Christmas songs: Merry Xmas everybody

A couple of years ago during Advent we had a series on the four songs of the first Christmas.  This year we're going to look at four popular Christmas songs.  This week it's "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade.

No Christmas playlist is complete without this song, so it had to be included in these reflections, and as Noddy says



Before we look at the song itself, there should perhaps be a comment on the use of the word 'Xmas' in the title.  The use of 'Xmas' is sometimes decried as a secular way of taking 'Christ' out of 'Christmas', however its use (or versions of it) go back almost as far as the English language itself.  'X' is a common abbreviation for Christ, and comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Christos and is usually rendered as the English letter “X”.  There is no doubt that there is a worrying increase in the amount of people who don't know that Christmas is to do with the birth of Jesus, but using 'Xmas' is not necessarily part of a campaign to secularise the festivities!

Holder wrote the lyrics to reflect a British family Christmas, but also to bring hope to a country that was suffering economically.  Looking forward to the arrival of Santa (if the fairies have managed to keep him sober!) or the arrival of family, and all the fun to be had excites in us the optimism of “Look to the future now, it's only just begun”.  No wonder people also love to sing “I wish it could be Christmas everyday” (which incidentally was beaten to the 1973 Christmas Number 1 by Slade). Celebration and hope are two of the emotions often associated with Christmas and for good reason.

The beginning of Luke's gospel, in which the four songs of the first Christmas are found, is full of celebration and hope.  John the Baptist's father, Zechariah, says “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them...[and will] shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”  Children often find it hard to wait for Christmas, but the Jewish people had been waiting for Jesus for about 1000 years, since God's promise to King David of the everlasting reign of one of his descendants (2 Samuel 7), and for around 430 years since the last of the Old Testament prophets spoke of the coming of the Lord (Malachi 3-4). So Jesus' birth was the cause of great celebration as the longing for the coming Messiah was now at an end, which meant it was now the beginning of a better future.

Just as Slade looked for salvation from poor economic circumstances, the people of Israel looked for salvation from their political enemies, which at the time of Jesus' birth were their Roman occupiers.  But Jesus would bring salvation from the root cause of poverty, war and all humanity's ills – the darkness of sin and the shadow of death: he would “give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins” (Luke 1:77).

However you're celebrating this Christmas, whatever hopes you have for the future, don't miss out on the chance to join in the real cause for celebration and the only hope that will not be disappointed.  As the angel said to the shepherds “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).  If you do you will have yourself a merry little Christmas!

Christmas Songs: "All I want for Christmas is you"

A couple of years ago during Advent we had a series on the four songs of the first Christmas.  This year we're going to look at four popular Christmas songs.  This week it's “All I want for Christmas is you” by Mariah Carey.

“All I want for Christmas is you” picks up on a very common theme as a lot of Christmas songs are about being with loved ones or like this one missing them. Whether they're 'driving home for Christmas', or asking someone to 'please come home for Christmas'; counting 'five more nights' or are having a 'blue Christmas' people can't help singing about loved ones at Christmas. And the heartache of a broken relationship 'last Christmas' or of the 'fairytale of New York' gone wrong seems much worse at Christmas.

This is because there is something about Christmas that makes us focus on what truly matters. Unlike the superficial singer of “Santa Baby”, the singer of “All I want for Christmas is you” won't be made happy by presents, toys or even snow. Her only wish is the presence of her loved one for Christmas. And when we reflect on what truly matters in life the answer is often loving and being loved.

It's no surprise that this is a major theme of Christmas given that the reason for the season is, as Christina Rossetti wrote, that 'love came down at Christmas'. News of the birth of any baby is usually a cause for celebration and feelings of love, but that can't explain the enduring appeal of Christmas which can't even be completely obscured by all the glitz and commercialism. The birth of Jesus is on a completely different scale to any other birth because it is a sign of God's love for us: “This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9).

But Jesus isn't like a Christmas present that is just a token of love that is greatly appreciated when it is given, but soon becomes ordinary. The gift of Jesus is not just God-with-us but God-for-us: Jesus came not just to be a wise teacher and an example of how to live, but so that he could be “an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10) by his death on the cross. Through his teaching and his example we see how far short of God's standard we fall short, and that our failures mean that we deserve eternal punishment and eternal separation from God: but that's not much of a present! “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17). So after showing us the depths of our sin, he showed us the heights of his love: “For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us!” (2 Corinthians 5:21 TLB).

Christmas songs and films often describe of the lengths that people will go to and the sacrifices they will make to be with their loved ones at Christmas. This is a small reflection of the lengths that God went to so we can be with him for eternity. All God wants for Christmas is you. So, if you want to be truly loved this Christmas come to God, confess your sins and receive his forgiveness through Jesus' atoning sacrifice. It's a Christmas present that will last for eternity!

