Fantastic exhibition by Rob Ryan – what a talent! And not just the art, but the words as well. Just one example:
We had nothing, we had not much, we had enough We had everything Please don't ever let me have too much
Peter Randall-Page has an exhibition in the Underground Gallery, with some outside on the lawn. Someone has made a witty and seasonal addition to this one:
His work is so tactile, you’re just itching to touch it
When my boys were young, they had an excellent video called Grow Up Today. It featured two young siblings who woke up one morning before their parents and went through all the things they imagined being a grown up entailed – making coffee, going to the supermarket etc. Their version of adult life was fun – but they soon discovered the complexities and difficulties, and decided in the end that it was better to be children and leave the growing up for another day.
I’m very excited to find it available on youtube (even if it doesn’t quite sound the same today!) – they will be too!
Today’s lectionary reading feature two tales of boys growing up. The features Samuel, a much longed for child, dedicated to the Lord and living with the Priest Eli in the Temple. The second features Jesus. Just two days after celebrating his birth, we are transported to twelve years after his birth, when he is taken by his parents to The Passover Festival in Jerusalem. Jesus gets lost, and after a frantic search by his parents, he is found in the Temple, sitting among the religious leaders asking questions. He can’t understand what all the fuss is about – where else would he have been?!
Both of these accounts end with the same words. It appears that both Samuel and Jesus, “Grew and gained favour with the Lord and the people”.
Now that is growing up. Not just getting taller, ageing and being allowed to things children can’t; but growing in wisdom, being respected by your peers, and growing in favour with God. That is what it is all about. No mention of what they’d acquired or what good positions they’d secured – what mattered was doing things God’s way.
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tender hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:12-17
That’s how to be grown up. That is how to grow in favour with God and with men. To let the message of Jesus, baby born in a manger, child growing in strength and the ways of God, man living and dying to show us God’s love, to let him fill our lives and our hearts. That the way we live may point to him.
About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books. These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed. So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David’s hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David’s family.
Mary was engaged to Joseph and travelled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, and while they were there, she gave birth to her first-born son. She dressed him in baby clothes and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Shepherds
That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord’s glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy. This very day in King David’s hometown a Saviour was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay.”
Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said:
So, God has done what he promised! A Saviour has been born. God himself has come into the world as a human baby. He is going to live and grow, and show God’s way of doing things. God has come, not to a palace, but amongst the ordinary people. He has come to bring peace and hope and love. To you, to me, to the whole world.
God is here, and we are invited. Invited to come, invited to worship, invited to praise, invited to welcome into our lives.
In the words of Angels from the realms of glory – come and worship, Worship Christ the new born King
