Martha's Marvellous Munchies

O holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend to us, we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, Be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell - O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel.   Merry Christmas!  It's time to welcome a baby! May your Christmas time be a time of welcoming others, and of receiving a welcome. May your Christmas time be a time of welcoming Jesus, and of being welcomed by him. And may those welcomes carry you through the year to come. Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." John 14:23 

Do not be afraid. Have you ever noticed that whenever an angel turns up in the Christmas story, just about the first thing they have to say is, "Do not be afraid"? To Zechariah: "Do not be afraid, for your prayer is heard." To Mary: "Do not be afraid, for you have found favour with God." To Joseph: "Do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." To the shepherds: "Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news." The approach of God to earth is a fearful and wonderful thing.  And whatever these angels looked like, they must not have been exactly reassuring in appearance.  But sometimes we make our own fears about meeting God. Are you afraid he doesn't listen to you? Are you afraid he won't be happy with you? Are you afraid you are making the wrong decision? Are you afraid he will tell you something you don't want to hear? Then, as we are poised on the brink...

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.   And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. John 1:14,16  And in these last few days, it becomes personal.  We have built up our sense of longing.  We have tried to prepare our hearts.  We have heard again the stories of those who were part of that first Christmas.  And now the Word is ready to dwell with us.  Are we ready to see his glory?  to receive grace?  to experience all that he has for us? If you're like me, you may still be thinking, "no! I'm not ready!"  The Christmas cake only has marzipan on it, there's tons of people we never did send a Christmas card to, and the presents - well, they'll probably get wrapped by Christmas Eve.  And even after all this Advent blogging, I still feel  much more like a dusty old stable than a sparkling house. But you know...

They say you never forget the birth of your first-born, don't they?  And how much more so when he is as special as mine.  Even now, fifty years later, I still take those moments out and sift through them like jewels. The diamond clarity of that obedient yes, when the angel came. The smouldering ruby of the long painful journey to Bethlehem. The shepherds' words, like pearls of great price. The shining gold of the wise men's precious gifts. So much else has faded, but these will never grow dim.  I polish them bright in my memory every day. And then I remember the agony of watching him crucified, that sword piercing my heart.  And the world breaking into a million glittering fragments when the women came running from the tomb, saying they had seen him - alive!  I have seen thousands professing his name, I have seen the persecutions his friends have undergone.  I have heard - wonderingly - reports of people naming themselves Christians in fara...

What stirred them to action, those wise men? What tugged them away from work and home? What compelled them to find the One this strange star signified? We do not know.  We know only that they left. Where did they travel, those wise men? What dangers and disasters did they face? Had they come that way before? We do not know.  We know only that they arrived. What brought them to Herod's palace, those wise men? Had they asked at many houses? Were they weary and discouraged? We do not know.  We know only that they searched. What did they know of the baby, those wise men? Were they sure that he was God? Were their lives forever changed? We do not know.  We know only that they found. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:1-2

If the angels are only singing to shepherds - why bother with angels at all? It's as if God says, "I could do it big, but instead, I'm keeping it small. I could send my Son to a palace - but I'd rather he slept in a stall. My heavenly hosts are at his command, but it's Mary who comes to his call. And only a few on that first holy night are aware of his coming at all. Now you think that it would have been clearer if the whole world had been held in thrall By earthquakes and fire, and thunderous noise, and the blast of a trumpet's call. There'll be such a time, I can promise you that, when the earth to its knees will fall. But for now, I send love, stealing down from above - and for now, I'm keeping it small." And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. ...

Well, I've never had a dream like that before, you know?  Most of mine are the usual kind of thing, with people and places all jumbled together, and it seems perfectly normal that you and Great-Aunt Sarah are riding flying donkeys to Assyria.  Until you wake up.  But this one was... different. How?  I guess it had an air of... authority, you might say.  Did you ever have a dream where someone was commanding you to do something?  I can't say I have.  But in this one, there was an angel - and I knew right away he was an angel, like you do in dreams.  No, no wings, not that I recall.  But a kind of brightness around him, somehow. And he told me - just straight out, in plain language - he told me, "Joseph, go ahead and take Mary as your wife.  She's telling the truth.  This child really is from the Holy Spirit, and it will be a boy, and you will call him Jesus."  Exactly what Mary's been saying all along. And you know - well,...