Christmas Songs: "Santa Claus is coming to town"

A couple of years ago during Advent we had a series on the four songs of the first Christmas.  This year we're going to look at four popular Christmas songs.  This week it's “Santa Claus is coming to town”.

This is one of those songs where the music and the lyrics are seemingly at odds with each other. The music is very jolly which makes it sound like it's a song of joy celebrating the imminent arrival of Santa with “little tin horns and little toy drums, Rooty toot toots and rummy tum tums...And curly head dolls...Elephants, boats, and kiddie cars too”. On the other hand the lyrics are a not-so-veiled threat aimed at children that if they don't behave (even when they're sleeping!) they won't get those goodies. A similar threat is heard daily from parents to their children: “if you don't behave you won't get any presents!” although it is rarely, if ever, carried out.

Santa, however, is making a list of all those who are naughty and nice, although these days he may be in contravention of GDPR by doing so. The tradition of a figure that rewards good behaviour and punishes bad behaviour is an old one, and is very useful for parents and other adults who want a way to control children. The real St Nicholas, a fourth century bishop from Greece, though, gave gifts not on the basis of behaviour but need. The most well-known of his acts of kindness is when he gave money to a penniless family so that the daughters could pay the dowries necessary to marry, thus rescuing them from being forced into prostitution. However, Nicholas is also alleged to have slapped someone at the First Council of Nicaea in 325AD. This Council was a gathering of bishops who discussed amongst other things the divinity of Jesus; according to a later legend Nicholas slapped someone who held the Arian belief that Jesus wasn't divine. So perhaps Santa should be giving to alleviate suffering and punishing heresy!

Categorizing people as good or bad is a very human trait, we love to put people into boxes or label them, although we very rarely put ourselves into the 'bad' category unless it's to say that we're a loveable rogue or too cool to be good. And this also colours a lot of people's idea of what happens when you die. After death, so this thinking goes, our life will be judged. Our good deeds put on one side of some scales and our bad deeds on the other. If our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds we get the reward of heaven, but if our bad deeds outweigh our good deeds we will be punished. This line of thinking usually also believes that most people will get rewarded and only a few really bad people (Hitler, Stalin etc.) will get punished.

I can't see why anyone would want to be judged on this criteria. Jesus tells us that no-one is good except God, and that being angry with someone is the same as murder, and James writes “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). The pass mark for being 'good enough' for heaven is 100% and none of us can get anywhere near that. So is there any hope? Yes, because Christmas is about the coming of someone more exciting than Santa and who has a more important list.

In the book of Revelation, John has visions of the spiritual realm and he sees “Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books” (Revelation 20:12) and only those whose names are written in the book of life will enter into God's presence for eternity (Revelation 21:27). What are the deeds that have been done by those whose names are written in the book of life? They have had their sins forgiven through repentance and faith in Jesus (Revelation 3:5, 7:14 and 1:5). This Christmas, make sure your name is written on the only list that matters: Jesus' book of life.

Christmas Songs: 'I believe in Father Christmas'

A couple of years ago during Advent we had a series on the four songs of the first Christmas.  This year we're going to look at four popular Christmas songs.  This week it's “I believe in Father Christmas” by Greg Lake.

This is an odd song to be a Christmas favourite because is really an anti-Christmas song.  The singer recalls he was told the dream of Christmas and then remembers his disappointment and disillusionment when he finds that Christmas is not what he was promised.  And perhaps this is why this song is so popular, because it mirrors our own experiences of Christmas.  Everywhere we look we seem images of the perfect Christmas: perfectly white snow, perfectly cooked food, perfectly behaved family, perfectly chosen presents, but the reality is usually not quite so perfect!  The post-Christmas blues are not just caused by exhaustion and over-indulgence, but also by a sense of sadness that yet again Christmas didn't live up to the dream we'd been sold.

The song ends on a very chilling note: “the Christmas we get we deserve”.  In some ways this is obvious; if we want the world to be a better place we have to try our hardest to make it better.  But it also taps into a modern idea of 'karma', i.e. that if you do something bad then something bad will happen to you.  We sometimes see on social media a sort of glee as people look forward to karma getting revenge on someone who's harmed them.  But we know this isn't the way the world works.  We know that bad things happen to 'good' people and that good things happen to 'bad' people.  One biblical writer puts it this way: “it made me jealous to see proud and evil people and to watch them prosper...all goes well for them, and they live in peace. What good did it do me to keep my thoughts pure and refuse to do wrong? I am sick all day, and I am punished each morning” (Psalm 73:3,12-14 CEV).

Ironically, the modern concept of karma neither reflects reality nor does it correspond to the traditional understanding of karma.  In Hindu philosophy all karma is bad, it is like a debt that we all have.  Life is about doing good things to work off that debt and if we have worked off more karma than we accrue, when we die we are reincarnated as a better form of life. (Conversely if we increase our karma by doing bad we are reincarnated as a lower form of life).  The aim is to work off all our karma until we reach a state of nirvana, or non-existence.

