iGod

The Christ in Christmas

A Christmas message of hope in a year of seismic change 

Article written for Suffolk Free Press Article, 16 December 2016

Nicholas Crean, chairman of posh confectionary Prestat Finest Chocolates was asked by a US retail chain if his company would consider changing their Advent Calendar with a ‘Christmas countdown’ calendar covering just the last ten days. They thought it would be less confusing for people. Mr Crean reminded them that babies were born, not launched, not least the most famous One.

We’re a nation that gets Christmas, but then kind of doesn’t. Most probably have at least a vague idea that it has to do with a baby called Jesus, but the rest of the detail can be a little scant. Nevertheless, most people love to celebrate Christmas.

However, this Christmas feels a little different as it comes at the end of a year of huge social and political upset across the UK, Europe and America. Understandably, there’s some nervousness about what next year might bring­–with no one really knowing what to expect. So, let me offer a bit of seasonal hope.

And it comes with the birth of a baby 2,000 years ago whose arrival remains as profoundly relevant today as it did then. The founder of Christmas was born in a time of national crisis and much soul-searching. A country’s socio-political system was thrown into chaos by Roman occupation. However, Jesus’ coming provides hope for the shattered peace of ordinary people. He grows up into a young man to connect the best of a people’s past with their present predicament and points it all to a better future - through himself - a time we now call Easter.

It’s such a strong, life-affirming message that it may just be why so much of European Christmas tradition still retains its Christian heritage in some form or other, even down to the colours: red, green and gold. Not to mention the giving of presents, trees, lights, Christmas puddings, mince pies, Boxing Day and, of course, the ever-present Poinsettia.

In fact, the first five letters of Christmas remain a constant source of hope in every age ever since those unsettling days in Palestine. Whether we are a Remainer or Brexiteer, a Democrat or Republican, Christ stays central to our reason for the season.

The inspired sacrificial love Jesus talked about all in his life, which continued through his disciples is not a bad pointer for starting to heal a divided nation, not least after a referendum or election. Admittedly, it’s not scientific or rational, but it does have a long history of working for good and bettering society. This kind of love is accepting, generous, forgiving, selfless, unifying. And I could go on.

Maybe God was onto something when ‘love came down’ at that first Christmas. Maybe he knew what wars, conflicts and political dramas lay in wait for humanity. Maybe it’s part of an over-arching plan to help with the complex challenges and moral decisions that face our nations and world leaders today and give a greater hope.

Whatever you believe, one thing is for sure, there’s more Christ in your Christmas than you probably think.

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Andrew Stewart-Darling is Senior Pastor of Stour Valley Vineyard Church and founder of Storehouse Foodbank (Sudbury, Suffolk) Glow - Carols by Glowstick - a community carol service takes place on Christmas Eve, 6.30pm at the Delphi Centre. 

If you’d like to help local families in crisis this Christmas, visit the Storehouse Foodbank Gift Shop.

Let it glow! let it glow! Let it glow!

I hope that you have extra large, fully absorbent hankies– because the John Lewis Christmas advertisement is now showing on a small screen near you.

The store’s seasonal ad is fast becoming an institution and it tells us that it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas on our high street. Anyway, if you’re ready for a breathless, raspy cover of an old Oasis hit and something cute involving children, here it is:

From what I can gather, it’s about a little girl who spies on an alien disguised as an old man living on the moon, using an implausibly powerful telescope that her parents bought her from John Lewis. The girl tries to reach out to him, eventually succeeding with magic, self-targeting delivery balloons (presumably also from John Lewis, unless that’s Amazon using drones in outerspace that bring the alien/old man a telescope of his own). Cue tears and shopping sprees.

It is commendable that the campaign aims to raise money for Age UK, as loneliness among elderly people is a terrible thing for sure. But I am left wondering whether a psychological association with the season of goodwill actually delivers a Christmas with any kind of real meaning.

Ads and TV programmes that feature celebrity chefs may want our noses pressed firmly against the screen to get us to ooh and believe that we can have an impossibly perfect time, but I, for one, am getting just a little bit tired of it.

Recently I heard how St Mary’s Church in central London got its Christmas tree up super early. A children’s choir were heard singing in perfect harmony while a pile of presents were strategically placed under its branches. However, this was no school carol service, but the Toy Industry’s trade launch of this season’s twelve must-have presents.

