Matthew 1: 18 - 25

This was how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she found out that she was going to have a baby by the Holy Spirit.

Joseph was a man who always did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly; so he made plans to break the engagement privately. While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived. She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus—because he will save his people from their sins.”

Now all this happened in order to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet, “A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel” (which means, “God is with us”).

So when Joseph woke up, he married Mary, as the angel of the Lord had told him to. But he had no sexual relations with her before she gave birth to her son.

Picture

Icon by Claude Lane

Prayer

Joseph wanted to ‘do the right thing’ – but what was that?

God of Joseph, an ordinary, decent man who wanted to do the right thing in what seems to have been an impossible situation, please help us in our own deliberations on complex and confusing matters, especially where we find ourselves torn between conflicting ideas and ideals.  And when we make our choices, however imperfect they may be, walk with us into the future of their outworking.  Amen.  

Luke 1: 26 – 38

God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee named Nazareth. He had a message for a young woman promised in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was a descendant of King David. Her name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, “Peace be with you! The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you!”

Mary was deeply troubled by the angel's message, and she wondered what his words meant. The angel said to her, “Don't be afraid, Mary; God has been gracious to you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was, and he will be the king of the descendants of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end!”

Mary said to the angel, “I am a virgin. How, then, can this be?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God's power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God. Remember your relative Elizabeth. It is said that she cannot have children, but she herself is now six months pregnant, even though she is very old. For there is nothing that God cannot do.”

“I am the Lord's servant,” said Mary; “may it happen to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.

Picture

Annunciation, Fra Angelico

Prayer

In a sermon, I once spoke a loud a wondering as to whether Mary was the only person visited by Gabriel, or whether rothers had already sad ‘no.’  Maybe that was heresy, but it was certainly a question to stir thoughts…

God of Mary, a young woman whose tentative ‘yes’ changed the course of world history, we pause for a few moments to wonder when you might have sent an angel to us with news that might have changed the course of our own lives, and how we then replied… whatever our answer, the consequences continue to unfold in out own lives… help us today to listen again for your voice, and to weigh our answers in the light of your love for us and for all creation.  Amen. 

Luke 1: 8 – 20

One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service. According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chosen by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went into the Temple of the Lord, while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burned. An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar where the incense was burned. When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid. But the angel said to him, “Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! John will be great in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him.”

Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also.”

“I am Gabriel,” the angel answered. “I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news. But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak; you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true.”

Picture

Painting by William Blake

Prayer

We depend so much on words, on the ability to share our thoughts and ideas with others – but in this story, Zechariah loses his voice.  Our prayer recognises the power of words – and our dependence upon them.

God who spoke creation into being, this story of a man who, for a time, lost his voice, we realise just how much we depend on words to express ourselves.  Words have the power to create ideas, to express love and to encourage others.  Words have the power to destroy hope, to express hate and to demean others.  Forgive us when our words are hasty or unkind; instead help us to choose our words wisely and well so that we, and everyone with whom we share our words, may be enabled to flourish as your beloved children.  Amen   

This morning I hit 'send' and my conference paper whizzed off through the ether to the orgnanisers.  It seems to be something I do roughly once in a decade (although, on reflection, in industry I did quite a few too).

The first was linked to my research, and explored the interface of church health and church history - it eventually formed a chapter in a book of essays to mark the centenary of the Baptist Historical Society.

The second was a reflection on my experiences of being treated for cancer whilst serving as a Baptist minister - it eventually formed a chapter in a book of essays from a conference in New Zealand on Spirituality and Cancer.

This one who knows!  I hope that the conference organisers will eventually publish the essays, which, from the programme at least, look like a fascinating collection of responses to the 'Project Violet' initiative of the BUGB.

... Joseph!?

No-one was keen to play the part of Joseph, so I offered.  The Mouse Detective lent me her eyebrow pencil to draw on a beard, and off we went.

We had a lot of fun, and the level of participation was good.

It is more than a little worrying that a few folk actually thought I was a man... should have gone to Specsavers!

Twelve years ago, I dressed up as Mary for a 'messy nativity' sheep trail...