It is the 'Israelite' of Lake's song that instead of being a fairy story is actually the answer to this problem, but first we need to recognise that actually all of us are 'bad' people.  Jesus said “No-one is good, except God alone” (Mark 10:18).  The Bible agrees that our badness or sin is like a debt, but it acknowledges that we cannot pay this debt off ourselves because we will always sin.  It also tells us that “We die only once, and then we are judged.  So Christ died only once to take away the sins of many people. But when he comes again, it will not be to take away sin. He will come to save everyone who is waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:27-28 CEV).  Sin and evil will be judged and punished when Jesus comes again, but those who ask God to forgive their sins and then seek to live his way will be saved.

And what is the biblical picture of salvation? “On this mountain the Lord All-Powerful will prepare for all nations a feast of the finest foods. Choice wines and the best meats will be served” (Isaiah 25:6 CEV).  “God’s home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people. He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever” (Revelation 21:3-4 CEV).  Sounds like the perfect Christmas to me!

An Alternative Nativity story

Here's my article for December:

Christmas is coming and for many of us we'll be hearing again the story of Jesus' birth at the first Christmas, or watching children act it out. Some of us may even go back to the source of the story, the Bible. Of the 66 books in the Bible, the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) tell us about Jesus' life, death and resurrection. But only two of them tell us about Jesus' birth. John simply tells us of the eternal Word becoming flesh and living among us, and Mark says nothing about Jesus' birth at all. But of the other two only Matthew tells us about the visit of the wise men, and only Luke tells us about the shepherds in the fields. The Christmas story we retell is a composite story bringing in elements from Matthew's and Luke's accounts.

However, the birth of Jesus is also described in the book of Revelation but this account is radically different from the Gospels. In Revelation 12:1-6 John tells us of a vision he had of a woman giving birth to a son who “will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre” - a quote from Psalm 2 which the Early Church saw as referring to Jesus. So far, so normal. But the woman is described as being “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” Stranger still, instead of being surrounded by angels, shepherds and adoring magi, next to the woman stood “an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads...so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.” I'm yet to see a nativity play with this in!!

William Blake, The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun, c. 1805, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC 

The book of Revelation is packed full of strange images and complex symbolism which can make it tough reading It also makes it fertile ground for lots of different groups to claim they know exactly how to interpret each and every detail. Always be wary of anyone who is certain they know what it all means!! For example, the woman obviously represents Mary, who gave birth to Jesus, but she also represents Israel (the twelve stars remind us of the twelve tribes of Israel); and Creation (sun and moon); and Eve whose 'seed' will crush the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15); and from verse 6 onwards, the Church. The dragon is a major character in Revelation and the symbolism of his appearance is explored in more detail as the book goes on, but there is a parallel here with King Herod who wanted to kill the infant Jesus but, like the dragon, fails (Matthew 2).

So what are we to make of this third 'nativity'? It reminds us that the birth of Jesus has a cosmic and eternal significance. It's easy to hear the Christmas story as being like a fairy tale, but the reality is that it is the pivotal event in the battle between good and evil (the overall theme of Revelation). The dragon wants to devour the child at his most vulnerable because it knows that the child would ultimately defeat it. Throughout Revelation and the rest of the New Testament we discover that this defeat happens through the death and resurrection of Jesus (Colossians 2:15).

This is why the shepherds, angels and wise men come to worship the child; they recognised the universe-changing event that had taken place. As you hear again the Christmas story what will you hear: a fairy tale or the good news that the defeat of evil is now certain?

How to end all wars

Here's this month's magazine article:

On Sunday, 4^th August 1918, the fourth anniversary of the declaration of war, King George V and Queen Mary joined members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords for a special service at the Church of Saint Margaret, Westminster. The King had asked that 4^th August 1918 should be observed as a National Day of Prayer: 100 days later the war ended.

This year we commemorate the centenary of the end of World War I and our remembrance is particularly poignant as we consider how we have failed all those who died or whose lives were affected by the war. In Peter Capaldi's final episode in Doctor Who, a WWI soldier gets lifted out of time and the Doctor says that he is a WWI soldier to which he replies “Yes, but what do you mean, 'one'?”

For those who fought or suffered in the Great War, the only thing that made the hardship and slaughter bearable was the belief that it was the 'war to end all wars', as H.G. Wells wrote in 1914 “This, the greatest of all wars, is not just another war—it is the last war!” They were told that their sacrifices would make the world a better place, indeed in the new world there would be no war. The reality of the trenches probably put paid to the idealism of the first few months of the war, but it probably also confirmed in them the horror of war that we find in the war poems of that time.

