Note: An audio file of the
President’s Christmas message can be found at http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.webradio.
17 December
2007
Governments
must do more: Churches give guarded welcome to Bali Climate Change Conference
The
Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed
Church welcomes the final political consensus this past weekend at the United
Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia but urges governments to
show greater leadership to save the planet from the destructive force of global
warming.
Representatives
at the conference have announced a range of measures to replace the Kyoto
Protocol when it runs out in 2012, but these do not include defined targets for
cutting greenhouse emissions.
Graham
Sparkes, Head of the Faith and Unity Department at the Baptist Union of Great
Britain, says; “As the UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon says, this is the ‘defining
challenge of our age’.
We must act now, and the reluctance of some countries to set clear goals
to do so, is lamentable. Developed nations have a particular responsibility to
take urgent action to reduce the impact of global warming on poorer, developing
countries so we welcome the progress made on managing and financing a fund to
help countries adapt to climate change.”
Anthea
Cox, Co-ordinating Secretary of the Public Life and Social Justice Department at
the Methodist Church, says there is still much more to be done;
“As negotiations continue over the next two years, we urge governments
and industry to do more and make the sacrifices that need to be made to mitigate
the impact of climate change. This
is a justice as well as a security issue and we recognise that voluntary action
is insufficient. Political will and action is now vital if we are to build a low
carbon economy in the
UK
and globally."
Convener
of the Church and Society Committee at the United Reformed Church, Simon Loveitt
says; “As Christians, the care of God’s creation has been for too long a
side issue, and this cannot continue. We should be at the forefront of
protecting our environment not lagging behind.
We should be lobbying our governments to bring about deep cuts in
national carbon emissions while modifying our own lifestyles and church life.”
The
three church denominations have agreed a joint response to the British
government’s upcoming Climate Change Bill and have produced a briefing paper
on the bill for their church members. Whilst welcoming the lead shown by the
government in producing this bill, concern is noted that it delivers
insufficient cuts in carbon emissions in the
UK
and individuals are requested to write to their MP to voice this concern. Both
documents can be accessed from the Joint Public Issues Team website: http://www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/jpitenvironment.htm
3 December 2007
A word in your ear…
A Word in Time,
the online Bible study for daily life, was launched at the beginning of
September and has been hugely successful, with around 300 visitors to the site
every day.
But now the team have decided to make the studies
even more accessible. An audio file of each day’s Bible study, and a bigger
file with all of the studies for each week can easily be downloaded onto a
computer or mp3 player, so that users can listen at a time convenient to them.
Alison Pollard, Web Writer and Researcher
and the new voice of A Word in Time
says; ‘People find it increasingly difficult to make time to read and reflect
on the Bible in today’s busy world. A Word in
Time made it easier by giving people access to a
Bible study on the internet. Now we’ve taken it to the next level and you can
catch up with your daily Bible study at a time most convenient to you - whether
you’re cooking dinner, doing your weekly shop or on the daily commute to
work.’
A Word in Time
features a daily Bible reading, background and an explanation of the text,
reflections and questions to ponder from that week’s contributor. It follows
the readings in the Methodist Prayer Handbook bringing the 40,000 readers of the
handbook together with online disciples in their search for daily spirituality.
Each audio file is available in two formats
- a high quality version for those using broadband internet connections and a
lower-quality file for those using a dial-up connection. The audio files for
past Bible studies are available online in the Word
in Time archives.
The audio Bible studies are also ideal for
sharing with those who otherwise might not have access to daily Bible notes,
perhaps because of a disability or simply not having access to the internet.
A Word in Time
is voiced by Alison Pollard and Stephen Lambert.
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BOLTON
AND ROCHDALE METHODIST
DISTRICT