When the song of the angels is stilled

This is one of my favourite poems/prayers for this time of year, it's written by Howard Thurman and has been set to music too (you can listen to it here: When the song):

When the song of the angels is stilled
when the star of the sky is gone
when the kings and the princes are home
when the shepherds are back with their flocks
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost
to heal the broken
to feed the hungry
to release the prisoner
to rebuild the nations
to bring peace among the people
to make music in the heart.

Advent 4: Hope

Many of you will know, or recall, that each of the candles on the Advent Ring has a theme linked to it: with the fourth candle linked to both Mary and to the theme of hope. With Mary’s song, known by many as the Magnificat, which we have just heard, hope is a theme clearly appropriate to Mary, being, as she was, a member of the Jewish community who were longing for the Messiah who would release them from the subjugation and oppression of Roman rule under which they were living.

Mary’s song is has become the song of all who hope for a changed world, a ‘better world’. It is the song for all who pray that a world in which the mantra that each person is a beloved child of God might become reality, as the Magnificat and the just and gentle rule of God are lived out in the way in which we treat, speak to and pray for each other. The world where the Magnificat is truth is a world where the promise that we are all made in the image of God is lived out with arms laid down, with open and honest conversation, with trusting hearts, with a passionate desire for equity and a fulfilling life made possible for all.

Mary’s song is a song of hope… it isn’t necessarily sweet or lovely though… just as I imagine Mary’s life was not sweet and lovely either. It is a song of change and disruption. The world is turned upside-down and the comfortable place of those who are in places of authority and power will be disturbed as the situations they hold will be taken away from them. Those who occupy positions in which they are nothing will be raised up. All will be disrupted.

We say these words each evening at Evening Prayer; we hear them most Fourth Sundays in Advent, often at Christmas and at our Patronal Festival… do we realise their power? Do we realise – as in both to understand and to make happen – the radical change that this song speaks of? I love the possibilities that it offers – but also, I will confess, I also fear what it demands of me when I say it, when I hear it, when I sing it.

I think of the young woman who first praised God with the words we have heard. I think of what needs to change in our world today to make the Magnificat a reality. I think of what I could do, what I need to do, what we need to do – all Christian people – to speak peace, to speak love and to speak hope into lives blighted by poverty, oppression, iniquity, injustice and I could go on. Think of what words you might sing.

You’ll know the hymn, When I survey the wondrous cross by Isaac Watts, and published three hundred and five years ago, this hymn ends, as I am sure some of you will know, ‘love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all’. I know that sometimes all that needs to be ‘done’ in the world can feel overwhelming – and I imagine that poor Mary, believed to be not much more than a child herself by our contemporary standards, Mary must have been pretty overwhelmed too when she was told she was to be the mother of the Messiah – and yet, and yet…

Mary gave her life, Mary gave her soul, Mary gave her all, to bringing this child to birth, to raising him, to teaching and training him in the faith, along with Joseph too – so that when the time was right, Jesus would know he was loved, he would know he was cherished, he would know he was the Son of God as well as her son too – and he would be able to give his life, his soul, his all as well.

If we are overwhelmed with what needs to be ‘done’ to make our world a better place, then, as Mary did, we need to begin with what it possible for us – and live with hope that the small things that we do will contribute to the whole. We may not be called to give birth to the Son of God – can you imagine what to put on the birth certificate under father – we may not be called to give birth to the Son of God but we can contribute by bringing his kingdom to birth, by living with hope: with arms laid down, with open and honest conversation, with trusting hearts, with a passionate desire for equity and a fulfilling life made possible for all.

We have heard these lines today: And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace. They were in our first reading from the Prophecy of Micah, when he spoke of Bethlehem in Ephrathah being the place from whence the Messiah would come, and also what the Messiah would be like. Micah was speaking hope to the people of Israel – the people from whom Mary came, the people from whom Joseph came, the people from whom Jesus himself came. These people were longing for a world that was different – where they could live free from oppression and hatred – and where they would be restored to the presence of God. There are many people longing for such a world today – we hear of them each day on our news and read of them in our newspapers.

