Now the work begins

A long time ago, in Communist Russia, there was a famous weather man named Rudolf. He became known as Rudolf the Red. He's always had a 100% accuracy rate for his forecasts of the Russian weather conditions. His people loved him and
respected him for his faultless foresight. He was particularly good at predicting rain. One night, despite clear skies, he made the prediction on the 6:00pm news broadcast that a violent storm was approaching. It would flood the town in which he and his wife lived. He warned the people to take proper precautions and prepare for the worst.

After he arrived home later that evening, his wife met him at the door and started arguing with him that his weather prediction was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. This time, she said, he had made a terrible mistake. There
wasn't a cloud anywhere within 10 miles of the village. As a matter of fact, that day had been the most beautiful day that the town had ever had and it was quite obvious to everyone it simply wasn't going to rain.

He told her she was to be quiet and listen to him. If he said it was going to rain, IT WAS GOING TO RAIN. He had all of his Russian heritage behind him and he knew what he was talking about. She argued that although he came from a proud
heritage, IT STILL WASN'T GOING TO RAIN. They argued for hours , so much that they went to bed mad at each other.

During the night, sure enough one of the worst rainstorms hit the village. The next morning when Rudolf and his wife got up, they looked out the window and saw all the water that had fallen that night.

"See," said Rudolf, "I told you it was going to rain." His wife admitted: "Once again your prediction came true. But I want to know, just how were you so accurate, Rudolf?"

To which he replied, "You see, Rudolf the Red knows rain dear!"

Christmas is a time for many things, one of which is a time for awful jokes ! It’s also a time, once everything has settled down a little bit to think about the future, to reflect on the things we’ve heard and thought about in our Christmas worship.

There’s a well known saying which goes, ‘When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins’.

We are reminded that Christmas is not a one off event to be forgotten for the rest of the year, but rather a beginning of something new, and one of the great opportunities we have in the Christian faith is to think about new beginnings – we have advent, the start of the Church year, we have Christmas and the recognition of God coming into the world to just show us how much he loves us, and of course we have Easter, and the display of love and sacrifice on the cross.

Today in the gospel reading (Matthew 2:13-23) we have another new beginning for Mary and Joseph. They have heard of Herod’s plans to kill Jesus and are warned to leave for Egypt… A church school teacher once asked her children to draw it, to draw the "Flight to Egypt". One little boy came back with a picture of an airplane and several persons inside it. The teacher asked him to explain. He said, "This is the flight to Egypt. Here is Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus." "Who's that in the front?" the teacher asked. "Oh, that's Pontius the Pilot," he replied !

Some of you may have watched the Liverpool Nativity over the Christmas period on TV. It was a modern retelling of the Christmas story, filmed live on the streets of Liverpool. At the end Mary and Joseph are told Herod is coming to get them and they are sent off into the streets to be cared for, to be loved, by the people.

This is the equivalent in that account of the gospel we have heard this morning. Fearing for their lives, they run away to seek safety and shelter. It was particularly poignant in the Liverpool Nativity as those words about being cared for and loved by the people were mentioned.

It was a reminder of the dangers that Mary and Joseph faced as they went to Egypt with nothing. They must have relied on the care and hospitality of people who, if they even knew at all, they would not have known well.

And so they went and moved to a new place, but it was only temporary. At the right time they were told to come back to live in Nazareth. It is clear that for Mary and Joseph there was a time to run away, a time to lay low and just wait, but there was a time to move back into the mainstream of society, to face the challenges of daily life, and of course to allow Jesus to grow up to continue his ministry.

And this is true for us and for the Church in general. There is a time to be still, to wait on God, but there is a time to be active, to face new challenges, and new possibilities… ‘When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins’.

As we reflect on the past year in the lives of our Churches it has been good to see attendances improve slightly, it has been good to have done a number of things such as the retreat and Bible studies, and soup lunches, and to have enjoyed a good number of social events. It has been good to worship God together, and good to welcome some newcomers and some visitors to our family here.

But none of this can ever lead us to be complacent, none of the things that we can ever do will be enough for the God who has given everything for us, but we must continue to strive to do more for him because he accepts all of our efforts, just as he accepts even our failures.

Reflecting on the past is important. It’s good to remember and be inspired by things of the past, and to learn from them, but the present and the future is what Christmas is really about. 2000 years on from his birth, Jesus is still needed in the world today. 2000 years on from his birth, Jesus is still offering and providing peace for people today.

Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem, they went to Bethlehem, they went to Egypt and to Nazareth as part of their journey of faith. They were obedient to the call of God, and we too are called to new places and new possibilities in our life of faith. As a Church, and as individuals, we are called to embrace change where it is necessary, we are called to embrace people, whoever they are, and we are called to embrace God, the God who changes lives.

The world today is very different from the world of 2000 years ago, it is different to the world of 100 years ago, although it is a sad fact that many would never believe it if they walked in to some Church services, it is different even from 10 years ago – the world is continually changing, and we too must be ready to change, not the message of love and compassion, not the message of hope and joy, but the way that message is offered.

Nobody can predict the future. I’m not sure that many would want to, but we must be ready to face whatever comes, whatever new possibilities and opportunities God puts in front of us, and we make ourselves ready by drawing closer to God through worship, through fellowship, through his word in the Bible and through prayer.

I have no doubt that we profess a faith that is hugely relevant to the world today, that people actually wouldn’t just benefit from, but people actually need, and as this new year begins we must seek out new ways of living out that faith, and new ways of revealing that faith to people around us.

We can be confident and we can be ambitious, because if God is on our side, then even when things crash around us, we can never fail. The late American writer, Erma Bombeck once said, "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'"

It’s not a bad thought and perhaps prayer for any of us.

She also made these New Year’s resolutions:

1. I'm going to clean this house just as soon as the kids grow up.

2. I will go to no doctor whose office plants have died.

3. I'm going to follow my husband's suggestion to put a little excitement into my life by living within our budget.
4. I'm going to apply for a hardship scholarship to Weight Watchers.
5. I will never loan my car to anyone I have given birth to.
6. And just like last year...I am going to remember that my children need love the most when they deserve it the least.

That last resolution is the one that God lives out every day – he loves and continues to love us whatever we do or say or think. Let’s embrace that love, seek his guidance, seek his care, and offer ourselves for his service. AMEN