THE HOSIER IDENTITY

Grace & I got the box set of the three Bourne films for Christmas. The hook in the plot is Jason Bourne’s amnesia and search for his true identity. They are fantastic films, and while much of the action is clearly preposterous, the underlying theme of the trilogy is the underlying question of all human experience: “Who am I?”

For years I have been teaching followers of Jesus that their sense of identity needs to come from who they are in Christ. Our normal, human behaviour is to identify ourselves and other people by things we can easily categorise and box – what is your skin colour? what is your social and educational background? what car do you drive? what kind of house do you live in? what job do you have? what clothes do you wear? which football team do you support? where were you born? who are your parents? who are you married to?

On one level there is nothing wrong with this kind of categorisation. If we are to understand other people they are the kind of questions we need to ask. But the problem begins when we use these boxes not simply to understand people, but to judge and discriminate against them. It is also a problem when our own sense of identity comes more from these things than from our relationship with Jesus.

I know this. So I have been somewhat shocked to discover how strongly my own sense of identity springs from the things I have done and the things I own. Packing up our house I keep coming across things that have long been forgotten in my loft but which I cannot quite bring myself to throw away – old pictures, school reports, university lecture notes… There is an accumulated history of my life in those boxes, and to take it all to the dump would feel like burying something of what I am.

As I have been sorting and discarding and packing I was reminded of installation artist Michael Landy’s “Break Down” exhibition in 2001 when in a vacant store in Oxford Street he catalogued and then destroyed all 7,226 of his possessions. This was a somewhat extreme investigation into personal identity, and a challenging one. And of course, for all of us there will be a day when everything we own – every love letter, credit card and odd sock – will be left behind. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

I am planning on beginning my ministry in Poole by preaching through the book of Titus. Paul begins the letter by declaring who he is: “Paul, a slave of God and one sent by Jesus Christ.” In the end the only way to really find out who we are is to follow Paul’s example and to completely surrender ourselves to God. Perhaps my children or grandchildren will be curious about an old box file with some letters and photos in it; perhaps it will better help them to understand who I was, and therefore who they are. But what will count eternally will be who I am in Christ, “since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable.” (1 Peter 1:23)

FINAL FAREWELLS

The Hosier blog is likely to become very erratic, if not entirely quiescent, over the next few weeks. We are now packing the house to go, moving next week, and I do not yet have an internet connection established in Poole. I had thought about stopping blogging altogether once we are moved, but a number of people have been kind enough to encourage me to keep going, so once I have got my feet on the ground in Poole I will try to pick it up again.

The past week has been a series of farewells. It is said that you can judge a man by the quality of his friends. In my case this must make me very special indeed! We had our final New Community staff Christmas dinner last Friday, followed by an open house on Saturday. One slight drama was daughter No. 4 having her arm dislocated while playing with the older children. We have had to take her to hospital a number of times this year (2006 ended with a trip to casualty on December 31st after she had stabbed herself in the eye with a pen) and in May she broke her arm when she “fell” while playing. Grace was just deciding whether she should leave the party to make another visit to A&E when our friend Chima, the consultant orthopaedic surgeon walked in. He quickly managed to manipulate the joint back into place, and peace was restored. Talk about perfect timing!

Our dear friends Duncan & Jill came over for the afternoon and stayed for the evening, offering us great encouragement and cheering us up considerably. If you ever find yourself in North West London on a Sunday be sure to visit the church Duncan leads. Duncan has been a close friend for a long time now, since we were both youth pastors in the 90’s. Clearing out my office last week I came across some files from when I used to lead the youth ministry at Stoneleigh Bible Week. In one there were some photos of Duncan, myself and the rest of the team. We were thinner and had more hair back then – happy days!

Sunday was our ‘official’ farewell from New Community. The highlight of this was definitely Greg Shepherd’s tribute songs. In all the years I have known Greg he has been an incredibly faithful servant of New Community, and a great encouragement to me. Some of the most precious and intense moments that I have experienced in the presence of God have been as Greg has led us in worship. But it was great to see Greg really let his hair down on this occasion!



