God becomes present in time and space and amongst humanity. The divine presence in the form of a baby - a universal symbol of dependence and vulnerability. The paradox of the Nativity is that the baby in the manger has the potential to draw from human hearts the very divine love of which the Messiah is an expression. The only appropriate response to a totally dependent baby is self-giving love. Self-giving Love is the most tangible experience of the presence of God we can have. The Nativity is an invitation to know the love of God. How are you responding to that invitation?

An angel visits a young woman and brings her news she would have barely understood and even more… struggled to accept. Mary did not see herself as anyone special. As far as the usual indicators go, Mary was not anyone special. It was somewhat incongruous to her that she had been considered a ‘favoured one’. The angel tells Mary she is being entrusted with a world shaping responsibility. Her response is simply to acknowledge her humble station and declare herself available.

Isaiah’s anticipation of Messiah is the clearest picture of God coming among the people offered by any of the Hebrew prophets. In this particular vision (Isaiah 40:1-11), Isaiah sees a new way opening for the people of God. Not just the people of God… but for all people everywhere! This new way is the eternal way. It was once hidden (since the foundation of the world). It is revealed by God’s Messiah. It is a gentle, grace-filled, healing way. A way that enables one to see all things clearly. A way that can be clearly seen by all. This is the self-giving way of Jesus.

Isaiah’s vision (Isa 64:1-9) of God making an actual appearance on earth has prescient hints of apocalypse. The heavens torn asunder. Mountains quaking! The advent of Jesus birth might (at first) seem far less earth shattering. In actual fact, Jesus’ arrival does mark the moment in human history where the unquestioned assumptions of the ways of this world were shattered. Might is no longer assumed to be right. We now go to great lengths to hear the cry of victims. Forgiveness has been revealed as more powerful than vengeance. In what ways has the advent of Jesus rocked your world?

When Jesus tells his story of welcome and judgement (aka the sheep and the goats) it is sensible for him to make use of the popular concepts of God’s acceptance and rejection that existed in the minds of his audience. We would be foolish to get caught up with the evocative imagery of eternal fire and miss the point of the story. Jesus wants his hearers to be aware that the way we live our lives matter! Even if we are not completely aware of what is going on, how we live tells us about what we want. What we want tells us about what we value. What we value tells us about what we truly believe. What is your life telling you about what you believe?

When Jesus tell his folksy little stories, he is not seeking to entertain his audience. He always wants to provoke something within them. In today’s story about the servants given responsibility with their master’s assets, it seems Jesus wants his audience to reflect on the way they engage in the world. The characters might read more like caricatures, but they drive home the distinction between fearfulness and faithfulness. Which one do you tend to identify yourself with?

Jesus tells a story of a familiar cultural event in the life of any community (in this case, a wedding) and turns it into an all-of-life lesson. He does so by retaining all the familiar elements of a wedding event story, and then popping in a couple of details that were truly shocking to his first hearers. To involve one's self in the welcoming of the bridal party and yet to neglect the most basic preparation would be a slap in the face to the bride and groom. The groom's apparent response to this neglect by the five young women was to reflect back to them the level of engagement their own actions indicated. He shuts them out! Wow... weddings can certainly get tense!

The Pharisees were supposed to guide the people of God in the way they should live in response to the grace of God. As is the way of people, they got more caught up with performing for the gaze of the community than living from gratitude for the grace of God. Religious leaders have an inordinate amount of power to influence the lives of those keen to live in response to God - St Paul would later write that leaders will be judged more harshly as a consequence. Leaders are meant to be models - again St Paul would subsequently write “follow me as I follow Christ”. Who would you say is the most powerful model for you in your own life?

Jesus frequently challenges the customary way of seeing things. In his story about the workers (Matt 20:1-16), it at first seems like the workers that got hired last end up with the better deal. But is it so simple as that? All the workers get a fair day’s pay. All the workers get what they need to live. Some of the workers do more work than the others. This is where we are inclined to consider things to be unfair. But what about when we consider the life benefits of fruitful employment - not simply the payment for services rendered, but the impact of making a meaningful contribution to the life of the community? There are things that have value beyond the dollar value. What do you value the most?

Many people wrestle with the area of forgiveness… particularly if the wrong suffered has been deeply traumatic and issued in ongoing suffering emotionally and/or physically. Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 18:21-35 does not seek to address all the dynamics of the process of forgiveness. Jesus is simply stating that being someone who forgives is the best and most appropriate way to do life. Forgiveness is at the heart of the Good News. It is the relational dynamic that sets people free. Our capacity to participate in this spirit of forgiveness is indicative of the extent to which we have appropriated forgiveness in our own lives.