The UK's toy market is now worth over £3bn with an average of £300 spent annually on toys for each child up to the age of 11, and globally in 2015 sales are expected to reach £58bn - so a lot is at stake.

But what if Christmas does not come in a van, as thought by poor Margo in The Good Life? What if it wasn’t left to a retailer’s ‘sadvertising’ or a celebrity chef’s recipes to give our day shape and meaning?

What if, instead, it arrived in the ordinary and the imperfect family experience? What if it included all those flaws and rough edges that we are meant to hide away?

The Bible gives the real reason for the season and provides us with the story of how God sends his only son, Jesus into the world to give us hope through his own life and death.

Born to poor parents in a smelly, unsanitary animal stable, Jesus’ arrival reminds us that the perfect Christmas has nothing to do with what we have, but actually in what we don’t have. The angels say to the terrified shepherds, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (The Bible)

Joy is different to happiness. It’s not about a state of mind, but a deep contentment, whether life is good, bad or indifferent. It is what makes the joy that Jesus offers us so powerful and why he is often referred to as 'a light in the darkness'.

This Christmas Eve you are warmly invited to come with your family to GLOW at the Delphi Centre, Sudbury. It’s a one-hour service of singing carols by glowsticks and hearing the Christmas story through readings, drama and media. It’s a lot of fun. The service starts at 6.30pm, but why not arrive early from 6pm to enjoy some mulled wine and seasonal treats? And, relax, you don’t have to be religious. Just come as you are.

 

ASD

 

 

Storehouse Foodbank and Christmas at VIneyard

Being responsible for Storehouse, the foodbank in South Suffolk, I was recently contacted by a national newspaper. They were running a piece on how London is economically divided from the rest of the country.

During the interview I sensed that the paper’s economics lead writer could not quite get his head around the fact that a place as idyllic as Sudbury needed a food bank. And yet here we are.

Requests for emergency food bags have more than doubled since April this year. Yet this is not a story about statistics, but people’s lives. Many of the accounts I hear simply break my heart and reduce our team to tears.

It takes a lot of courage to admit that you cannot feed your young family and to seek help outside your own means. More than a twinge of shame is often attached to that.  Personal confidence takes a severe blow and you want to withdraw from the company of others. Meanwhile, inwardly, you are at war with yourself and wondering ‘why me?’

Of course, some situations are self-inflicted but, then, haven't we all done things that we are not proud of? Who are we to judge? Then there are the others who have worked hard all their lives and now find themselves in an inconceivable position.

We try our hardest to make people feel ‘human’ as they come in to our Storehouse ‘Drop In’. It gives us some satisfaction to see people walk out just a little bit taller than when they first arrive. I am keen to say that we are not an extension of the benefits office, but a safe place run by caring individuals whose faith in God has inspired us to serve others.

Does anything ever change? You bet.

There was a young mum who came in to see us for emergency food who had been a victim of domestic violence. Her children had been taken away from her because she had become mentally ill and drug-dependent. She was rehoused, but had no furniture, so Storehouse and the church did what it could, which included contacting a qualified handyman who we were told could lay carpets. It turned out that he was helped by Storehouse in the past. He did the whole job for free.

Christmas is a time for hope. To quote Mother Teresa, ‘Small things done with great love change the world’. The one star over Bethlehem 2,000 years ago signifies the one hope in the world through Jesus to help guide us ‘home’ safely.

Why not join us for a family Christmas at Stour Valley Vineyard Church and reflect on these things together? We have a number of events going on.

Shine – free young families’ fun afternoon, 3-5pm, Saturday 14 December at the Delphi Centre, Newton Road, Sudbury.

The Great Big Mince Pie Giveaway, Market Hill, Sudbury 11am, Saturday morning, 21 December.

Christingle – the increasingly popular family church service, 10.30, Sunday 22 December, The Delphi Centre, Newton Road, Sudbury. Includes craft activities.

GLOW –Community Carol Service, 6.30pm, Christmas Eve, Delphi Centre, Newton Road, Sudbury. ‘Carols by glowstick’ with readings read by people in our local community’.  Mulled wine, soft drinks and mince pies served from 6pm.

One last thought. Maybe take a moment this Christmas to look up at the sky on a clear night and imagine what that single bright star over Bethlehem might have looked like some 2,000 years ago. The truth is, it still shines as bright today in the darkest times in our lives.

Happy Christmas and a peaceful new year to all. God bless.

ASD

How do you have a good Christmas?