We have failed those all those who died or whose lives were affected by the war because we have failed to learn that war cannot end war; that violence only leads to violence. And if this seems to be an inevitable vicious cycle, that's because it is – at least humanly speaking. The root cause of violence and war is our sinful nature. All human beings are pre-disposed to evil and this affects us individually and collectively. The worse news is that we cannot put this right ourselves, but the good news is that if we truly repent of our sins, God will forgive us and give us his Holy Spirit so that we can live as his children.

And like our sin, this salvation affects us individually and collectively. One of the prayers for Remembrance Sunday is “Almighty Father, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of all: govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and bring the families of the nations, divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule.” It reminds us that we are divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, and that the only remedy is the just and gentle rule of Jesus, the King of all. Jesus died so that we can be forgiven; he rose from the dead to give us new life; and he will come again to rule over all things.

If we really want to see an end to all war, we need to follow the example of George V: come before God in repentance and with prayers for help; for ourselves, for our nation and for the world.

Check out Glen Scrivener's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=StuOWU4b1to

Dressing up evil

Here's my article for October:

A question that quite often gets asked is “Why is there so much evil in the world?”  As we approach the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War we again focus on the horror of war and “man's inhumanity to man”.  But there is also plenty in the news today that makes us despair about the prevalence of evil in the world.

There is, however, an irony in those who despair about the amount of evil in the world but at the same time take part in Halloween events.  Because despite its 'fun' and 'playful' image, Halloween is in essence a celebration of evil.  In fact it is even more dangerous because it makes evil seem to be fun and playful, and children get rewarded with sweets for being evil. This might seem a bit of a stretch make a link between dressing up as a vampire and acts of atrocity, but the normalising, minimising and rewarding of evil means that we become immune to the seriousness of evil.  If the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, this is true whether the direction is right or wrong!

Now that isn't to say that all those who dress up in Halloween costumes are evil or will commit evil acts, it is merely saying that we need to be careful what we celebrate, encourage and reward, especially in children, because that could set a precedent for future undesirable behaviour.  An example of this might be those who mark Halloween as 'Mischief Night' – a time for pranks such as egging or acts of vandalism.  If you can dress as a devil 'for fun' why can't you act as a devil 'for fun'?  Why is one praised and the other condemned?  Why is one promoted on social media and the other moaned about on that same social media?

The answer would be that it is a matter of moral boundaries, but that raises the question of where those moral boundaries should be set.  Once evil in whatever form is acceptable, when does it become unacceptable?  This then becomes a matter of personal interpretation: what one person calls 'being scary for fun' another might call terrorisation.

In the Christian worldview this confusion is exactly what the “spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:12) want.  The prophet Isaiah warned “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20).  The devil is the 'father of lies' (John 8:44) who masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) – a bad thing pretending to be good.  By tricking us into thinking that evil is 'just playing' and 'a bit of fun' he sows moral confusion and gets a foothold in our lives.  In the baptism service, after the parents and godparents have said that they reject the devil and all rebellion against God and renounce the deceit and corruption of evil, we exhort the child to “fight valiantly as a disciple of Christ against sin, the world and the devil.”  But they cannot not fight this battle alone; so we ask God to deliver them from the powers of darkness, restore in them the image of his glory, and lead them in the light and obedience of Christ.  Paul reminds us in Ephesians 5:8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”

The TARDIS and the Tower

Here's my September magazine article:

For some people summer is a time of exploring new places, but for some people the end of summer brings with it the prospect of exploring new places too.  That's because the BBC have announced that the next series of Doctor Who will be broadcast starting on Sunday 7th October and it will be full of new things: new Doctor, new costumes, new sonic screwdriver, new version of theme tune, new logo, new companions, new adventures, new monsters.  However, one thing that has been relatively constant throughout the show's history is the TARDIS - the Doctor's spaceship / time machine in its familiar form of a police box.  However, even the TARDIS has minor changes on the outside, and recently the interior changes with each new regeneration of the Doctor.

I'm not a huge fan of Doctor Who but I have watched the past couple of series with my son in case he got scared, and I'm intrigued to see what a female Doctor is like.  However, what brought Doctor Who to mind was a strange Whovian moment I had a month or so ago.  I was alone in St Mary's pottering about and thinking about the repair work that's soon going to start on the tower.  I stood under the tower arch and put my hands on both pillars.  As I did so I felt the age of the tower, and all the history it has seen and was aware of my brief place in its life and my responsibility for looking after it and passing it on to future generations.  I was reminded of the list of previous Rectors of Broughton who, like the Doctors, have come and gone whilst the tower, like the TARDIS, remains virtually the same.

