About the Author: George Stuart
I invite you into the way I celebrate Christmas. It may be different to the way you celebrate and think about Christmas, but I ask you to join me as I bring you into what I think can be a joyful way of celebration in the 21st Century. One of the biblical scholars has helped me crystallise what I find difficult about the traditional presentations of Christmas. Greg Jenks, in his book ‘Jesus then and Jesus now’ has asked the question, “Has the Jesus tradition become a giant fairy-tale for children, and little more than an annual exercise of ‘let’s pretend’ for grown-ups?” (Page 123) That is the question which plagues me every Christmas.
I support very much the call to ‘create new memories’ for Christmas and I believe the place to begin is with children. However, one of the best known children's Christmas carols is ‘Away in the Manger’, and this much loved carol has many wrong messages imbedded in the words. The second verse of the traditional words speak of Jesus ‘looking down from the sky’ and the last verse has Jesus up in heaven and the singer requesting him to ‘fit us for heaven to live with you there’. I believe my third verse takes the dualism and the ‘away’ Jesus out and replaces it with the Biblical teaching of very last verse of Matthew – ‘And I will be with you always, to the end of the age’. This surely is the Gospel.
When Christmas comes it brings great joy; This story of a baby boy; The birth of life - divine event That tells us all of God’s intent To be at one with human life, In all its beauty, all its strife.
Introduction In my faith journey, I have struggled with the concept of the Trinity. Like many other followers of Jesus I suspect, I
1. When we battle anxious moments, Eager to be free from fear, When our past controls our present And the future’s far from clear,
The invitation is announced To greatest and to least; For all are welcome; “Come with us; Share this symbolic feast.”
A sacred community, if it is to be an authentic representation of the life and teachings of Jesus for today, needs to express its concerned opposition in both words, worship and actions, to injustice, violence and corruption – just as Jesus did. There is truth in the statement that “Jesus confronts more than he comforts.” When sacred communities look to the needs of its members in preference to the needs of non- members something is not quite right. The church is one of those organisations which exists for people who do not belong to it. As Jesus was a man for others, so the church is to be there for others.
Oh, when we think in depth on the reality Of life emerging everywhere on earth, We share the restlessness and rich vitality With creatures in our home of noble birth.
‘Advancing’ in the spirit by which we can be fed; Our search for truth is central in all that’s done and said; In openness we search but it’s not for certainty, For God is not restricted to our theology.
If our beliefs prevent our search For new and different creeds; Let us beware of narrow views Where dogma often breeds; With new, exciting facts we learn Much love can come about; Yes! Those who grow in their beliefs Can sing in praise of doubt.
That Friday, oh so long ago, Why do we call it ‘Good’? It tells a wretched tale of woe, Of thorns and cross of wood.
Ride on: ride on in majesty; The palms affirm with certainty Their claim - you are Messiah King. The crowds join in and loudly sing.
Welcome! One thing is for certain. We are all welcome. This is the Jesus way. He called people to him; he asked people to come to him; he welcomed them; he got cranky with his disciples when they tried to prevent anyone, anyone at all coming to him. He ate with outcasts, those despised; he befriended tax collectors, those regarded as thieves; he encouraged children, usually ignored in adult community, to sit on his knees; he had meals with the elite and the riffraff; he conversed publicly with women although that was taboo; unlike the religious leaders of his day, he sought the company of all kinds and types of people, to affirm them, to challenge them, to call them to an abundant way of life. So we are all welcome. This is the Jesus way.
Amazing Grace; it gives us birth, To each and everyone; This precious gift of life to live; This race for us to run.
We are the stewards of this wondrous earth With all its teeming life of priceless worth; In all creation God is thus revealed In birds and beasts, in forests and each field;
From beginning to each ending God is within. Human and divine keep blending; God is within.
1. Ancient stars would shed their light, Shining bright, both day and night; Heralding some wondrous birth Of some god’s descent to earth;
1. God is at hand. A babe is born; Proclaimed to be ‘The Light’; With every morn New light brings dawn: And God is seen anew; And God is seen anew; And God, and God is seen anew.
1. With open hearts we come this Anzac Day To pay respect, to ponder and to pray; We would reflect upon the pers’nal cost Paid by those grieving and by all “the Lost.”
Contemplate all nature’s beauty And embrace its darker side; Life as sacrifice is ordered; Sometimes life will be denied; Celebrate with adoration New growth after seeds have died.
We eat with our friends, enjoying a meal In fellowship sweet; it has great appeal; The same was for Jesus; it was a strong sign To demonstrate friendship -- in bread and in wine.
These can be favoured times when life has dignity, When rule of law and human rights breed liberty; If justice is pursued, If truth is not subdued, If we decide to live in peace and harmony.
Where does this Jesus live? Where does he stay? Are gospel stories right in what they say?