On Christmas Eve we made our pilgrimage to the Borough Market, and spent a fortune on cheese. We then went down to my parents in Brighton, along with my brother and his family, and had a great time there. On Boxing Day the sun came out and it was warm enough to sit in the garden in our shirtsleeves.

And so I come to the end of nearly 13 years in SE London, and I haven’t yet blogged about the delights of Charlton Lido, or Herne Hill bike track, or the Horniman Museum or so many other things. But all those things will have to be left aside – the packing boxes can be ignored no longer…

CHRISTMAS DAY

Dearly beloved, today our Saviour is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness. No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no one free from sin, came to free us all.
Leo the Great

Happy Christmas everyone!

CHRISTMAS EVE

Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and celebrate, all who love Zion! Today the ancient bond of the condemnation of Adam is loosed. Paradise is opened to us… Therefore let all creation sing and dance for joy, for Christ has come to restore it and save our souls!
John the Monk

SOMBRE CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS

Through Advent my family has been reading the nativity story. The other morning we were reading from Matthew 2 about Herod’s slaughter of the innocents. Its that bittersweet Christmas thing again – hope and despair, birth and death, all rolled up together.

Starting in January Mark Driscoll is preaching a series based on questions suggested and voted for on the Mars Hill website. The administration of this has been impressive; the final stats were 893 questions asked, with 343,203 votes cast. All those questions were finally reduced to the nine that Driscoll is going to preach on. You can see the complete list here. The first in the series is a question about birth control. I am looking forward to seeing how Mark handles this. Whenever I teach on sexual ethics at various Newfrontiers training events I talk on this subject and it always produces strong opinions. It is also always interesting to discover how little most believers have thought about it.

The attitudes of our wider society to birth control are also very interesting. Among many of my peers there is a distinct ambivalence about children. Most of my childless friends would say they like children, its just that they don’t want to have any, or not have any yet. There is a feeling that kids are a burden and interruption to enjoying life, and an evident reluctance to grow up and take on the very adult responsibility of being a parent. In a recent article that attracted a great deal of comment, columnist Bryony Gordon wrote,

There are things that you are not allowed to say any more in public, or indeed in private. "You're a ******", "What a lovely fellow that Enoch Powell was" and finally, if you are under the age of 40, "I would like to have a baby".

Grace and I have become used to people staring at us when we are out as a family – with four beautiful, blond daughters we do make quite a sight, but it is amusing how so many people regard as somewhat freakish our having four children. It is odd that it is the most educated and prosperous who seem most reluctant to procreate. Thinking 30 or 40 years ahead I can imagine many of my contemporaries being extremely sad and lonely – a whole generation without children and grandchildren to fill out their lives, slowly slipping into infirmity and death without anyone there to hold their hand, tell them they are loved, and lament their passing.

ADVENT 23

A friend was complaining yesterday that some of these Readings for Advent are a bit impenetrable. Sorry about that! They do need some chewing over - that's the point! Todays quote is from Ambrose, whose preaching was instrumental in Augustine finding faith in Christ.

He was a baby and a child, so that you may be a perfect human. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, so that you may be freed from the snares of death. He was in a manger, so that you may be in the altar. He was on earth that you may be in the stars. He had no other place in the inn, so that you may have many mansions in the heavens. He, being rich, became poor for your sakes, that through his poverty you might be rich. Therefore his poverty is our inheritance, and the Lord’s weakness is our virtue. He chose to lack for himself, that he may abound for all. The sobs of that appalling infancy cleanse me, those tears wash away my sins. Therefore, Lord Jesus, I owe more to your sufferings because I was redeemed than I do to works for which I was created… You see that he is in swaddling clothes. You do not see that he is in heaven. You hear the cries of an infant, but you do not hear the lowing of an ox recognising its Master, for the ox knows his Owner and the donkey his Master’s crib.
Ambrose

