Posted by Kevin Bates Our traiditon of feasting as well as fasting is such a precious one. As you say the gospel is full of this balance - six stone water jars containing 100 gallons each is a serious party I always reckon! And abundant God is at the heart of our gifts to each other. All goos wishes for Christmas. Kevin
on December 19, 2005, 8:21 pm, in reply to "Christmas and the Reign of God"
Thanks so much Cathy - what a marvellous image you conjure up of present-opening. I love that moment too and look forward to sharing it with my family. Yesterday I had the joy of hosting a dear friend's family here at our house - there were 23 of us and lots of paper going in all directions at present time.
--Previous Message--
: : Well, here we are in the hectic last week
: before Christmas. Of course, many
: Christians express concern about the
: commercialization of Christmas, and about
: the danger that we'll get so caught up in
: all the hurly-burly that we'll forget the
: true meaning of this great feast. Some even
: suggest that, instead of spending money on
: buying our nearest and dearest trinkets that
: they probably don't need, we support one of
: those charitable schemes whereby we make a
: donation in some-one's name in lieu of
: giving them a present.
:
: Of course, for Christians, Christmas will
: always mean primarily the birth of Jesus.
: However, I think that we may still be
: suffering the effects of puritanism and
: similar movements of the last few centuries,
: and perhaps an important point is being
: missed. Surely, to celebrate such a
: significant and joyful event, we should feel
: free to “let our hair down”, and
: wholeheartedly enjoy all the feasting and
: merrymaking!
:
: As for presents, who cares what’s in those
: tantalising, brightly-wrapped parcels under
: the tree? I get as much of a thrill opening
: them as I did when I was five! This is one
: of the things I love about Christmas – those
: of us who are “kids at heart” can really
: come into our own!
:
: After all, according to John’s Gospel,
: Jesus’ first miracle was not doing something
: sensible and necessary, but consisted of
: changing water into wine at a wedding feast!
: Judging by the steward’s comment that this
: wine had been left ‘til last, the guests
: must have already been fairly “tanked up”,
: so it wasn’t even as if there had been a
: real shortage of the beverage.
:
: Of course, the wedding banquet is a common
: biblical image for the reign of God. The
: point I am making is that, for Christians, I
: think the significance of Christmas
: festivity is that it can give us a sense of
: the abundance and unbridled joy of God’s
: Kingdom, and it gives us a chance to
: experience this with the pure, open-hearted
: delight of a child – reflecting what Jesus
: said about children and the Kingdom.
:
: I wish you, Kevin, and all visitors to your
: web-site, a Christmas filled with the
: abundance, happiness and peace of God’s
: Kingdom, and a new year in which we all
: continue to work towards its coming.
:
:
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