VICAR'S LETTER
17
Sundon Road
Streatley
January, 2006
Dear
All
"Behold," says
God in the book of Revelation, "I make all things new.”
The beginning of that process is described in the stories of Advent
and Christmas. They introduce
us to a new humanity, a new hope, and a new world.
The stories introduce us
to the representatives of a new humanity.
The representatives of the old humanity had been Adam and Eve.
Their hallmark was disobedience and pride.
They wanted to be as gods and so they ate of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, the one tree in the Garden of Eden from which
God had forbidden them to eat. The
representatives of the new humanity are Mary and Joseph.
Their hallmarks are obedience and humbleness.
Mary accepts the role that God wishes her to fulfil.
She will be mother to his Son.
"Here I am. I am
the Lord's servant. As you
have spoken so be it.” Joseph
humbly accepts the subsidiary role that he is asked to play, even though
well aware of the ridicule his position will attract.
The stories go on to introduce us to a new hope. It is the hope of a world turned upside down. Historically, the agenda of this world has been set by the wishes of the rich and powerful. The new hope is for a world where the situation is reversed. It is the hope for a world where the agenda is set not by the wishes of the rich and powerful but by needs of the poor and the powerless. This is the hope that Mary voices when, in the course to her visit to Elizabeth, she looks forward to a world where God will:
"cast down the mighty from their seats and exalt the humble and meek"
and where
"the
hungry will be filled with good things and the rich sent empty away,"
The stories also describe to us the inauguration of that new world. It takes place in the stable of Bethlehem. What we see there are conventional values turned on their heads. God is laid in a manger. To watch over him there's not a great retinue but a carpenter and his wife. At this humble court, shepherds take precedence over kings. What we also see there is a world at one - angels, men, and creatures united in the adoration of God. In the stable at Bethlehem the gates of Paradise, slammed shut after Adam and Eve's disobedience, are opened once again.
The stories of Advent and Christmas introduce us to a new humanity, a new hope, and a new world. Now it is New Year. Let our resolution this year be to gift our futures to God to work, inspired by hope, to build that new world whose foundation was laid in the stable at Bethlehem.
A happy New Year to you
all,
Roger