ADVENT 22

Bethlehem has opened Eden: Come, let us see! We have found joy hidden! Come, let us take possession of the paradise within the cave. There the unwatered stem has appeared, from which forgiveness blossoms forth! There the undug well is found from which David longed to drink of old! There the Virgin has borne a child, and at once the thirst of Adam and David is made to cease. Therefore let us hasten to this place where for our sake the eternal God was born as a little child!
Anonymous

ADVENT 21

A feast day is about to arrive, and it is the most holy and awesome of all feasts. It would be no mistake to call it the chief and mother of all holy days. What feast is that? It is the day of Christ’s birth in the flesh. It is from this day that the feasts of the theophany, the sacred Passover, the ascension and Pentecost had their source and foundation. Had Christ not been born in the flesh, he would not have been baptized, which is the theophany or manifestation. Nor would he have been crucified, which is the Passover. Nor would he have sent down the Spirit, which is Pentecost. Therefore, just as different rivers arise from a single source, these other feasts have their beginnings in the birth of Christ.
Chrysostom

BYE-BYE BOROUGH

One of the favourite Hosier haunts of recent years has been the Borough Market, close to London Bridge. This reflects our enjoyment of real food. When possible I have planned meetings with guys working in the City on a Thursday or Friday rather than earlier in the week because these are the days the market is open and I could stop by on the way home to pick up a couple of mutton chops from Farmer Sharp or a piece of cheese from the Parmesan Cheese Co. And often on a Saturday we have made a family pilgrimage to London’s temple of fine food.

Visiting the market is normally expensive, but this is compensated for by the provision of a free lunch. Being confident and gorgeous my girls are able to apprehend ample supplies of free samples from stall holders. Our normal pattern is to slowly tour the whole market, tasting at every table, and then make a strike for the few items we are actually willing to part with cash for. Daughter No. 2 chose a visit to the market for her eighth birthday, where she selected the most fantastic steak I have ever had for her birthday dinner.



The market also fits into my philosophy of child rearing as it teaches very vividly where food comes from. We are a squeamish generation and it is easy for our children to imagine that meat somehow magically appears shrink-wrapped in Tesco. I like my kids to see a rawer reality at the Borough – ducks and rabbits and partridge hanging from a peg; whole deer and sides of beef suspended from hooks; live crabs crawling over the ice on the fish stall.



We never manage to pass Cranberry without filling up a bag of dried fruit and sweets; Polish sausage is unmissable; a pheasant (preferably with the feathers still on) is always welcome; Spanish snacks from Brindisa; beef from the Ginger Pig or Northfield Farm – bliss! Earlier in the year I bought a hare from Furness Fish & Game which I thought was fantastic, but it was a bit overpowering for Grace – all that blood...

The market is at its best at Christmas when what is normally the car park is turned over to extra stalls, a Salvation Army band plays carols and the air is filled with the smell of mulled cider and ripe stilton. Amongst the Boroughs rather decrepit streets it feels like London should feel at Christmas – a scene from Dickens, but mercifully kitsch free.

We are planning to make our final Borough expedition on Christmas Eve – always a good time to snap up bargains as the traders sell off all the seasonal goods no-one will want in January – so we will be able to leave London with a good taste in our mouths.

ADVENT 20

How could he have given himself if he had not worn flesh? He offered his flesh and gave himself for us, in order that undergoing death in it, “He might bring to nothing the one who held the power of death, that is, the devil.” For this reason we continually give thanks in the name of Jesus Christ. We do not bring to nothing the grace which came to us through him. For the coming of the Saviour in the flesh has been the ransom and salvation of all creation.
Athanasius

ADVENT 19

It is, therefore, with an unmistakeable tenderness that so great a wealth of divine goodness has been poured out on us, dearly beloved. Not only has the usefulness of foregoing examples served for calling us to eternity, but the Truth himself has even “appeared” in a visible body. We ought, then, to celebrate this day of the Lord’s birth with no listless and worldly joy.
Leo the Great

LONDON FAREWELL

We celebrate Christmas as a time of hope and light, but it also has a dark side. This is in part simply because it marks the time of year (in the Northern hemisphere anyway) when the nights are longest and the earth at its most dead. The old year is fading, and the new has not yet begun. Some of our most popular secular Christmas stories reflect this bittersweet-ness. Many of us might have had more than enough of Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman, but its enduring appeal lies at least in part that it is both very happy and very sad – it wouldn’t have nearly the same impact if the snowman didn’t melt!