Maybe, like me, you are fed up with all the rain that we have been having this year. However, there is some good news.

Christmas trees have thrived, making their foliage greener and glossier. Also, more fragrant. That means for those who like a real shrub in the corner of your room at Christmas you will not be disappointed.

However, those hoping for romance under the mistletoe may have to go for the plastic option as holly and mistletoe are in short supply. Ho hum!

Recently I have been humming Good King Wenceslas and thinking what an odd carol it is. In fact, I discovered that it is not technically a Christmas carol at all.

The famous ditty is about a king (well, duke actually) who lived some 1000 years ago in Bohemia (now modern day Prague) who, on Boxing Day, saw a poor peasant from his castle and decides to go and take food and wood to them.

Although based on a real character, this story is a myth. That is not to say Wenceslas was not a “good king”. Thanks to his grandmother Ludmilla, Wenceslas was brought up a Christian and was gifted with a strong faith, as well as a strong sense of public duty. This would later have a positive impact on his dukedom. Unfortunately, his mother who did not share her son’s convictions had her mother murdered.

He was widely called ‘good’ because he set up an education system and a successful law and order system for his beloved people. So, being generous, we might say that some parts of the carol story about him being a kind King are true.

Sometimes people will say to me: “You’re a good man”. I politely smile, but the truth is I don’t feel I deserve the accolade. Besides, who really decides if someone is good or not? My atheist friends quite rightly get uptight when a church claims to be better at being ‘good’ than others.

Goodness is the product of ethics. And if we understand ethics to be a set of principles for behaviour, good morality is surely just learning to live by them. That means we like ‘good people’ to be elected to government. ‘Good people’ to win the lottery. ‘Good people’ to win music awards.

Just like Wenceslas, those with Christian faith and a social conscience continue to shape our modern system of politics, law, education and health service, but I doubt any of them would call themselves ‘good’.

However, there is still the big, unanswered, philosophical question: who is good enough to say they are ‘good’?

Let me stick my neck out and say, in my view, there is only one– Jesus Christ. The Bible says that he is without sin and moral failure. That’s quite a claim. First century historian Josephus wrote without bias: "At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous”.

I like to think people come to our church not to be good, but because they want the Christmas message of hope that talks about God’s son coming into the world to transform their lives.

Meanwhile, if you would to know how to have a good Christmas yourself, why not plan to come along to one of our special services or another one local to you?  Some of us may even have a “Ludmilla” that we can go along with.

ASD

Foodbanks - a welcome addition to the festive season

Dr Eve Poole, associate faculty at Ashridge Business School, writes for EA's Friday Night Theology on the value of foodbanks and makes a strong case to go shop for families and individuals in crisis at Christmas.

Often we have to explain that our Storehouse, a Vineyard church initiative inspired by Ann Watson (wife of the late David Watson), is not a homeless programme, but a hard-pressed programme. For whatever reason people fall on tough times. We feel strongly that ours is not to judge, but to show mercy.

Eve Poole cites that "fewer than 5 per cent of those who use foodbanks are homeless. Most of them are ordinary families with cashflow problems from rising bills, spiralling debt, or delayed benefit payments. Many are suffering from unexpected sickness, bereavement, or unemployment."

As our own church prepares for its second weekend at Waitrose, I would recommend having a quick read of Eve's article and letting the stats soak in.

Meanwhile, if you are not near Sudbury Suffolk, there are plenty of other foodbanks around, not least those that are franchised through the Trussell Trust, so why not get involved?

Let's go serve somebody!

ASD

 

The best of times and the worst of times

There is something in us that loves it when a record is broken. And what a summer it has been for records. But just when you thought nothing could outdo the Olympics for breathtaking achievements I found myself watching on TV the fearless skydiver Felix Baumgartner leap from edge of space, beating as many as three world records, including the highest freefall jump.

He becomes the first man to break the sound barrier in a record-shattering, death-defying freefall. He reached a top speed of 1,342km per hour and travelled 39 kilometres.

As I watched from my conservatively 18-inch high comfy chair seat I thought, you have got to be insane! I quickly made a promise to myself to never ever contemplate going up in a hot air balloon without a short chain first attached to the ground. But, still, what an achievement.

Of course, not all broken records are to be celebrated. Recently I read that the demand for emergency food by struggling families was on the sharp incline. According to food bank charity The Trusell Trust, four years ago the number of people in need of its services was 26,000. In 2012-13 it is predicted to rise steeply to 200,000.