Like the TARDIS, the tower is loved by many people but it similarly is not just an object of beauty and affection. The TARDIS serves a purpose of assisting the Doctor and his companions in their adventures, and the tower, along with the rest of the church building, is simply a vehicle for the mission of the Christian Church.  The mission of the Church was given to us by Jesus just before he ascended back to heaven: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20).  The Church is to make people followers of Jesus by proclaiming the forgiveness of sins through his death and resurrection (symbolised in baptism) and encouraging them, along with the rest of the Church, to live in accordance with his teaching.

The church building therefore becomes the place where people who feel weighed down by the guilt of their imperfections can come to find forgiveness and strength in Jesus; where those who are lost and despairing can find courage and consolation; where those who want a better world can find the kingdom of God growing on earth.  Billie Piper's character in “The Day of the Doctor” says “You know the sound the TARDIS makes? That wheezing, groaning? That sound brings hope wherever it goes...To anyone who hears it, Doctor. Anyone. However lost. Even you.”  The sight of a church building should bring even greater hope.  To anyone. However lost. Even you.

The strong force in humanity

Here's my Article for the August magazine:

One of my achievements in life is that I have never seen any of the Star Wars films. And this is even more remarkable as I live in a house where everyone else is a fan of Star Wars – we have DVDs, books, Lego models, light sabres, night lights and probably more. And this summer, yet another Star Wars film was released. Solo is the back story of Hans Solo, the character played by Harrison Ford in the original movies.

Star Wars, like the Marvel / DC comics, is a franchise that seems to offer endless scope for prequels, sequels and spin-offs, partly driven by interest in the lives of the characters. With the advent of the internet there are many fora for discussing questions about various characters' origins, motivations, thoughts and feelings, and what they did next. And the literary genre of fan fiction gives stories to answer these questions and even to create parallel plot-lines where enemies become friends (or even lovers!) or characters from different stories meet. And just in case you think this is a modern phenomenon confined to sci-fi geeks, “Old Friends and New Fancies” (1913) by Sybil G. Brinton combines characters from Jane Austen's six major novels in one story.

As human beings we were created by God to be like him and so we share some of his attributes. One of these is an interest in the world around us and particularly in other people. Jesus reminds us that God is so interested in us that he knows how many hairs are on each of our heads (Matthew 10:30)! It is this characteristic that drives us to create literature and art and to engage in science, which are all explorations of the world and humankind. But other people are not just objects of curiosity to be investigated; we are created to be social creatures, and on the whole most of us enjoy being with other people. We gather in groups with shared interests or to learn new things, or we gather simply to connect with others.

In the Creation story, the Bible says that after God made the first human he declared that “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). This is a great truth about human nature. But God's solution to this was not just to make the man a social creature, nor just to give him animals to interact with, but to give him a wife: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). This is the verse Jesus quotes when discussing marriage (Mark 10:6-9), grounding the biblical understanding of marriage not in a social construct that can be redefined to whatever society likes but in our very DNA, in the way God has made us.

However, Genesis 3 reminds us that we are also sinful creatures, who have rebelled against God and fall short of his design for us. And this affects everything we do. So our interest in others can get twisted into nosiness and gossip, and our relationships and marriages can break down. Thankfully, Jesus came not just to teach us the truth but also to die so that when we fall short of perfection, our sins can be forgiven, and we can be a new creation.

Image from http://tshirtgroove.com/ive-never-seen-star-wars-t-shirt/

The downside of never growing up

Here's my article for the July edition of the Scawby parish magazine:

This year, the Year 6s from both Scawby Academy and Hibaldstow will be performing Peter Pan.  As a boy, Peter Pan was one of my favourite stories and I would often read the Ladybird Children's Classics version of it.  I also have fond memories of watching Peter Pan performed on ice one Christmas.  I don't know whether it was the flying or the sword-fighting that excited me most about the story, but one of the reasons it's remained such a popular story throughout the world with people all ages, is that it is seen as a celebration of childhood innocence and a reflection of our desire for eternal youth.

When I had children of my own, I decided to read J. M. Barrie's original story so I could then read it to my children, but I was horrified at how sinister and disturbing his story actually is.  Far from being the playful and mischievous character of my memories, Peter is a controlling, egotistical bully.  The fantasy worlds we create as children are lived as if they were reality in Neverland.  In Chapter 6: The Little House, after Wendy is shot down, Peter calls for a doctor and one of the Lost Boys pretends to be a doctor.  Barrie writes

The difference between him [Peter] and the other boys at such a time was that they knew it was make-believe; while to him make-believe and true were exactly the same thing. This sometimes troubled them, as when they had to make-believe that they had had their dinners.  If they broke down in their make-believe he rapped them on their knuckles.

Most disturbing, however, is Peter's attitude to adults, and particularly mothers.  In Chapter 11: Wendy's Story it says that Peter

was so full of wrath against grown-ups, who, as usual, were spoiling everything, that as soon as he got inside his tree he breathed intentionally quick short breaths at the rate of about five to a second. He did this because there is a saying in the Neverland that, every time you breathe, a grown-up dies; and Peter was killing them off vindictively as fast as possible.