We each live with hope in our hearts for a world that is ‘better’. God has given us the means to make it so – by faith and action. Many of you, I know, give time, energy, money and prayer to making this world a better place – and I thank you and encourage you in all that you already do. Can I ask this of you too though in these coming days: keep alive the gift of hope in your heart, kindle it and be inspired by it. Listen to hope’s encouragement and hope’s affirmation; listen to hope’s song and hope’s meaning. Let the hope that belonged to the people of Israel be your hope too – that our world will be changed and that people will all live with arms laid down, with open and honest conversation, with trusting hearts, with a passionate desire for equity and a fulfilling life made possible for all.

Amen.

A broad church?

Some people have asked what I think about the vote that took place in General Synod in November regarding the place of women in the Episcopacy in the Church of England. I did not think it would go through and, although I wholeheartedly support Bishops of both genders, I am glad that this particular piece of legislation did not go through as it would have enshrined within it a two-tier system of episcopacy, and I do not think this is right. Had this particular piece of legislation gone through it would have meant that those who do not wish to have a woman as their bishop or a man who has been ordained by a woman as their parish priest, or a man who has been ordained by a bishop who has ordained a woman as priest or bishop – they could ask for someone different. What a mess. How far back in time do you go back to check out someone’s ‘pedigree’ as priest or bishop? And what happens if you do want a woman as your parish priest, and your bishop and diocese is an enclave that makes it virtually impossible to exercise your ministry if you happen not to be a man?

It seems to me that the Church of England is only as broad as those it recognises and invites to bring their gifts and skills into play. Following the vote that took place in November, the place of women in the church is seriously in question. Men and women are different it is true – but this is not simply because of their gender – it is because we are all different. The skills and gifts that I have are different from the woman I sit next to on the tube. The gifts and skills that the man who drives the bus has are different from those of the man who works in the City… sweeping the office or working behind the desk. We are each unique, we are each made in the image of God, we each bear the imprint of Christ.

I do not speak very much about the matter of women in the church a) because I simply get on with what I believe God has called me to do and be, and that the church has affirmed and b) because I don’t feel I have the right to ‘go on about’ being a women in ministry, when all women and men are called to serve.

This is a deeply sad and disappointing moment in time. Many people prayed for the will of God to be done – and someone somewhere must think it came to pass. Maybe this was the right thing so that future legislation could go through without the legalising of the taint associated with merely being of the ‘wrong’ gender. I use the word taint advisedly because it is a word that has been used about me to my face because I am a priest who is female. Imagine that if you will – by my gender, I bring some sort of taint to the office of priest. This is also why I don’t talk about this matter so very much because I find it too distressing and embarrassing to know that there are Christians who worship Sunday by Sunday and day by day who use these types of words and sentiment about one another. What would Jesus say and do? What should we do? As ever, the answer is to pray.

Pray earnestly for charity and for love, pray earnestly for grace and hope. Pray also for the members of General Synod who spoke passionately and earnestly on both sides of the debate, and for those who are seeking to take this matter forward. Pray for the Church of England as it seeks to heal a wound that has scar tissue from previous matters relating to this theme that have never really been healed and that cause impediment of movement for all. Pray also for the women of the church across the world in whatever form of ministry they exercise, lay and ordained, parish priest and bishop, young and old. May women in our churches be cherished and loved and held dear by all. May men of our own age know that they are cherished and loved and held dear by all too. May we all know the love of God calling us to be who we are, in God’s service and for God’s good purpose.

Being woman

As the the days continue to pass by since the Church of England's General Synod voted against women being permitted to be ordained Bishops, I realise that as a woman I am feeling less than valued by 'the church' and wonder how it can be that there are people who say that, because of their gender, women are to be barred from certain roles and responsibilities. 

Somewhere in my tummy this touches a deep truth and reality that I have 'known' for a long time, that meets with personal experience in all sorts of places and at all sorts of times - and  it doesn't feel very good, I can tell you. I am heartened that so many Bishops and Clergy voted in favour - and I reached a point some time ago of thinking it really should be a single clause measure - but the phrase 'good enough' and the speeches about 'my' church, 'my' faith... these have left me wondering. 

When people ask me, what people ask what I think of the result of the vote, I have to stop and be measured and pleasant in my response. What I really want to do is weep and say that I don't want to do this any more. I don't want to have to be 'allowed' to be a priest - I just want to be one. I don't want to have to be ashamed because I am a woman - God made this way, and I am made in God's image.