If I may borrow from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, these are then “the best of times and the worst of times”.

Last month I shared some of my own personal journey how, by faith in God, I came to have my heart broken for the most harassed and helpless in life. Also, how our church, Stour Valley Vineyard, in its small way, is wanting to make life better through Storehouse, our compassion programme.

What I wasn’t expecting was the response.

We have simply been blown away by the response of local schools, churches and organisations who have been in touch to hand us cheques. You are all amazing people. It says a lot about our community. Thank you.

As we hurtle towards Christmas, there is now another opportunity to do something for those going through “the worst of times”.

Our church’s Storehouse has been asked to partner with Waitrose for a special seasonal food bank initiative. On the last weekend of November and first weekend of December we will be there, collecting items of food for our Storehouse Christmas Hampers. We want those who have been bruised, crushed and beaten up by life to experience a Christmas like no other.

As Christians celebrate the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ, so we would like to see the birth of new hope for many living in gloomy circumstances.

Last year, with the help from a couple of local churches, we were able to provide a record 43 hampers (we started our first year with seven), but by the grace of God and the goodness of people’s generosity, I would love to see that record smashed.

As you arrive at Waitrose some nice person will give you a suggested Christmas shopping list and doubtless a smile. We are not saying buy everything on it, but if you could purchase maybe a couple of items you’ll be doing a fantastic thing for someone in desperate need.

If you are unable to get to Waitrose or don’t usually shop there, don’t worry. We also have an online Storehouse Christmas Hampers online shop.

Meanwhile, as Christmas draws ever nearer, I pray that out of the darkness, out of the toughest and longest of recessions, out of “the worst of times”, comes “the best of times”.

As someone whose own life has been changed by the one who put Christ into Christmas, may the lives of others be changed too and given hope for a brighter future in 2013.

Together we can make a family or individual in crisis this Christmas a time of joy.  On their behalf, we’d love to have your support.

ASD

Christmas Olympics

A dear friend of ours Helene from All Souls, Twickenham, always manages to raise a smile with her creative Christmas cards. Thought it worth posting to share the Christmas love wider.

Hope you are all well into the Christmas by now. I know we are are at SVV.

ASD

Keep Calm and Enjoy Christmas

(My article reproduced from Community News.)

I remember sitting in a church a few years and hearing a vicar talk about how Christmas is a time of peace and goodwill, and how we needed to find space to just be.

As a young parent I thought, “Yeh, right!”

In all honesty, I strained to hear how the talk finished as one daughter almost caused an international incident by stealing another child’s Buzz Lightyear, while the other threw a habdab because I asked to her give back an elderly lady’s walking stick. Peace in heaven maybe, but peace on earth was stretching it.

In the midst of a busy conference recently I came across a flavour of tea called Moment of Calm. Although not quite tempted to have a cup, it did remind me of those unavoidable ubiquitous Keep Calm and Carry On posters and mugs, which seem to be everywhere like a cheap suit. Originally a wartime poster produced by the British government in 1939, it now has its own parodies such as: Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake and Now Panic and Freak Out. Calmness is something we are seeking everywhere.

I wonder, though, if it possible to have a true moment of calm this Christmas?

When I think of having a calm Christmas myself the familiar Austrian carol Silent Night, Holy Night by Franz Xaver Gruber comes to mind.

What makes the hymn special for me is that it is said to have been sung simultaneously in French, English and German by troops in the trenches during the famous Christmas truce of 1914. It was one of the few carols that soldiers on both sides of the front line knew.

It was estimated that on that Christmas Eve around 100,000 troops ceased fighting and instead, quite bizarrely, shouted Happy Christmas to each other before eventually going over the top to exchange, not gunfire, but presents. There was even a friendly game of football.

I suspect Silent Night has never had a less holy setting, but it was sung where hope in a saviour of the world was needed most. I am sure it was also sung with gusto. It was a symbolic moment of peace and humanity amidst one of the bloodiest and needless wars in modern history.

It tells me that if there can be calm in the midst of the Great War then, perhaps, aiming for some of our own peace and calm this Christmas is not beyond our reach.

We will, of course, be remembering our troops this year who will be far away from home, but for ourselves let me ask: where will we look for our calm? Will it be in a tea bag or somewhere a little more soulful like Church?

There are a number of local churches who have planned Christmas services where I know a time of peace on earth will be on offer (see Church Services on page 4).