His experience of running away from his mother, and returning some time later only to find she has had another son, leads him to distrust others, particularly mothers.  Peter's refusal to grow up is less about the wonders of childhood and more to do with his fear of the uncontrollability of real life, especially in relationships with others.

We might see in Peter a reflection of our modern obsession with youth or a (not universally justified) criticism of 'young people nowadays' who want the enjoyment of life without any of its responsibilities.  However, Peter's blurring of fact and fantasy points to a more worrying aspect of society: where people can construct their own 'reality' which has no basis in fact or logic, and then require everyone else to 'play-along' with their make-believe.  Those that don't play along get rapped on the knuckles or worse.  Jesus calls us to follow him; the Way, the Truth and the Life.  And following him really is an awfully big adventure.

The hills are alive with the sound of praising

Here's my article for Broughton's July magazine:


It's one of the greatest cinematic opening sequences. The camera swoops down over the mountains and zooms in on a woman running across a meadow; the orchestra swells and as we focus in on her she begins to sing “The hills are alive with the sound of music”. I don't know if the beginning of Broughton Primary School's production of the Sound of Music will be quite as dramatic but I'm sure that the whole of the show will be brilliant as usual.

That uplifting opening song uses the image of the natural world being alive with the sound of music and of humanity joining in with that music. But this isn't just a poetic image of how the noises in the world could be heard as musical, rather it is actually a description, perhaps unknowingly, of a deep biblical truth. Isaiah 49:13 says “Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains!”, and 1 Chronicles 16:32-33 says “Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them! Let the trees of the forest sing, let them sing for joy before the Lord”. Many other places in the Bible talk of creation singing and making music and the book of Psalms, Israel's hymn book, ends with this verse “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” (Psalm 150:6).

The Bible affirms that all creation has this musical quality, but unlike the song in the musical, this is not just a way of describing a joyous 'life force' that connects every part of the natural world. The musicality of creation, including humanity, has a purpose, and that purpose is to praise God. Revelation 4, echoing Isaiah 6, describes some of what goes on in heaven speaking about the angels constantly saying “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.” (Traditionally the speech of angels is said to be the same as human song). So the constant music of creation joins in with the constant song of heaven to praise God.

We praise God for who he is, but we also praise him for what he does. 1 Chronicles 16 gives two of God's wonderful acts that particularly deserve praise. Verse 23 says “Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day” and in verse 33 creation sings because he comes to judge the earth. So creation praises God because of his judgement and his salvation.

It may seem odd to praise God for his judgement, but deep down it's what we all crave. We see a world where to much is wrong and we long for it to be put right; we see evil seemingly unpunished in this word and long for there to be justice. However, the problem is that justice demands that all wrongdoing is punished. Jesus commands us to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) but Romans 3:23 reminds us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and Psalm 130:3 asks “If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?” Only what is holy can enter the presence of the Holy God and we are all far from holy.

Therefore, we also rejoice in God's salvation. Romans 3 goes on to say “all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith.” Jesus died to take the punishment we deserve so that through repentance and faith in him we can be forgiven. And as we turn to the Lord “the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands” (Isaiah 55:12).

St Alban, heroism and a gendarme

Here's a slightly extended version of my June magazine article:

On 22^nd June, the Church of England commemorates St Alban, known as the first martyr of Britain. Alban has a tenuous connection with us as the Duke of St Albans is one of the Patrons of our group of parishes, Redbourne being one of the historic seats of the Dukes.

Little is known for sure about Alban, even his date of death has been variously given as around either 209, 251, or 304 AD. But the story of his martyrdom varies less, with the fullest account given in Bede's Ecclesiastical History. Alban lived in Verulamium, a city in Roman Britain now known as St Albans, and was not a Christian. He was possibly a Roman soldier and might have been a leading citizen of the city. At that time the small but increasing Christian community began to be persecuted by the Roman authorities and one day a Christian priest, who was fleeing for his life, came to Alban's house seeking refuge. Over the few days that the priest was in his house, Alban was impressed by the priest's faith and devotion and converted to Christianity. Eventually the authorities came to Alban's house to search for the priest, Alban put on the priest's clothes and handed himself over to the soldiers.

Alban was brought before a judge who threatened him with torture unless he made sacrifices to the Roman gods. Alban refused, declaring "I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things." The judge then ordered that Alban should be whipped and tortured, but Alban still would not deny his faith so he was sentenced to be beheaded. Bede records some miracles that occurred: firstly, that Alban stopped the waters of a river so that they could cross it, and he further caused a fountain of water to flow on the summit of the hill on which he was beheaded. Seeing the first miracle the executioner was converted and then beheaded too, and the man who replaced him, after striking the fatal blow, was punished with blindness. St Alban's Cathedral stands on the believed site of the execution.