I have to stop and be measured and pleasant - but why should this be? The church that I belong to and that I love has rejected who I am in the essence and core of my being. I am a child of God. I feel called to serve and the church has affirmed this calling. There are others who are called to higher office but, because they are female, they are not allowed to follow this calling. Who is right?

It has never been easy being a woman in the church. At theological college there were smutty and distasteful jokes with offensive conversations about menstrual cycles and the sense of taint caused by these. Imagine having to listen to those when you were living alongside men who would rather have you wash their dishes than have you serve them at the altar. When I was younger, it was alright as a woman to be a member of the Church Council - as long as you never spoke. How do I stand with any sense of credibility in front of a group of young people knowing that the church I love will not allow those of the same gender as me to be in authority over men? 

St Paul's is not the only voice to listen to you know. If the scriptures are to be followed - which ones? St Paul and headship? The dietary laws that form part of the heritage of the church? The laws about shellfish, mixed fibres or foreskins? Are Christian men allowed to have more than one wife/partner - as the Patriarchs of the church did? Or is there somehow a magic formula that allows us to pick and choose...

This is a sad place to be right now.

Do not let your hearts be troubled

Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving for the Departed 2012

 

            This season of the church’s year is one that I love. I love it for both its sense of melancholy and I love it for its sense of hope.

            Over the past days here at church we have celebrated All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day, and now we gather with you to give thanks for and remember those whom you and we have loved, those whom you and we have lost and those whom you and we see no longer.

            For each of us here, the loss we live with will take different forms and shapes. We may find that we move between this sense of melancholy and hope of which I have spoken. A lingering sense of loss for the one we have loved, and yet the hope that they are in a ‘better’ place and that we too will move to being in a better place as our hearts ease and our lives take on a new shape and meaning without them.

            I imagine some of you will remember the experience of waking in the morning with that very brief moment of not remembering, and then experiencing the wave of disbelief and grief that washes over you, perhaps making you sob into your pillow, as you remember again the person has died.

            I imagine some of you, like me, may still ‘see’ the person who has died – driving the car in front or behind you: is that really their face you can see in the rear-view mirror? Or waiting at the bus stop as you sail past in your car, or just turning down the aisle at the other end of the supermarket. These people were part of our every day and so it is only natural, perhaps, that we somehow ‘see’ them in our everyday lives even though we know they have gone.

            Life after someone has died will always be filled with the questions: where have they gone? How do we know? What has happened to them? What do we do if the loss is still unbearable, or we have forgotten what they look like, or we can’t think of them as it is too soon and it still makes us weep – when sitting on the train without realising that we are doing so.

            The question of where people are is such a natural one. As we live, our life is so tangible to us because we live it, that to imagine something as unnatural as not existing as we do is hard to comprehend. It is for this reason that the time of mentally and emotionally ‘seeking’ the person who has died is such a natural one. We are not alone in our wonderings and they are nothing new as, through time, people have asked the very same questions.

            At the funeral for your friend or relative, you may have had the reading from John’s Gospel that begins, Jesus said to his disciples:

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.

John 14: 1

            In this passage, Jesus assures his disciples that in his father’s house there are many dwelling places. Jesus is assuring them that there is a place for them, and that there is much space, so they do not need to worry about what will happen after they die. They, like us, are asking the question of what will happen when we die. They are, perhaps, asking what has happened to those who have died.

            If where you are, as you come today, is still in the place of searching, of asking or of weeping – then this season with its touch of melancholy is one that must still be very real. I did say though, that in this season there is also hope. Yesterday we kept All Souls’ when we remembered those who have died, giving thanks for them, and the day before we celebrated the Feast of All Saints’. This is a major Festival of the Church and it allows us to fill our hearts with light and hope and love for all those who have gone before us as faithful servants of God. On both of these days our focus is on those who rest now with God. We remember and recall the lives of those whose names are ‘famous’ – known as Saints – perhaps with churches dedicated to them, like our own St Mary’s. We remember and recall also those whose names are not known but who also served God, who loved also loved others and who also now rest with God.

            Our hope is that those we have loved rest with God, and we are offered hope, throughout scriptures that those whom we love do indeed rest with God: Jesus offers us this truth, St Paul does also when he writes to the Romans: I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

            If the melancholy or grief still linger for you, live in hope also. Let these words of Jesus live with you:

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. John 14.1

It's been a strange day

Today I have spent the WHOLE day sitting at my computer. The arrival of the electrican at the front door at 8.30am heralded a day of making cups of tea (something I never do for myself) and listening to Radio 2 in the background.