This combination of joy and sorrow of course reflects the real Christmas story. It is not possible to accurately tell the story of the nativity without the whiff of incense and myrrh, the smell of death, accompanying it. We look at the crib and we consider the cross.

All of which makes this an appropriate time to be moving house! Details have been finalised and our moving date is now set for January 3rd. People keep saying to us, “You must be glad to be leaving London.” But the reality is that leaving London is one of the most difficult things about moving. Sure, there are lots of things that count against living here, but there are also many advantages. When Grace and I first moved to Sidcup, people sold it to us with the line (apparently without irony), “It’s a great place to live because it is so easy to get out of.” We thought this was hilarious – why live somewhere whose primary virtue was that it was easy to escape? But, despite its sometimes soul destroying properties, the reality of suburban convenience has been ours these past 13 years. 20 minutes on the train and I can be at London Bridge and close to the heart of London; 20 minutes in the car and I can be in beautiful Kent countryside.

But more than the convenience of suburbia, I have enjoyed being part of what is arguably the greatest city in the world. When six years ago we moved two miles up the road from Sidcup to New Eltham I was glad to gain an SE9 postcode, a proper London postcode. But I soon found that some of my neighbours were campaigning to have our corner of the London Borough of Greenwich incorporated into Bromley, in order that they could get a BR postcode and a commensurate increase in property values. Different people have different priorities.

Of course, there is a huge amount of snobbery and inverted snobbery about London. Sometimes it feels like London is more a state of mind than a definable geographical space. Inside the M25? in a London borough? with an 02 dialling code? with a London postcode? close to a tube station? north of the river? south of Hyde Park? This defines the schizophrenia of the suburbs – places like Sidcup and Sutton and Barnet, “London” by one person’s definition, “Kent” or “Surrey” or “Hertfordshire” by another’s. Anyway, I was happy with my London postcode, and having the sense that I was part of something huge – a city of millions whose cultural and business and historical and political and economic impact touches the globe. I liked being able to see Canary Wharf and St Paul’s and the London Eye from where I lived, and, on a clear day, even the arches of the new Wembley.

Living in London we have fallen into the cliché of not doing the things we would do if we were tourists. At the start of each year we would say, “We must go to a show/exhibition/gig/gallery this year,” but it didn’t often happen. It was always nice to know it was there, but life usually got in the way of experiencing it.

But we are trying to say goodbye to a few favourite places. Last Sunday we took the kids for a final walk around Greenwich Park. This has been a familiar spot for me – a regular training ground with the Greenwich Tritons; the place where we would take overseas visitors to admire the view; a place for Sunday afternoon walks.



So it is a bittersweet time. For anyone reading this in Poole, yes we are really looking forward to moving and starting the next chapter of our lives with you. And for anyone reading in London, enjoy your city – go to a gig, visit a gallery, take a walk around Greenwich Park – make the most of what is an incredible place, and don’t begrudge the fact that motor insurance is 20% more expensive in SE9 than it is in BH14!