But if you do have noisy excitable kids, like ours, you’re very welcome to bring them to our hour-long Christmas Eve Family Carols service at 7pm in the Delphi Centre. Why not come early for free mince pies and mulled wine? It’s usually a lot fun and just the thing after you’ve done all your shopping and preparations. We’d love to see you. We’ll even promise to sing Silent Night, Holy Night too.

Meanwhile, may I wish you a happy Christmas on behalf of all of us at Stour Valley Vineyard Church.

ASD

A thought for Christmas: when the light of faith flickers

Well, Christmas is fast approaching as our Christmas Eve Family Carols preparations start to take shape thankfully. It is going to be a joyous occasion and with so many families coming it will hardly be a quiet contemplative service, but, hey, there has been time for that within the Advent season.

Alongside the church preparing for God to come into the world we have of course had journos reporting the usual fare in the season of illwill toward Christians. For instance, we hear that Prof AC Grayling has been working on his humanist version of the BIble called the Good Book. He tells the Times that he hopes to have it out at Easter. (Good PR planning guys - original!) He says he is not looking to anger Christians. Hm. Either he is being incredibly naive or is treating the religious community as dingbats. What do you think?

More helpfully, I have read former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion's thoughtful piece in the Saturday Times about his own journey of faith. He admits that his own thoughts had taken him down the Hitchen view that Christendom was some kind of "celestial North Korea", as mentioned in the debate with former Prime Minister Tony Blair the other week.

But as so often is the case, when prejudice is removed and we stop pedalling someone else's doctrine, whether of the faith or atheistic kind, something can happen. An honest exploration of what it is to be human may be discovered.

For Motion, he sees his own encounter with faith not so much as a Damascene light, but more of a flicker. Sometimes he says he sees God clearly, sometimes not at all. In short, he is being honest with his struggle of faith versus doubt. Much like we all do.

I like this language a lot, but because, really, how can anyone experience God with a full uninterrupted light of certitude?

However, when we are disciplined enough to press into the presence of God through prayer and devotion the flickers become subtly less. For me at least. Theologically we may understand this as the Kingdom of God breaking into the present, touching the edge of darkness of men's hearts, as Paul the apostle might have said to the young Timothy.

Now, I know Christmas can be a sentimental time. It can be a lonely time. It is also a time when we remember friends near and far, family and lost loved ones, but somehow the flicker of light in the Advent candles is an encouraging image for us all to huddle around. There is really nothing wrong with that.

For me, Christmas is a constant reminder that Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, continues to expose any darkness of doubt and disbelief I may hold to draw me into a deeper experience of himself.

ASD

 

 

BBC trailer for Nativity starring Garrow's Law actor Andrew Buchan

Here is the trailer for the four-part BBC one drama of the Nativity which starts next week.

Writer, and executive producer Tony Jordan him of Eastenders,Hustle and Life on Mars fame was asked if adapting the nativity story has changed his perspective of it:

"When I first started the project I am not sure I had an opinion about whether the Nativity was true or not. I guess that I just thought it was a lovely Christmassy story with baby Jesus in a manger and I liked it, but I had never thought about it more than that.

For the first couple of months I was talking to historians and scientists who did everything they could to convince me that the story never happened.

They claimed that it was a story patched together from bits of other stories and was concocted by the people who wrote the gospels to make Jesus the Messiah. They invented the census because the Messiah was supposed to be born in the City of David. So they concocted this fictitious census to get him there and that was their take on it.

So after the first couple of months I believed that the story never happened. But then the more research that I did and the more people of faith that I spoke to, I realised that this was a story that wasn't written down at the time, it was passed by word of mouth for a hundred years before anyone thought to write it down. So details and some of the timings get lost by the three hundred thousandth time you tell the story.

To me all the things that the historians held up to say 'this doesn't work' – for example, the dates don't match with the consensus that was held by Quirinius – become irrelevant. This was just a story that was told by those shepherds that were in the stable to some other shepherds and then they told some other shepherds who told someone else and they told someone else and that went on for a hundred years until someone wrote it down.

How on earth can you expect that story to be spread by word of mouth for a hundred years and for the last person who hears it to have all the dates and facts right?

So by the end of the process I am now in a position where I actually think it is true and I think that it happened more or less as I have portrayed it."

Four half-hour episodes tell the traditional tale starting next Monday on BBC One in the evenings.

ASD