He was a very polite and courteous electrician - who seemed to enjoy the M&S pretend Jaffa cakes. (We had an amusing conversation around whether or not M&S should be allowed to call them Jaffa cakes or whether or not there was some EU ruling on this matter!)

So, what have I been doing all day that might in any way be linked to 'life, light and holiness'?

Well, there has been a lot of prayer in the midst of it all - phone calls about Funerals and planning for a sermon at the weekend. Whilst listening in to the radio here and there has been the news about the NHS and I have wondered with great concern about how people are going to manage in the NHS if there is really going to be a major change to how it will work.

There have been plans for the Children's Craft Workshops that we will be running on Good Friday - and so, questions such as, 'just what do I want the children and their parents to understand from this event' have been to the fore. Also, I have hoped to pin down some speakers for the Exploring SPirituality Day in September that I am co-organising.

Sometimes it is necessary to have our thoughts focussed with solid intent on matters of prayer, but at other times prayer weaves its way around us as we go.

Today, as the sun has shone on my back, as I have pondered the kingdom in everyday random 'stuff', as I have shared my excitement that the (live) chickens I have ordered will be here sooner that I had expected, I have been quietly praying, rejoicing, contemplating and thinking on God as I have gone through it all.

It is hard to believe that this time last week I was in Israel - preparing for a day that would culminate in boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. It is hard to believe, yet I am so glad to have the memory of it all. What a blessing the last weeks have been. Rich blessing indeed.

Following Christ...

This following Christ is a challenging thing sometimes. How do we know if we are facing the wrong right direction? 

Here is the sermon I preached today. I think Jesus gives us some clues.

Lent 2: 2012

There are many Christians today who will avoid talk about Satan and evil and the spiritual realm. This avoidance is not an example that we are given by Jesus. Throughout the gospels, we read that Jesus healed people of demonic possession: he named them and cast them out. In our Gospel reading today Jesus recognises the work of Satan in Peter – and I don’t imagine for one moment that it was a comfortable experience for either of them: Jesus sees the Satan at work in one of his disciples and has to say something; Peter probably would not have recognised it was Satan at work, as he sought to protect Jesus: from the elders, and even from himself. Peter may well even have been trying to protect himself, as he would have been seen with Jesus, listening to him, accompanying him, and telling others about him.

So why don’t we talk about Satan anymore? Why don’t we talk about evil and the spiritual realm anymore? We are happy to pray in the name of the Holy Ghost – it is at the end of many or our prayers, and we rely on it for guidance and comfort each and every day. If we recognise a ghost – a Spirit – that is holy, then there must be those that are not holy, those that are malign.

This is, perhaps, a discomfiting route to be going down so early on a Sunday morning – but these things are important. In so many places, our world is given over to an insidious creep towards an increased diminishing the impact of evil, of Satan, of the spiritual realm that is not holy. How and where is this so you may ask? Look at any of the programming on the television and you will see a spread of programmes that glamorous Vampires and the like. There are films that engage in a dialogue with these things and there are few who offer openly an alternative voice.

For us today, we may not know where to see Satan at work: we may well wonder, what is the big deal, is this really something about which we really need to worry? I believe the answer is yes. I believe the answer is yes because Jesus did, and by virtue of my baptism I am called to fight valiantly against sin, the world and the devil. Those of you who are baptised, who have had children baptised, or who are Godparents… you will have promised yourselves, or been promised for, or promised on behalf of others, that you will assist them in this task of fighting against these things: how well are you doing? How well are any of us doing?

In the apparently simple act of Peter warning Jesus about teaching openly that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again in this simple act, Jesus recognises Satan at work. This is our clue – along with the Collect that we have prayed today: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul. Peter’s actions can be read as altruistic – protecting Jesus from those who may well wish him harm: the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes. As I have hinted though, Peter’s reasons may have been pointed slightly more towards self-preservation. Either way, Jesus sees the words and action of Peter as pointing away from what Jesus had come to do – and this is the work of the devil, this is Satan, this is evil present in our world. This is our clue to where Satan is at work: in anything that prevents the work of Jesus, in anything which adversely affects our bodies and evil thoughts that which may assault and hurt the soul.