ADVENT 18

Who does not know that the deceit of demons filled every corner of the world and held sway over human life by the madness of idolatry? Who does not realise that every people on earth was accustomed to worship demons under the form of idols, by sacrificing living victims and making foul offerings on their altars? But as the apostle says, from the moment that God’s saving grace appeared among humanity and dwelled in human nature, all this vanished into nothing, like smoke.
Gregory of Nyssa

ADVENT 17

For Isaiah said, “There is no end of his peace.” And what did happen makes it clear that this peace has spread over the whole earth and sea, over the world where people dwell and where no one lives, over mountains, woodlands and hills, starting from that day on which he was going to leave his disciples and said to them, “My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” Why did Christ speak in this way? Because the peace which comes from a human being is easily destroyed and subject to many changes. But Christ’s peace is strong, unshaken, firm, fixed, steadfast, immune to death and unending.
Chrysostom

ADVENT 16

When Isaac himself carried the wood for the sacrifice of himself, in this, too, he prefigured Christ our Lord, who carried his own cross to the place of his passion. Of this mystery much had already been foretold by the prophets: “And the government shall be upon his shoulders.” Christ, then, had the government upon his shoulders when he carried his cross with wonderful humility. Not unfittingly does Christ’s cross signify government: by it the devil is conquered and the whole world recalled to the knowledge and grace of Christ.
Caesarius of Arles

FOOD 12: THE LAST SUPPER

Only ten days till Christmas, and this will be my lost post in this series about food. I want to finish with some thoughts about how food is at the very heart of God’s dealings with mankind.

God has always chosen to make covenant around food. The covenant with Israel was inaugurated around a meal:

Exodus 24:9-11 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.

They ate and drank with God! How amazing! As well as this initial meal, the Mosaic covenant was maintained through meals. Central to the covenant was the sacrifice of animals, and whenever the Israelites sacrificed they also ate. The great moments of corporate worship in Israel – the times of sacrifice – were feasts. These feasts were moments to remember God, enjoy time with family and friends, and to provide for the poor (E.g., see Deut. 14:22-29), which sounds a lot like how Christmas should be.

Considering the Old Testament background it is not surprising that Jesus chose that his disciples would remember him through a meal. There was no longer any need for repeated sacrifice, but there was need for remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice, and this happened most naturally around the table:

1 Corinthians 11:24 “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

When we take the bread and wine we remember. We remember that we are not just here by chance, but are God’s creation. We remember that we have sinned and need forgiveness. We remember that Jesus’ body was broken and his blood shed so that we might receive forgiveness. We remember that when we receive God’s forgiveness we are made part of his one body. We remember that we will not eat this food forever, but one day will eat at the wedding feast of the Lamb.

I hope you eat well this Christmas, and that in your eating you are reminded of Jesus Christ.

Every meal – breakfast, lunch, and supper – whatever the menu, wherever and with whomever we eat it, puts us in the company of Jesus, who ate his meals with sinners and gave himself for us.

We initiate the remembrance and proclamation of salvation at the Eucharistic table. We continue it at every meal to which we sit down. For the Christian, every meal derives from and extends the Eucharistic meal into our daily eating and drinking, our tables at which the crucified and risen Christ is present as host.

Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places

ADVENT 15

Bless, O Lord, the worship of your church this day, and bless our endeavours to glorify your name. Let not our hearts be unduly set on earthly things, but incline us to love things heavenly that even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, we may cling to those that shall abide; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, world without end. Amen.
The Leonine Sacramentary

WHY ADVENT?

I don't know about anyone else, but I have been really enjoying and benefitting from the Advent Readings I have been posting - they help me worship.

Surfing the blogosphere I came across the following article about Advent by Jonathan McIntosh, from The Journey, St Louis. I had lunch with Jonathan back in May and really enjoyed what he had to say. I hope you enjoy his thoughts about advent...

Advent is a time that Christians traditionally set aside to prepare for the celebration of the coming of Christ. Advent forces us, in the middle of busy and frantic lives, to slow down and focus on the true meaning of the season through two disciplines - celebration and expectation.

We look backwards and celebrate the deep and meaningful truth that God shone a light into our darkness by stepping down into our world of stone, earth, and flesh. We celebrate that the Infinite One who could not be contained by a thousand galaxies, became one of us, living as one of us. That the very One who breathed life into everything that exists and holds every atom in place by the word of his power actually walked around with dirty feet, ate food, knew loneliness, laughed with people he loved, and was betrayed by a friend. We celebrate that God made the first move towards us. In the story of Christmas we see an active God, a God who is on pursuit towards the humans he loves. So we pause, and we look at this story and remember in awe and wonder that in the simple image of this baby in a dingy stall we are met with the reality of God drawing near to earth. We look, remember, and celebrate.

