Tonight in an instant God’s
constant love is revealed.
Your all-powerful word leapt from heaven, from the royal throne into the
midst of the land that was doomed. Wisdom 18 verse 15
When a tree is felled in an
instant we see the constant bark circles.
When Jesus is born we see what’s
been true for all ages. There is a
God who made us and so loves us he reverses our doom to fit us for glory.
In an instant tonight angels
sing because God’s constant love is revealed.
We live between the instant
and the constant.
The Christmas marketplace has
devices that promise the world in an instant, at the press of a button or at
the click of a mouse.
Instantly I can be in touch
with 350 villagers through Facebook, though it has to be said what I advertise
gets ‘liked’ by a handful.
Christianity has wisdom about
the instant and the constant since we are about the intersection of time and
eternity.
To live my life, which is
instant by instant, moment by moment, I need the framework of what’s constant – my faith, marriage,
family, home, village, nation, world.
Each instant of my life is
best lived in the light of eternity. If I try to crowd too many tasks into my
life it gets doomed and loses appeal both to me and to those in my sphere.
Through prayer, dwelling for
some time in God’s constant love, I find the instants of my life bearing more fruit.
The other day though I had
such a lot of people to visit I couldn’t schedule them but prayed and set off –
and there they all were, almost waiting for me to come round!
Yet other days I have allowed
the constants in my life to get eclipsed by the instant gratification of social
media and the like. It’s all very well tweeting stuff in an instant, lazing
indulgently over the paper, and putting the better side of your life forward on
Facebook but that flow of instants can betray my here and now constant
allegiances.
To live each moment in the
constant light of eternal love is to be loosened from over preoccupation with
stuff I think needs doing and it makes me available to those near to me here
and now.
We live between the instant
and the constant.
Your all-powerful word leapt from heaven, from the royal throne into the
midst of the land that was doomed.
A few days ago Anne and I went
to Birling Gap at the end of the Seven Sisters on the South Downs. Things had
changed since we last visited with some cliffs and buildings gone due to
erosion by the sea. On a stormy day we watched huge breakers striking the
cliffs and thought of the constant erosion of that doomed land.
Tonight we celebrate a constant
power far greater than that afflicting the doomed settlement of Birling Gap.
Wide, wide as the ocean, high as the heavens above. Deep, deep as the
deepest sea is my Saviour’s love.
That constant love has in an
instant, through the incarnation, made transformation of this doomed earth
starting with you and me.
That love is beside those
parents in Pakistan whose children were murdered last week.
It is expressed in hearts torn
across the earth on their behalf and the political resolve to counter the
extremism behind their killing.
As we take in instant by
instant the 24-7 news cover woe betide us if our hearts get hardened to the
doom of others and lose that constant godly concern in the flow of instant communication.
Your all-powerful word leapt from heaven, from the royal throne into the
midst of the land that was doomed.
The child whose birth we
celebrate tonight became famous as a teacher and miracle worker. There are many
things people rightfully say about Jesus but there are two truths captured in
this scripture which, if you miss you’ve actually missed what’s good news about
Christianity. They are that this child is God come among us his word leaping from heaven and
secondly that Jesus came into the midst
of the land that was doomed to save sinners.
Tonight, in an instant, God’s
constant love is shown in the birth of Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
May all our instants, all our
moments be lived mindful of constant love wide
as the ocean and high as the heavens above so that the peace in our hearts makes
us good news to all around us.
For those here or abroad who
bear the anguish of living in a doomed
land we pray Jesus Emmanuel be in their moments of sadness and use us to
bless them. We bend the knee before your altar this Christmas night for Wide, wide as the ocean, high as the heavens
above. Deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Saviour’s love.
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