Our bodies are frail – and we will decay by varying degrees, and in due course die. We might like to think this prayer would have been so much more depth and meaning in the age it was written, where people were at the mercies of being bled or leached or simply left to suffer the plague or other woeful ills. Are we not all afraid though? Would we not all rather that physical infirmity did not come our way? Praying to be spared is no cowardly thing. Our concerns are real, our fears are real: it is what we do with any of it. Alongside our prayers to be spared, we must hold prayers also for strength to withstand what may come. We know Jesus walked the way of suffering and that this path was held in and guided entirely by prayer. This is our pattern and our example – and it is one that will hopefully keep our eyes focussed on Jesus through whatever trials may come to any of us. Having no hope is where the evil one can wheedle his way in. Forgetting that God was on the cross, that God withstood pain, that God suffered for – leaving us an example – to forget leaves us vulnerable. It is for this reason that I sing with great hope the final verse of the hymns: Abide with me:

Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes;

shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies:

heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;

in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Right at the start, when tempted in the wilderness, Jesus revealed his readiness to withstand what might come in the future when he did not succumb to the offers of Satan. This was both physical threat as well as mental and spiritual. Satan offers us quick fixes, simple ways to get to heaven easily – or so it would seem. It won’t matter if we are not in Church on a Sunday morning. What difference will it make if we don’t say our prayers at the end of the day – or the start? Who will know, who will notice, if we don’t open our bible from one end of the week to the next or if we choose to stay in our gardens or at home instead of putting ourselves out to come to the Lent Course or any of the others things that are offered to us to assist us in our devotions and growth in faith? Who cares about any of this? You can guess the answer: God. God cares because not doing any of these things point us away from God. This may feel uncomfortable, but it is true. Sliding away, avoiding things that will bring us into conversation and exploration of God’s way, of the way of Christ also, not turning ourselves towards these things are not of God. Peter’s example of warning Jesus off about teaching so openly of his forthcoming trial – and the rejection by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes – is akin to our failure to talk about God, to meet with others to pray to God and to bring ourselves before God, publicly and privately, to hear his word and his way for us. If we don’t do these things, if we don’t align ourselves with the way of Jesus – taking up our cross and following him, then this is the entry point for Satan. When our eyes are not fixed on God – where are they fixed?

The prayer that we might be defended from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul is all very well, but we have to assist in the process. We can ask God to hold the cross before our eyes, but we have to look at it. As we continue in this Holy Season of Lent – look to the cross and pray for protection and for grace to continue to fight valiantly, against sin, the world and the devil.

And if Satan, vexing sore,

flesh or spirit should assail,

thou, his vanquisher before,

grant we may not faint nor fail.

Ash Wednesday

Last night I made the ashes for our Ash Wednesday Services today and this morning, even after showering doubly well, I still smell of the smoke that was generated. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't escape the billowing smoke that was generated as the Palm Crosses from last year's Palm Sunday celebrations were burned, burned so that we could be marked again today.

Today I have been reminded by two different websites that it is Ash Wednesday and therefore that the journey of Lent has begun.

There is much that is deep, powerful and moving in burning the reminder of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. We remember this entry into Jerusalem every year and celebrate but to go there we have to be here. Ash Wednesday is about being here. It is about being reminded of who we are: as those who belong to Christ, as those who journey with Christ, as those who die with Christ and as those who will live in glorious eternity with Christ.

So today is not a day to only be reminded that this journey is beginning and notice it in a passive way, it is a day to be marked out to say that you are actively beginning the journey and will continue the journey through to its conclusion.

Like the crosses, we must be put 'to death' in this Holy Season so that we too might become and be used for something more glorious. The ashes become the means of the marking of the cross - the sign of Christ's victory over death. Like them, come and be put to use for a more glorious and wonderful purpose too.

Live the challenge  Journey to the Cross

All you need is love

Christmas Eve 2011

Very uncharacteristically for me in one of my sermons, I am going to tell a joke… now if you are of a nervous disposition, you may wish to turn away now! And also, as I’ve prompted you… do prepare to laugh as it will make me feel so much better!