But we also look forward in expectation, because the One who lived among peasants and outcasts is now a king. But not only is he a king, but this One who was once betrayed is coming back to make all things right. He will return, this King will, and when he does we will see him fully in his beauty, radiance, and power. So we stop and look around and come to grips with the fact that much of this life consists of waiting. Nothing satisfies fully and completely because it is not meant to; every joy and pleasure is meant to be only a preview for the whole and complete joy that we will know on that day when we finally see him face to face. We wait... eagerly... expectantly.

This is Advent: Jesus. First in a wooden box made to hold food for livestock, recognized only by a few nomads who watched wayward sheep for a living. But this is also Advent: Jesus on a throne, radiating light, recognized by every man, woman, child, and creature who ever drew breath on this planet.

Stop.
Remember.
Wait.

Do not let the simple glory of it all pass you by this year.
He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! - Revelation 22:20

ADVENT 14

Let us then rejoice in this grace, so that our glorying may bear witness to our good conscience by which we glory, not in ourselves but in the Lord. This is why Scripture says, “He is my glory, the one who lifts up my head.” For what greater grace could God have made to dawn on us than to make his only Son become the Son of man, so that human beings might in their turn become children and heirs of God? Ask if this were merited; ask for its reason, for its justification, and whether you will find any other answer but sheer grace.
Augustine

FOOD 11: FOOD CENTRAL

I have just been speaking with a friend who loves Christmas and loves to feast. Already he is halfway through his Christmas cake, has almost finished his first stilton, and has done serious damage to a bottle of port. Feasting is not incidental to Christmas, and for those of us who are followers of Jesus what we eat has greater significance than merely satisfying our taste buds.

Food is central to the human experience. Over this series of posts I have made the following points that illustrate the centrality of food:
• We were made to eat it
• We will eat it eternally
• We fell into sin because of it
• We need to master it
• We are meant to share it
• We couldn’t communicate deeply without it

All these things are brought together when we eat before God. God has always chosen to make covenant around food because when we eat before God we are reminded of:
• The creator/creature relationship
• Our need for forgiveness
• Our connection to other people
• Words that express what God has done for us

So may our Christmas feasting be before and to and in communion with God.

ADVENT 13

John, however, addresses the issue of Jesus’ divine birth in the preface to his Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. This was with God in the beginning. All things were made through him and without him nothing was made.” The Evangelists help us to recognise both the divine and corporeal birth of the Lord, which they describe as a twofold mystery and a kind of double path. Indeed, both the divine and the bodily birth of the Lord are indescribable, but that from the Father vastly exceeds every means of description and wonder. The bodily birth of Christ was in time; his divine birth was before time. The one in this age, the other before the ages. The one from a virgin mother, the other from God the Father. Angels and men stood as witnesses at the corporeal birth of the Lord, yet at his divine birth there was not witness except the Father and the Son, because nothing existed before the Father and the Son. But because the Word could not be seen as God in the glory of his own divinity, he assumed visible flesh to demonstrate his invisible divinity. He took from what is ours in order to give generously what is his.
Chromatius of Aquileia

ADVENT 12

But in explaining that his birth happened in a way quite beyond human nature, he reveals the mystery of his divinity. It was not fitting that the only Son of God should be born in the human way. For he was born not for himself but for humanity. He was indeed born into flesh that would undergo corruption. But Christ was born in order to heal corruption itself… Note that Mary was betrothed to a carpenter. Christ, betrothed to the church, was about to fashion for humanity salvation in its entirety and his entire work from the wood of the cross.
Anonymous

FOOD 10: SOUL FOOD

To express deep emotion we often use the language of food. This is certainly true of sexual love – see the Song of Songs for evidence of this! It is also true of spiritual matters (and of course, real sex is spiritual). Jesus used food language to describe himself and his mission:

John 6:48-50 I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever.

