Advent

Today is the beginning of Advent. Yesterday we put up the indoor Christmas tree at St John's, and at this morning’s service we lit the first candle on the church's Advent ring.

The next few weeks will see a lot of commercial chaos.  I was in London on Tuesday and the west end was certainly busy with shoppers - no sign there of pre-election/Brexit jitters.  I heard someone this week describe the run-up to Christmas as the 'tinsel tunnel' - this phrase is new to me but I realise he was referring to the pressurising mayhem of getting psyched up ready for the festival.

But 'Advent' is about so much more than commercial pressure and calendars with a daily chocolate as we count down to Christmas.  The very word comes from the Latin words meaning 'come to' and it expresses the longing for God to do something, coming to the world and putting to rights so much that is a mess.

That's what Christmas is about - God coming to the world in the person of Jesus, and I'll unpack that some more in my blogs as we get nearer to Christmas.  For now, let me just ask: what is it that you are longing for, and what do you wish God would put to rights?  Just as Jesus came into the world amid the mess and smell of animals, He comes into our personal circumstances, however messed-up they may be, if we'll just invite him.

Thank you ... Sorry ... Please

I wonder how many of us are familiar with cookbooks.  I confess that my own cooking is usually taking things out of packets and putting them in the oven, or doing the occasional bbq.  Only very rarely do I dare to open a recipe book.

But there is one item from recipe books that I refer to often.  And strangely it's when I'm communicating with God in prayer, or teaching about prayer, or asked about it.  That item is a teaspoon, because a teaspoon is abbreviated 'tsp' and the three main components of prayer are 'Thank you, Sorry, Please'. 

From an early age, we're taught that using these three words is an important part of effective everyday communication.  God isn't impressed by long words or theological sophistication, and He wants us to use everyday language to communicate with Him, so I have three questions:

• What are you grateful for in life? Don't take it for granted, take time to thank God for it.

• What is your conscience nagging you about? Is there something you need say 'sorry' for … to God or maybe someone else?

• Often we find 'please' the easiest thing to say in prayer, asking for things we want. But God likes to give us good things, so go ahead and ask.

Harvest

Tomorrow at St John's, we are celebrating harvest festival.  Although people often think harvest is about fruit & veg, and perhaps other food, it's really about giving thanks to God for all the good things that we have.  Sometimes we convince ourselves that it's by the sweat of our brow and our own hard work and cleverness that we have so much, and we tend to give ourselves rather a lot of credit.  As I write this, I have a string of TV adverts coming to mind, maybe you do too.  (My wife has learned to smile when I sing some jingle from the past).

Of course, many of us have a part to play in 'bringing home the bacon' but that part is often not as great as we think.  As I reflect on my years in the overseas aid business, I thank God for the undeserved privilege of living in England where it's all-too-easy to take for granted the meeting of basic needs.

Interestingly, some of the most generous people I have met have been those we might consider poor - it is humbling to receive gifts from those who have very little.  Part of harvest is celebrations is thinking of, praying for, and being generous to those in need, holding lightly the good things we have.

Jesus said that "life does not consist of an abundance of possessions" (see Luke 12 to learn more) so I'll end by asking you - who could you bless with an act of generosity this week?  You might be surprised to find that you enjoy it more than you think.

Words

Words have great power, and the Bible contains some great word pictures.  The letter of James in the New Testament makes the point that, even though it is small, the tongue can have a huge impact.  James likens the tongue to three things:

• The rudder in a ship - small and mostly invisible, but able to steer a large vessel wherever the captain wants to go;

• A bit in the mouth of a horse - a small thing that can (with the help of bridle and reins) determine the direction of the horse and its rider;

• A spark - a tiny thing but enough to light a forest fire, even the huge ones we have recently seen on TV devastating chunks of the Amazon rain forest.

Words can be used for good or ill:  'I love you' and 'I hate you' are very short phrases but they are remembered by their hearers, often years after they are uttered.  I wonder what examples come into your mind as you read this. 

One of the saddest things I've seen was a stressed single mum screaming 'I hate you, I never wanted you' to her child - tragically, he will carry that memory for the rest of his life.  By contrast, being told 'I love you' by those closest to us carries amazing weight, especially when accompanied by loving actions.

In the course of daily life, we have the chance to use words in different ways.  I hope you will choose yours carefully.

Sporting parallels

I sometimes find myself in conversations discussing the parallels between Christians and sportspeople.  The Bible uses this illustration several times, and St Paul was particularly struck by this, so his writings included passages about athletes, boxers and so on.  I will briefly mention four of the reasons why sporting illustrations are used so often in scripture.  First, one characteristic of a serious sportsperson is their single-minded devotion to their chosen endeavour.  We see the positive side of this in commitment to training so as to be the best possible, and the negative side when a gifted player is drawn to other things and so never fulfils their potential.

A second aspect is willingness to experience short term pain for long term gain.  God never promises His followers an easy life - far from it - and Jesus spelt out some of the very significant costs of discipleship.  But none of these compares with the benefits - Paul calls the troubles (which in his case were life-ending) 'light and momentary' by comparison (see Romans 8 to learn more).

The third thing I'll mention is a disciplined approach to life.  The most important half hour of my day is just after breakfast, when I close the door of my study, spending time in prayer and Bible reading.  Sometimes it's tempting to get stuck into the specifics of what lies ahead, and it requires discipline not to be distracted by that and to concentrate on what I know is most important, even if there are urgent things clamouring for attention.

Endurance is the last thing I'll mention - keeping going through the ups and downs of life.  This is vital - we see this in football with so many decisive goals scored in the last few minutes.  The Bible says we should 'run with perseverance the race marked at for us' not giving up however hard things get.