The Virgin Mary dies and goes to heaven. At the pearly gates she is welcomed by Saint Peter who says, ‘How lovely to see you Mary. We have been looking forward to your arrival and everything is ready for you. Before you come in however, there is one thing I have always wanted to ask you: in all the paintings, frescoes, icons and drawing I have seen, you always look so miserable and I have wondered why this is.” Mary paused, took a deep breath and replies, “Well you see Peter, I always wanted a girl.”

Now, if you are offended by this joke – please don’t be… there is a reason for telling it, I promise.

When I was growing up, I knew that Christmas was on its way when my grandmother would slip into a phone call – never very subtly, “and what would you like for Christmas this year?” What you have to know is why this became an annual source of amusement for the rest of the family: the question wasn’t asked in early December or even mid-November. It would be in September – usually in the phone call that took place to wish her a Happy Birthday. I loved my Grandmother dearly, and whilst the rest of the family laughed about this annual ritual – and the earliness of it – we knew that the reason my Grandmother asked was because she wished to give us what we really wanted. She didn’t want to give us a gift that would remain un-used or unwanted, she wanted to give a gift that really mattered to us and that would be treasured.

I imagine many of you will have had a similar question asked of you in the past weeks or months – though hopefully not as far back as September! You may also have left subtle notes around, or dropped not-so-subtle hints if you haven’t been asked what you would like. And, indeed, you may well have asked others what they would like. It only occurred to me on Thursday evening that what would like for Christmas this year is some new lights for my bike as mine keep falling off and I can never get any to stay on: someone who could solve that problem for me would be have provided a great present indeed.

Now it may be that when you get home tonight you will open a present or two, and tomorrow many more may well come your way – but I wonder if you, like me, will find that the present that may be most appreciated is the one that is unexpected – the one that we either hadn’t realised we would like or need, or that we hadn’t even hoped to receive because we hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. The unexpected, but appreciated gift will be given by the person who will have been alert to us, noticing things in which we show an interest, things we seem to like but to which we never treat ourselves, or even things which express the desire of our hearts or our deepest longings and to which we never realise we give expression. These presents are true gift because they show that someone has been paying attention to us when we didn’t notice it.

Now I have no idea whether Mary would have really liked to give birth to a girl – and she may well have had one later after Jesus was born, I don’t know… and the joke I told at the beginning is not meant to be taken seriously, honest. Where it links into Christmas for us in a more serious fashion, is that the loveliest gift that humanity has ever been given is an unexpected gift – the gift of love. God listened to the desires of the hearts of his people and he knew that what was most needful was the gift of love.

This may sound slight and insignificant… was love really all that God had to offer? Was this really what the people needed?

When you think about it, though - isn’t this what we all need? Isn’t what each of us wants to know, deep in our hearts, where we rarely risk letting others into, isn’t what each of us desires with longing hearts the gift of love: to know that we are loved, that we are lovable and that we are worth loving. This is the gift that God gave so long ago, and it is the gift that God gives to us again each Christmas. God says: you are loveable, you are worth loving, I love you.

In the words spoken to the Shepherds: ‘Do not be afraid; for see - I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.’

This was good news for the people all that time ago – and it is good news for us now. It is not the gift that many of us will have asked for, but it is the gift we most need. It isn’t necessarily the gift that will come in the way we expect it, but it is the gift that will satisfy us, as well as make us want to receive it more. This gift, the gift of the love of God, may sound glib and seemingly nothing new, or even important when I witter on about it from the pulpit this evening - but this gift, as the Beetles would say, this gift is all you need. It is the beginning and the end, it is perfect and it casts out all fear, it is what each of us needs – you and me together – and this love is given freely and without end.

The Beetles sang, Love is all you need, and it is a wonderful truth.  There is also a beautiful poem by Christine Rossetti which is set to music by John Rutter which I did think I might sing to you (although I could have offered the Beetles too, I guess!), but this version of Rossetti’s poem is ever-so much more lovely.

As you listen, ponder how you might wish to receive God’s love for you this Christmas, and invite God to reveal his love to you. As you listen, ponder how you may already know God’s love for you, and pray for the strength and grace to know it more. As you listen, if you feel you are unlovable – open your heart, in however faltering a fashion, and even if it is only like opening a door a tiny way, open your heart and know that this gift, this precious gift of love, this gift is for you.

Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
Star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine;
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.