James Watson, the Team Rector writes
At a recent Team Meeting, we were musing about the fact that this year Sunday follows directly after Christmas Day. We were wondering what sort of services we should put on and how many people would attend them.
After the celebration of Christmas Day, the Sunday after might well feel like an anti-climax, a low point after a high.
A friend of ours is a follower of Reading FC, and he attends matches wherever his team is playing, home or away. He often says that being a committed supporter means following his team through the rough patches as well as during the good times. In fact he would say that those who only attend the big home matches do not get as much out of being a supporter as those who attend the away matches which often involve travelling a great distance in poor weather only to stand outside in the rain to watch their team lose miserably.
Doubtless at Christmas we shall see our churches filled to the door. They will look atmospheric with twinkling candles and seasonal decorations. But the very next day, there will be far fewer people in church and it might well feel like an anticlimax. But being a Christian is not about attending church only at the high points in the Church’s year, it is about being there at the low points too. Indeed being a faithful Christian will involve accepting that there will be high and low points as we journey in our faith
On the 26th, we celebrate the martyrdom of Stephen, the first Christian to be put to death for his faith. In his short life he must have known the exhilaration of first discovering faith. He would soon have known the cost of discipleship when he was dragged before the Jewish Council to explain his faith in Jesus, a high followed by a low.
We can we see this pattern of highs and lows not only in people such as Stephen but in the life of Jesus himself. The birth at Bethlehem is often portrayed as the perfect birth but danger soon lurked. Herod was out to kill the infant Jesus so the family fled to Egypt, a low point even if he was too young to be aware of it. When Herod died, the family was able to return home, a high point, but even that was not safe for them so they had to take refuge by going to live far away from Jerusalem in Nazareth, a low point.
All through Jesus’ life, there were ups and downs, successes and failures. Crowds were drawn to him by his teaching and healing but some, like the Pharisees, hardened their hearts and turned away from him. Then there was the high point of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem when the crowds welcomed him as their king but within a week they had turned against him and he was put to death.
This series of highs and lows was ended by the event of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Day when he turned on its head the greatest reversal there can be, namely death. Just as Christ conquered in the final battle, so Christians will enjoy the same kind of triumph at the end of their Christian pilgrimage. But in the meantime, we need to pick up our cross and follow Jesus, enduring the ups and downs until we finally reach the time of our own resurrection.
So whether the New Year brings with it spiritual highs or lows, I pray that we all may continue to follow Jesus faithfully.
With every best wish for Christmas and the New Year.
James,
Rev. James Watson, Team Rector
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|