Wales' Tales

Just nine days until it’s time
To celebrate the birth
Of one who came to show the way
To those who live on earth.
You’d think that we would understand
What Christmas really means,
But most of us just lose our way,
Caught up in manger scenes.
We think of shepherds, Kings and stars,
Of stables, trees and lights,
Of memories of years gone by
That fill us with delights.
The music and the dinners,
The family gathered in,
All sugar-coat reality,
The price of human sin.
The baby that we welcome,
A gift from God above,
Arrives on Christmas morning
As a sign of endless love.
The stable was a symbol of
Poverty and need.
The shepherds kneeling on the dirt,
Were outcasts, poor indeed.
The star that shown so brightly
That lit the way so clear,
Reminds us that hope of God
Will always be so near.
The kings who made their journey
Were seekers on a quest
Searching for the answers
When God had sent the best
That anyone could offer,
A savior for the world,
Yet lying in a manger with
Swaddling clothes unfurled.
And somewhere in the shadows,
The future to foretell,
A ministry, a cross of wood,
A lifetime lived so well.
All symbols of a promise,
Our sin to find release,
The gift of God incarnate,
To bring us joy and ….
                      Peace,
                      Pastor Alex

Lights, Camera, Action: God as Screenwriter

What exactly do you know about the wise men from the Bible? How many of them paid homage to the Christ child? Were the wise men or kings or astrologers or scholars? Where did they come from? What were their names?

Read Matthew 2:1-12 and Isaiah 60:1-6 for your answers.

Did you find how many wise men were there? No? Did you know that early Christians believed there were twelve wise men, traveling in a giant caravan, with servants and supplies and all the trappings? Can you imagine adding that to a Christmas nativity?

God as screenwriter seemingly leaves us wanting for the details of this story – how did Herod call all the religious leaders together so quickly? Wasn’t there animosity between them and King Herod? Where exactly is the “East?” Whatever happened to the wise men as they traveled home? Sometimes we feel that way about our own lives – why didn’t God stop this from happening? Why won’t God let us in on the future plan? What details has God seemingly left out of your story?

But when we stop worrying about what has been left out and start looking at what is there, a whole new story opens up. A way to Jesus appeared for a group of people who weren’t Jews, who weren’t part of the ‘in crowd.’ God sent signs for those not even expecting a Messiah, while the king of the Jews Herod hadn’t the slightest clue. By sending the exotic foreigners to worship the Christ child, it is a signal that all are welcome into God's kingdom, that salvation through the Messiah is not limited to the Jewish people.

God acts again and again in our lives. God puts a star in the sky, a light in our lives to show us the way, so that we can offer ourselves to Christ. God offers us epiphanies – revelations – of God’s presence in our lives over and over again. Are you paying attention like the wise men, looking for direction? Are you responding to the God-actions in your life, the God-nudges? For when God acts, God expects us to respond. And what a joyful response we can offer, because our God loves us enough to continue writing our story and calling “Lights, Camera, Action!”

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate