The Simple Pastor
Simplicity & Generosity
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On Christmas Day, with some kind friends from around the churches in town, we hosted a Christmas dinner for people who would for a variety of reasons be on their own. In the end there were about 100 of us from aged 1 to 96! Today I received this kind letter. It’s ample reward for a day I thoroughly enjoyed, celebrating the birth of Christ (in what is for me a more appropriate manner). Here’s the main body of the letter:
“I felt I wanted to write and say many thanks to you and Soul Purpose and to other kind friends who helped to arrange such a Happy Christmas Day.I’ve had ninety-six Christmas’ and the one Soul Purpose invited me to was one of the best I wasn’t looking forward this year to Christmas without my dear husband but you helped to take some of the sadness away. I thank you all for giving me a happy joyful time to share with others and for the hard work and hours of preparation to give so many lonely folk such a great time. A Happy New Year to you all. God Bless”
I nearly cried.
Merry Christmas – may the truth of God become flesh remind us of His great grace to us.
Have hope, there is light in the world!
Here’s a round-up of things that I found interesting on Christmas
It’s getting towards that time of year again when everyone goes a little crazy and overindulges, over spends and over commits. We’ll recover in February 2010. It won’t come as any surprise that I’m no fan of this feast of consumption we call Christmas. Most of it (around 99% I reckon) has almost nothing to do with Jesus.
So if you want a different kind of Christmas start thinking now if you haven’t already. Here are some places you can look for inspiration:
This video is on my front page for a reason
“Over a billion Christmas cards are now sent in the UK every year- 17 for every man, woman and child in the country. Most of them end up in the bin”
and
“Bearing in mind that most cards say little of any significance, and end up in the bin within days, I personally think that the greeting card culture is a bit odd. If I have something to say, surely it’s more meaningful to say it in person. To buy a card is just outsourcing our affection to Clinton’s Cards, a kind of commodified sentiment.”
Yesterday was a great day. One of the things we do as a church is take part in Soul Purpose with other Christians around the town, for the past few years it’s been a weekend event in May (gardening, fun days, community events etc…). Earlier in the year we decided it would be a good idea to do something on Christmas Day.
Dinner for 120 it is then. So families volunteered on mass and we began asking people who would otherwise be on their own to come and join us for dinner. And nearly 30 of them did.
and what are you doing reading this blog?
Sunday night was our guest Christmas service. We’re not a traditional church and we meet in a school so this service tries to walk the balance between traditional elements (carols and readings for those that only come once a year), evangelism (preaching the gospel to those that only come once a year) and more contemporary presentations (so it feels like us – in case guests decide to come more than once a year). I think on the whole we do a pretty good job.
We had a good number of guests which is always key to the success of a guest service. The musicians did a great job and we have some very talented people for a small (ish) church.
Our theme was ‘why Christmas is beautiful news’ and I decided to try and make the link with this years Christmas no.1, which is Alexandra Burke’s version of ‘Hallelujah’ (for the record the Jeff Buckley one is better). It’s interesting that at Christmas we have the nation humming hallelujah, but like the song, without Jesus it’s a cold and broken hallelujah.
For those of you interested you can read my talk here but we don’t have the audio up yet. (I’m not even sure it was recorded).
And for your appreciation I compared the slightly depressing lyrics of Hallelujah with Lincoln Brewster’s worship rewrite, Another Hallelujah and put this slideshow with it. (Tech geeks, I recommend SlideRocket for presentations). Enjoy and hope you know the presence of our Saviour with you this Christmas.
This is what Christmas should be about…great video from Advent Conspiracy
Sometimes no matter how hard you try the money just disappears. Extras coincide with planned and needed expenditure and by the end of the first week of the month, it’s all gone.
Recent extras in our household include £260 on gas boiler repairs and parts. Deep joy. But I have a wife who ceases to fu
nction at low temperatures. Heating and hot water made this an essential.
This coincided with a planned expenditure. My motorbike needed an MOT and I needed a new helmet. £100 to keep my head in one piece should I fall off the bike is I think a sound investment. Others may disagree. I’d already stretched the replacement of the old one beyond reasonable. I also happen to think my new piece of gear is quite cool.
When you’re on a below national average income these things can be a challenge, it’s the timing of these events more than anything. December isn’t a great time for most people to be hit by extra financial burdens because on average they will spend £655 on Christmas festivities. Fortunately for us, living simply means this isn’t something we’ll be doing and because we live within our means and budget we can cope with the extras and (hopefully) quickly return to pre-challenge levels of giving.