Alban's actions find a very modern echo in the actions of the French police officer, Arnaud Beltrame, who on 23rd March this year offered himself in exchange for the hostages in an Islamic terrorist attack in Trèbes, and died the next day. Beltrame's heroism was motivated by the Christian faith to which he had been converted ten years ago. Fr Dominique Arz, national chaplain of the gendarmerie, said “The fact is that he did not hide his faith, and that he radiated it, he bore witness to it. We can say that his act of self-offering is consistent with what he believed. He...bore witness to his faith to the very end.”

Despite the common accusation that religion causes more violence in the world, nowhere in the New Testament are Christians encouraged to kill in order to spread the faith. In fact the opposite is true. Jesus said ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). John wrote “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16). The Christian faith is something worth living for and something worth dying for because death for those who believe in Jesus means resurrection to eternal life.



[Image from: http://orthochristian.com/104923.html]

What's Whit?

Here's my article for the May magazine:

Pentecost is one of those Christian festivals that people have often heard about but know little about. It's more commonly known by its old name Whitsun or Whit Sunday and is often associated with school half-term or with local events or traditions.

Pentecost is fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead at Easter and ten days after he ascended into heaven (Acts 1:1-11). It is the day when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and started to tell others about Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-41), so it is often called the birthday of the Church. But the Holy Spirit didn't just appear at Pentecost. Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is not just a way of describing the power of God, but that “Within the unity of the Godhead there are three persons who are of one substance, power and eternity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (The Articles of Religion in modern form - An English Prayer Book [Church Society:1994]). This belief in 'one God in three persons' is celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost, which is Trinity Sunday. So the Holy Spirit is eternal and we see him at work throughout the Bible, although his work changes.

Before Jesus, the Holy Spirit was involved with creation, especially of humans (Genesis 1:2 and 2:7). He was given to particular people, at particular times, for particular tasks (for example: to Bezalel to be an artist [Exodus31:1-5]; to Gideon to lead [Judges 6:14-16, 34]; and to Isaiah to prophesy [Isaiah 61:1-3]). But the Holy Spirit was also promised to be eventually for all believers, all of the time (Joel 2:28-29).

Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35), and the Holy Spirit came on Jesus at his baptism (Luke 3:21-22) and empowered his ministry (Acts 10:38). Jesus also promised that his disciples would receive the Holy Spirit too (Acts 1:4-5).

So at Pentecost we see the fulfilment of the Old Testament promise and Jesus' promise. But that promise was not just for Jesus' first disciples. Peter reminded the crowd on that day that if we repent and believe in Jesus we too will receive the Holy Spirit as “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39).

This is something really worth celebrating: the same Holy Spirit that brought the universe into being; that gave humanity its soul; that empowered Jesus to do all his miracles – that same Holy Spirit is available to each and every one of us that repents and believes in Jesus!! The Holy Spirit enables us to do many things, and the New Testament is clear that without the Holy Spirit you cannot be called a Christian – but all you have to do is ask (Luke 11:9-13)!

If there were no resurrection...

Here's my magazine article for April:

The resurrection of Jesus is the most important event in the whole history of the universe. And not just because to celebrate it we have a day when you're allowed to eat chocolate at every meal and for every snack in between! Jesus' death is the centre of the Christian faith but it's his resurrection that gives his death its meaning.

Paul wrote that the most important belief is “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve” (1 Corinthians15:3-5). Later in the same chapter he writes “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (verse 17). Our sins can be forgiven because Jesus died in our place but it is his resurrection that guarantees that his sacrifice worked.

Jesus predicted that he would die and be raised to life again (Mark 8:31) so his resurrection proves that his teaching is trustworthy and true. Therefore, when he says that he gives his life “as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45) we know that is true too. Anyone could say that they will give their life as a ransom for many but the resurrection is proof that Jesus actually did it. Without the resurrection, Jesus could be seen as just a wise teacher or guru, or even as a tragic hero who died because he challenged the establishment. With the resurrection we can be sure that Jesus' death was the sacrifice needed to take the punishment we deserve for our sins. We also know that sin has been dealt with because the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23); Jesus' resurrection proves that he has conquered death and therefore also conquered sin.