John 6:57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

Using the illustration of food makes Jesus’ point graphically clear. Being a Christian isn’t simply a matter of believing a few truths about God; it means a feasting upon him. This isn’t abstract and intellectual, it is earthy and solid – it is meant to get you in the guts!

Our desire for God should be like our desire for food:

1 Peter 2:2-3 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Our relationship with God is about craving and tasting, not mincing around with the occasional delicate sip from a cup labelled “spirituality.” Eat well; don’t be a spiritual anorexic.

ADVENT 11

Do not speculate beyond the text. Do not require of it something more than what it simply says. Do not ask, “But precisely how was it that the Spirit accomplished this in a virgin?” For even when nature is at work, it is impossible fully to explain the manner of the formation of the person. How then when the spirit is accomplishing miracles, shall we be able to express their precise causes?
Chrysostom

FOOD 9: SIMPLE FOOD

A trap we can fall into is thinking that hospitality has to be elaborate. Probably this is what puts many people off offering it at all. Because of the efforts of the celebrity chefs we start to feel that we can only offer someone a meal if it is of gourmet standard. But this is not biblical:

Proverbs 15:17 Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.

I enjoy elaborate food on occasion, but some of our best family meals are my wife’s home made soup and bread – simple, cheap and delicious. (If you are able to cook good, simple, healthy food it might be that one of the ways you are called to offer hospitality is by helping teach the less confident how they also can cook.)

Another trap of hospitality is that we tend to socialise only with our close friends. While it is important to stay close to our friends, it is also limiting if we never expand our circle of friendship. This becomes more important the older we get. It is easiest to make close friends while we are in our teens and twenties, and it becomes harder with age. Rather than simply not bothering, this means we should put extra effort into being hospitable as we grow older.

I also believe that there is special reward awaiting those who show hospitality to the most needy (see Matthew 25). Most of us are challenged by mingling with people who are “not like us”, but for all eternity we will be with people very different from ourselves. There is joy in this life in expanding and deepening community. By doing so we are practicing for heaven.

ADVENT 10

“Grace and Peace!” Christ told his apostles to make peace their first word when entering into houses. So it is from this that Paul always starts also, for it was no small war which Christ put an end to, but a many-sided and enduring conflict. And it was not because of anything we had done, but by his grace.
Chrysostom

CHALLIES TABLECOTH

Tim "the most famous Christian blogger of them all" Challies has an interesting Christmas food related post here.

ADVENT 9

As Christ was predestined to be the Son of God in power, so we too have been predestined to be sons of God, not however in power, but by grace, having been worthy of such a calling and having received it only by the will of God the Father… We stand in the same relation to him as images do to their original.
Cyril of Alexandria

FOOD 8: HOUSE FOOD

A small house is not an excuse to not practise hospitality. It will clearly limit the extent of hospitality that can be offered, but it doesn’t preclude it. For example, I have experienced amazing hospitality in a tiny shack in an African township where the people had nothing.

Also, a large house is not an excuse to not practise hospitality. Sometimes Christians with large homes can seem almost embarrassed to invite people around, because their house is obviously so much nicer than their guests. But this is silly. If you have a large house, great! Fill it up!

Our homes are not to be fortresses. Our national mentality very often is, “my home is my castle.” But this is our culture speaking, not the bible. And too often our homes become our temples – the place where we invest all our money and dreams. This isn’t biblical either. God gives us places to live to provide for us and our families and to offer hospitality to others, not as places to cocoon ourselves. As house prices have risen inexorably over the last few years property fixation has gripped the nation. Perhaps now that house prices are falling it will be easier for us to invest in what is eternal rather than in that which is temporary.

