"Stir up, O Lord..."

At the end of November there comes a traditional day that is now often forgotten about. Stir-up Sunday is the last Sunday before Advent and is so called because that day's Collect (the prayer of the day that “collects” up the themes of the readings during a church service) starts with the words “Stir up, O Lord...” The prayer is based on an old Latin prayer, but it was given its definite place in the year by the Book of Common Prayer.

Traditionally this is the day that Christmas puddings were made, to allow time for the flavours to develop before it was eaten, and everyone in the family would have a go at stirring the mixture, sometimes making a wish as they did so. Therefore Stir-up Sunday reminds us that there is no separation between the sacred and the secular: the congregation would be reminded in church of the task they had to do at home, and they would have been reminded at home of what they had heard in church. In coming to earth in the person of Jesus, God reminds us that creation is good and that the whole world is a place where we can encounter him, whether that's in a church service or baking. Everyday life and its tasks can be a way of praying and worship just as much as hymns and services.

However, the Collect wasn't originally intended as a culinary reminder. The full prayer is “Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by you be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The prayer asks God to help us by stirring up our wills so that we can do the good things we ought to do (and therefore be rewarded for them). These days our culture, especially through advertising, encourages us to make decisions based on our feelings, or to excuse our actions because “we couldn't help doing it.” We see this in particular when it comes to love, we “can't help falling in love” which although it can be a good thing it is often used as an excuse for affairs. The love we celebrate in the marriage service is not a Hollywood, soft focus type of love but a love that makes a rational decision to give ourselves to someone else for life.

So we ask God to stir up our wills so that we can act according to our God-given reason rather than being swept along by feelings or emotions. In doing so we recognise that we need God's help in order for our wills and our desires to function properly. Advent then becomes a time when we can put these new stirrings into action as wait to celebrate again the coming of the one who enables us to be truly the people God wants us to be.