But the resurrection is more than a proof so that we know we can be forgiven. Paul tells us “We were therefore buried with [Jesus] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). That new life has the qualities of eternal life (closeness to God, freedom from slavery to sin, freedom from fear of death) but is available here and now. Jesus' resurrection means we can have a fresh start; forgiven for our past sins and a future close relationship with God. Jesus' resurrection means that salvation isn't something that happens after death but is a state of life before death that carries on beyond death. As Jesus said, he came so that those who believe in him “may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

So this Easter as you munch your way through excessive amounts of chocolate, think about the world-changing event that that chocolate celebrates: Jesus' resurrection. And more importantly, think what Jesus' resurrection means to you. In Romans 10:9, Paul assures us “if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Cross words

Here's my magazine article for March:

Would you wear a piece of jewellery in the shape of an electric chair? Or perhaps a noose and gallows? Unless you have a particularly macabre fashion taste, I suspect the answer would be no. After all why would you wear a symbol of torture and execution? But that is precisely what many people do by wearing a cross. Crucifixion was the cruel Roman method of execution that they reserved for the very worst criminals, yet the cross quickly became the symbol of the underground movement that made up the early church.

We have an unusual situation this year with Good Friday being in a different month to Easter Sunday, so we have the opportunity to focus on Jesus' death this month before thinking about his resurrection next month.

We're so used to seeing crosses around that we've lost the shock of what it represents. The early church chose not to celebrate Jesus' amazing miracles nor even his wise teachings but his death, and it wasn't a heroic or serene death but a shameful, criminal's death. If the early church wanted to commend their new faith to the world dominated by the Romans, emphasising Jesus' crucifixion is not the best way to start. But that is what they did. Why?

Well the simple answer is because the crucifixion is the centre of the Christian faith; it is the literal and metaphorical crux of Christianity.  Paul wrote that he “resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).  He knew that this would be a shocking message, writing “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:22-23).  The Jews were expecting a Messiah who would kick the Romans out of Israel, not one who was killed by them! And the Gentiles (non-Jews) wanted a highly intellectual philosophy not the story of a man who rejected by his own people!  Those who saw the cross as a stumbling-block and foolishness agreed with the Jewish religious leaders who mocked the dying Jesus: “‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him’” (Matthew 27:42-43).

But the deeper reason why people then and now reject the message of Christ crucified is because it reminds us of a very uncomfortable truth: that we are sinners who need saving.  Paul reminds us that all of us have sinned and fallen short of God's standard (Romans 3:23) (and if we are honest we fall short of our own standards too) and the punishment for sin is death (Romans 6:23), eternal separation from God.  And because of our sin we are helpless to save ourselves.  But the good news is that “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith” (Romans 3:25), that's what it means to say that Christ died for our sins.

Christ crucified means that we cannot be saved by our own moral or religious efforts, but only because Jesus died in our place. The pathetic-looking figure on the cross is the solution to the world's problems, but only when we recognise our own pathetic-ness, let go of our pretensions to goodness and rejoice that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

The lost treasure of the Catechism

Here's my February article:

The Ash Wednesday service (for our services this year see here and here), which marks the beginning of Lent, often contains these words: “since early days Christians have observed with great devotion the time of our Lord’s passion and resurrection and prepared for this by a season of penitence and fasting. By carefully keeping these days, Christians take to heart the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel, and so grow in faith and in devotion to our Lord.” In the early days of the Church Easter was the principal occasion for baptism and so Lent also became a time when adult candidates for baptism were instructed in the Christian faith. This could often be the intensification of a process that could last two years or more.

This process was known as 'Catechesis' and involved teaching converts to Christianity about the basics of the Christian faith and practice, usually in the form of questions and answers. Although common in the Early Church, the practice of catechesis was neglected and only revived at the Reformation. Since then the popularity of catechesis has waned, ironically in part due to the rise of Sunday Schools. Although the Sunday School movement was great for familiarising children with various Bible stories, this was often at the expense of any form of grounding in the basic beliefs, practices, and ethics of the faith. As a consequence of this neglect of catechesis many people throughout the ages have grown up with a vague connection to Christianity, and may even call themselves Christians, but have little idea what that even means.

At this point I need to hold my hands up and claim a partial responsibility for this situation. In the Book of Common Prayer, written at the time of the Reformation, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer included a Catechism“An Instruction to be learned of every person before he be brought to be Confirmed by the Bishop”. And the Vicar of “of every Parish shall diligently upon Sundays and Holy-days, after the second Lesson at Evening Prayer, openly in the Church instruct and examine so many Children of his Parish sent unto him, as he shall think convenient, in some part of this Catechism.” The aim was that every candidate for Confirmation “can say, in their mother tongue, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments; and also can answer to the other questions of this short Catechism”. I have to admit I have been lax in teaching the children of the parish the Catechism (although few are sent to me for it!!).

However, there has been a recent revival in interest in catechisms, with one of the the megachurches in New York, the Redeemer Presbyterian Church, producing 'The New City Catechism' and The Anglican Church of North America also producing a catechism titled “To be a Christian - An AnglicanCatechism”. Both of these use the traditional question and answer format to teach comprehensively what it means to be a Christian.

This Lent as we are invited again to examine our faith, perhaps look up one of these catechisms and see what we may have been missing out on for years!