IN PERSON WORSHIP SUNDAYS @ 10:30AM
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THE STABLE:
One of the really ancient ways of thinking about the birth of Jesus was of him appearing like a rose out of season in the middle of winter. It’s a time of year when in Europe and the north east of the United States, the ground is often frozen and roses are dormant. The writer imagines a beautiful flower unfolding to brighten that frozen landscape. It’s a bit like a monochrome photo which is edited to have a coloured flower standing out from the background. Here we have a photo of a plant that naturally flowers when most other plants are dormant: the “Christmas Rose”, Helleborus Niger.
THE SHEPHERD AND SHEEP
In Luke’s Gospel, the Christmas story includes the characters of the shepherds who are called by angelic visitors to visit the baby Jesus in the manger at Bethlehem. On the one hand, shepherds are right on the edge of society, the lowest socially and economically, and so it is interesting that they are invited to be first on the scene. On the other hand, in ancient Israel, rulers were likened to shepherds. Perhaps, this explains why Luke doesn’t have kings coming to the stable – Matthew includes that detail. For Luke, the shepherds are also the rulers of the world, invited to the stable to be inspired to rule better for having seen the baby Jesus? The message is that everyone is invited to kneel at the cradle of Jesus, no matter how rich or poor, powerful or weak. We are all invited, just as we are.
THE KINGS/MAGI
The kings or wise men/magi appear in the Gospel of Matthew only. This seems to be inspired by Psalm 72, which speaks of rulers bringing gifts from exotic places. The wise men add to the beauty and richness of the story of Jesus’ birth. And what pageant would be complete without “gold, frankincense and myrrh”? T S Eliot’s poem brings a grittiness to the idea of them crossing lands to get to the manger, whilst Peter Cornelius’ song brings soft edged beauty. The nativity story contains it all!
ANGELS
Angels bring important news in the Bible. They are messengers from God who help us to think differently, and invite us into new journeys. In the Christmas story, the Angel Gabriel tells Mary that she’s going to have a child. A host of angels appear to the shepherds to tell them to drop everything and get over to Bethlehem!