A few key lessons emerge for me:
Matt Hosier preached on this subject at Alder Road. He says,
“If you understand God – what Jesus has done, and will do; the awesome majesty of the Father – then you are not going to worry so much about money! Christmas often minimizes Jesus. We see images of the crib and the cattle. We sing away in a manger. But Paul wants us to lift our gaze. He wants us to see the indescribable greatness of God, and live like a Christian.”
I’m notoriously bad about thinking about Christmas celebrations (as opposed to the gift of Jesus) until about the 23rd December. Although this year is quite different. As a family and as a church we’re having a feast on Christmas Day where we’re hoping to invite those who would otherwise be having a less than merry day – Soul Purpose Christmas
Others have also been doing some good thinking about Christmas – read, remember and act
For other ideas try Buy Nothing Christmas or Alternativity or Advent Conspiracy or Rethinking Christmas
“This text speaks of the birth of a child, not the revolutionary deed of a strong man, or the breath-taking discovery of a sage, or the pious deed of a saint. It truly boggles the mind: The birth of a child is to bring about the great transformation of all things, is to bring salvation and redemption to all of humanity. As if to shame the most powerful human efforts and achievements, a child is placed in the centre of world history. A child born of humans, a son given by God. This is the mystery of the redemption of the world; all that is past and all that is to come is encompassed here.”
“No priest, no theologian stood at the cradle of Bethlehem. And yet all Christian theology finds its beginning in the miracle of miracles that God became human.”
“When God chooses Mary as the instrument, when God wants to enter this world in the manger in Bethlehem, this is not an idyllic family occasion, but rather the beginning of a complete reversal, a new ordering of all things on this earth.”
“The miracle of all miracles is that God loves the lowly….God is not ashamed of human lowliness, but goes right into the middle of it, chooses someone as an instrument and performs miracles right there, where they are least expected”
“Celebrating Advent means being able to wait. Waiting, however, is an art that our impatient age has forgotten….We must wait for the greatest, most profound, most gentle things in the world; nothing happens in a rush, but only according to the divine laws of germination and growth and becoming.”
This is another attractive gift book with Bonhoeffer in the same vein as Who Am I? and makes for a thoughtful gift for Advent (it’s a bit late for such recommendations but never mind there’s always next year). The format is the same with a reflection, phrase or thought from the great man and they really did make me stop and think about the season we’re in.
I’m a bit jaded about Christmas, it doesn’t have much wonder for me and I’ve been seeking how to celebrate what it really means in a way that has integrity to the event itself. So for example the way we share the Lord’s Supper (while by no means perfect) seems fitting to the event I’m remembering, but I just can’t say the same about Christmas. So to genuinely pause again in awe at what happened was a pleasant surprise. So I’m going to post some of the quotes in the last few days before Christmas day.
Consumerism is the defining word of our times but we’re mostly ambivalent about it and those with vested interests are taking note. How do I know all this, well the notion is appearing in adverts of all places and that is counter-subversive to say the least. It’s a pretty mild opener but it’s there…thanks to HSBC (click here to see the full ad- it’s under altruism ironically enough)
I’ve been away for a few days with the better half’s family for a low-key Christmas, which after last year was all we wanted. Anyway took the opportunity on Boxing Day to read a newspaper at my leisure which was a pleasure (apologies for the rhyming). My chosen journal was The Independent and unsurprisingly there was the usual hand wringing over the British publics insatiable appetite for material possessions. What was unusual was the prominence it was given, first of all in the main leader which contained this comment:
“With fripperies available for a song, sobriety and responsibility have set in: eco-friendly and organic increasingly belong to the mainstream, while value for money has made a comeback.”
I would have said a silent ‘hurrah’ if I’d actually believed any of that tosh. What I did believe was some of the facts I read in the headlining piece of their Extra section – The Bank of Britain: How did you spend Christmas? We are in so much debt, we don’t know why or what to do.
And I did believe Bruce Anderson in his op ed piece where he said this:
“Modern Britain is a contract society. It is also one in which the poor are bombarded by the relentless propaganda of consumerism. Throughout their day, they are constantly reminded about the goods which they would like to possess, but cannot attain.”
How very sad and very true.
I believe Jesus when he said 'life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions'. I believe he offers something better. This blog is mostly about that search.
I'm also a church pastor, a bookshop owner, a husband, a father, a keen runner, reader, and motorcyclist. These and a few other things make guest appearances from time to time.