A gift that lasts

The full text of my Christmas sermon...

Do you know what you are getting for Christmas?

Apparently nearly a third of us buy our own Christmas presents each year. Well, I guess that means we can’t blame anyone else when we don’t get what we want! Ever find that – you spend weeks hunting for presents for other people, days getting ready for Christmas, hours wrapping the presents, but it only takes a few minutes to be disappointed by what you get? I mean, just think about it, how many of the presents that you got last year can you remember today? What about from the year before? That’s the sad truth about Christmas presents isn’t it – very few of them are actually memorable and most of them leave us feeling somewhat disappointed?

Do you ever feel like that?

Barry Humphries, is famous for being Dame Edna. In his autobiography he writes:

“I always wanted more, I never had enough milk or money or socks or sex or holidays or first editions or real friends or free meals or neck ties or applause or unconditional love. Of course I have had more than my fair share of these things but they always left with a vague feeling of un-fulfilment, where is the rest?”

We may not have analysed it, but how many of us have ever talked about feeling disapointed, or have simply wondered out loud, “there must be more to life than this”. And it’s not just Christmas that brings out these feelings, we all have a deep need to be satisfied. We all believe that fulfilment is out there if only we knew where. And that’s the problem. Being satisfied in life is dependent on what we feed on.

Now, I don’t know if you do this, but at the Vicarage Christmas is a time when we get out little bowls of sweets and Twiglets and nuts, and they are there for you to snack on all day. But the problem with this is no matter how many sweets or crisps or nibbles you eat you will never be full and so you will just keep on eating! Snacking takes the edge off your hunger but it never satisfies you. And spiritually speaking, many people go through life snacking and it means they are never satisfied.

One of the things we look to is pleasure, such as the pleasure we get from travelling – but there’s a reason why it’s called being bitten by the travel bug – its addictive. Ask anyone who has looked for fulfilment by trying to see the world and just after they have told you about all the amazing places they have been, they will tell you where they want to go next. There is always somewhere else they want to go.

So, some hunger and thirst for far away places, and others hunger and thirst after love. We think to ourselves if only I can find Mr Right, or Miss Right then I will be happy, if only I can find true love then I will be satisfied. Others hunger and thirst after wealth, materialism, stuff. So life is a constant striving after bigger, newer more modern things. But if we ever stop to think about it then we all know that things don’t satisfy us. We all know that’s its great for that moment when we get something new, but it soon fades, and there’s always something else.

Like blind beggars in dustbin we hunger and thirst after many different things, but they will not satisfy us.

Do you remember the Rolling Stones song – “I can’t get no satisfaction”? Well that’s what I am talking about – its that constant craving for the next thing, and as hard as we may try we will never have enough presents, we will never have enough excitement, we will never have money.

We will never be truly satisfied.

You see this is how many of us feel: as if there is something missing from our lives. And the reason for this empty feeling inside us is that we are looking for satisfaction in the wrong places. The things which we desire are often good things but as 'things' they are never really good enough. It’s like trying to satisfy your hunger by eating the packet, but ignoring the cornflakes. If we mistake material things for the real thing then we will always be hungry. As C.S. Lewis said,

"These are only like the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have never heard, news from a country we have not visited".

No matter how hard we try these ‘things’ will never fill the hole we have in our lives. This is something that St Augustine understood. More than fifteen hundred years ago he wrote, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you”.

We can never have enough to satisfy us, we can never work hard enough, we can never earn enough or own enough – we can never fill this hole in us. Only God can.

And my friends, the good news of tonight is that satisfaction is available here, and it’s free for all. And it starts with the baby in the manger. It starts with recognising that we are not alone in this world, and that we don’t have to continually strive for everything, for God came to us. But this is only the beginning: it starts with the baby in the manger but it ends with the cross. The cross is the reason is that Jesus was born, the reason that God came to us. For it is here, and not in the manger, that we see our real Saviour. In his death and resurrection we find forgiveness, we find peace with God, and we find purpose and meaning for our lives. It is only at the foot of the cross that we will find satisfaction in this life.There is no joy like knowing God forgives you; there is no peace like knowing your eternal future is secure; there is no love like being loved by God.

There is no satisfaction unless it is God who satisfies you, and that’s the gift that he offers to us all this Christmas.

So, this Christmas, as you are opening your Christmas presents enjoy them and I hope you get what you really want. But remember that, as good as they are, they are never really good enough. Don't mistake material things for the real gift this Christmas. And if you don't get what you wanted then don't worry because you didn't really need it anyway. Let your desire be for God who will really make a difference. Let him satisfy you this Christmas, more than presents or friends or family can ever do.

Have a happy, blessed and full Christmas, in Jesus’ name.

Lonely this Christmas

It's official, Britain is getting lonelier.

According to the anomie index (I know, its a terrible name) the loneliest place 30 years ago has a stronger sense of belonging than the closest place today. What this represents is a nationwide breaking down of communities that leaves us all feeling less involved, more isolated, and lonelier. The most vulnerable, of course, are the eldest amongst us but this loneliness is something that can be felt by people of any age, and especially at Christmas, as Kate Bosher writes, "Isn't it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for - I don't know what exactly, but it's something that you don't mind so much not having at other times."

If Christmas is the worst time for feeling lonely, then it is also the best time for finding an antidote for our loneliness, for in the simplicity of the first Christmas we remember that God has an answer for our deepest need.

Freddie Mercury, the late lead singer of the rock group Queen, once said, “You can have everything in the world and still be the loneliest man, and that is the most bitter type of loneliness. Success has brought me world idolisation and millions of pounds, but it’s prevented me from having the one thing we all need – a loving, ongoing relationship.” Now, Freddie Mercury was almost right but it’s not just any ongoing loving relationship that we need but a loving ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ, that’s what we were made for.

That’s why Christmas is such good news because Jesus enables us to know God. Christmas is the time when we remember that God did what we were unable to do. Because of our sin we were separated from God. Instead of knowing God we were strangers, even enemies of God. And there was no way for us back to God. So God came to us.

The birth of the baby Jesus in the manger in Bethlehem 2000 years ago was the first step in God breaking down the wall of sin that stands between us and God. Now, instead of being alienated from God, we can come to know him through Jesus. Because in sending his Son Jesus God managed to do two things at once - he dealt with sin and he brought us knowledge of God. That’s why Jesus was called Emmanuel - because he is God with us.

That’s the incredible thing about Christmas, it means that we don’t have to feel lonely and isolated from God, we can come to know him, because he came to us in Jesus Christ.

Mother Teresa really understood poverty and deprivation, yet she once said, “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved." God's promise to each one of us at Christmas is that we don't have to face this world alone - God is with us, and he loves us. That's the gift that we celebrate on Christmas Day.

No Carols for Christmas!

The world is going mad - and I am close behind it.

It is being reported in the news that the choir of Arthur Bugler County Junior School were told that their pupils must not sing Christmas carols at Corringham Winter Festival because they did not "dovetail" with its theme.

The children, aged between seven and 11, had spent weeks rehearsing a concert of traditional Christmas songs to perform on the centre stage but just days before the festival teachers were told that the choir could not perform as the carols had a religious theme. The choir had sung carols at every previous festival but this year they were told it had to be no carols for Christmas! What utter, ridiculous madness!

Please don't get the wrong idea. I do not support forcing my beliefs on anyone, it's up to each individual to accept or reject Jesus, and they are free to celebrate Christmas or not. What I object to is keeping the trappings of Christmas while ignoring or rejecting the One Whose birthday it commemorates. As Tony Benson, chairman of the Festival committee, noted: "It is a fact of life that a lot of people have forgotten the meaning of Christmas." Well I say in response, there is no Christmas season without Christ.

I am all in favour of community events like winter, spring or summer festivals, but lets not confuse them with Christmas. Without Jesus, it isn't Christmas.

A Saviour has been born

Officially, I don't do politics but I had to laugh as I listened to PMQ's yesterday. I know it was just a slip of the tongue, but when Gordon Brown announced that he had "saved the world" it really did bring the whole political world into perspective.

To be honest my first thought was of Gordon Brown as some kind of political Angel of Mercy. These are the kind of sociopaths who cause a disaster or an accident so that they can fly to the rescue and save the day.

Don't get me wrong, I think politics is serious business - they make decisions that effect our daily lives - but they really do need to lighten up!

There is only one God in heaven, the one who "brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing" (Isaiah 40:23) and there is only one Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; but then, that's probably why I don't do politics.

Glue and glitter

I wonder what your first thought was when you noticed it was frosty outside?

I hope the pavements aren't too slippery? Will I have to de-ice the car?

I'm guessing that these, and other thoughts will have passed through our minds as we peered through the curtains at the frost laying on the grass, roads and pavement, but I wonder how many of us were excited to see it?

As we walked to School - well I walked and the girls skipped - as we walked to school this morning the girls explained to me that the frost is actually God playing with glue and glitter, and the reason it is slippery is because the glue hasn't dried yet! How wonderful to be able to see God's hand at work in the mundane, and how delightful to see in this work something of his playful and generous character!

Their enjoyment of the frost left me thinking, why can't I see the world like this?

Jesus said in Mark 10, "Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in" (The Message). He meant, of course, that sense of dependent faith that children embrace as part of being nurtured and growing up, but surely also it has to do with how we see God at work in his world? I know that my children think their Dad can do anything (they are only 6 and 4) and they marvel at the simplest things I do that they can't. Isn't this the simplicity of a child?

So, the next time you scrape the ice of your car in the morning, or tip-toe along the pavement, try to see it at God's glue and glitter, and marvel at the simplest things that God can do but we can't.

Ever Decreasing Circles

Why is it that the longer I live the less friends I have?

I am sure that some would say, "to know me is to know the answer", but seriously, why is it that the more people I meet the less friends I have? Take Christmas letters as an example. Every year we add new people to the list of those we write to at Christmas, and yet every year we send less and less Christmas Cards. Is there a worm or virus that eats friends from my address list, or is there another answer?

Sadly, the answer is that as we get older our lives move in ever decreasing circles. Yes, we do add new names to our Christmas list, but we also take of those we have lost touch with, those we haven't heard from in years, and those who left the sphere of earthly communication, and there comes a time when we stop adding new names to the list. Its almost as if we reach a saturation point for friends - we can have so many, but no more. So our world shrinks - just a little at first, but then year by year in ever decreasing circles.

The problem with this isn't the Christmas list, as nice as it is to keep in touch with friends near and far. The problem is what it means for our effectiveness in witness. As Michael Green, in his commentary on Acts, 30 Years that Changed the World, wrote “We need Christians who are fearless in making Jesus known, and extremely broad in their range of contacts” (2002:55).

I asked a group of lay-leaders recently how many non-church friends they had, and we discovered that the more committed you were in leadership, the less likely you were to have friends outside the church, and in particular, the less likely you were to make new friends outside the church. I am sure they are not alone in this. So, not only is it likely that our circle of friends will diminish over time, but it is increasingly likely to be filled with other Christians.

Who, then, will share their faith with those outside our ever decreasing circles?

The only way we can reverse this trend is by being intentional about making friends. That means going to new places, doing new things and spending time with new people. It really isn't as scarey at it sounds.