ADVENT 8

Without any doubt, he was made that which he had not previously been according to the flesh. But according to the Spirit he existed beforehand, and there was never a time when he did not exist.
Origen

ADVENT 7

Do not let it surprise you, unbelieving soul, whoever you are, do not let it strike you as impossible that a virgin should give birth, and in giving birth remain a virgin. Realise that it was God who was born, and you will not be surprised at a virgin giving birth.
Augustine

FOOD 7: HAPPY FOOD

1 Peter 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

In this context Peter is describing something much more than just having someone you like round for dinner – it means giving someone a room as well as food.

We can easily imagine why this might cause grumbling. The believers Peter was writing to would have been poor – by our standards grindingly poor – so they wouldn’t have had much to share.

For us, hospitality can be accompanied by grumbling because of the inconvenience it offers to our schedules. Looking after someone always costs us!

But it is probably for these very reasons that the bible describes hospitality as an essential Christian characteristic. Being hospitable tests faith (“will we have enough”) and it tests servanthood (“am I willing to be put out”). I have the feeling that God deliberately likes to test us in these areas. He knows that real happiness comes from our being in community with him and with other people. Normally where this community begins is around the dinner table.

ADVENT 6

Christ was born a visible man of a human virgin mother, but he was a hidden God because God was his Father. So the prophet had foretold: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son; and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with us.” To prove that he was God, Christ worked many miracles, some of which – as many as seemed necessary to establish his claim – are recorded in the Gospels. Of these miracles the very first was the marvellous manner of his birth; the very last, his ascension into heaven in his body risen from the dead.
Augustine

FOOD 6: LOVE FOOD

Sharing food is a fundamental expression of love and acceptance. We can see this at a number of levels:

• Ultimate level – God’s provision of food to us 
  
• Intimate level – a mother nursing her child
  
• Social level – inviting friends to share a meal
  

Some people are especially good at hospitality but it is not a gift like tongues or prophecy. All followers of Jesus are to be hospitable. In Romans 12 Paul lists a number of spiritual gifts that particular individuals have. He then goes on to describe some spiritual characteristics that every Christian is to display:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practise hospitality.

Hospitality is an essential Christian characteristic, and we are to do it joyfully.

ADVENT 5

Certainly hope is very necessary for us in our exile. It is what consoles us on the journey. When the traveller, after all, finds it wearisome walking along, he puts up with the fatigue precisely because he hopes to arrive. Rob him of any hope of arriving, and immediately his strength for walking is broken. So the hope also which we have here is part and parcel of the justice of our exile and our journey.
Augustine

FOOD 5: SERVANT & MASTER

Famine must be a terrifying thing, a slow dying with no escape. In the Old Testament a lack of food was a sign of curse:

Deuteronomy 28:15-48 If you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees… in hunger and thirst … you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you.

A consequence of disobedience was the lifting of God’s blessing from the earth. It is only by his blessing that the earth is able to produce food; without it we would all go hungry.

In our culture we are not cursed with famine but ironically the very abundance of food could be viewed as a curse:

Proverbs 23:20-21 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

The bible encourages moderation because gluttony is destructive. Much of the current panic about food is because of the negative impact upon health of our dietary habits. The bible’s concern is holistic – gluttony leads to poverty, of health, of finances, and of respect.

God needs to be our god, not food:

1 Corinthians 6:13 “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food” – but God will destroy them both

In eternity we will have bodies and there will be food, but our bodies as they now are and food as it now is will cease to be. So it is foolish to make food our god.

Food is to be our servant, not our master. It is to be enjoyed with thankfulness to the provider, for our health and enjoyment, and in celebration of his grace.

ADVENT 4

O you who are everywhere present, filling yet transcending all things; ever acting, ever at rest; you who teach the hearts of the faithful without noise of words: teach us, we pray you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Augustine

FOOD 4: FOOD & THE FALL

Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

The first act of human disobedience was over food. Very often this is still the case in our lives – children either refusing to eat what they have been told to eat, or stealing biscuits from a tin they have been told not to touch.

The root of the problem was Adam and Eve preferring the forbidden fruit to God. Food is one of the most basic requirements of human existence, but it is not to be preferred over God.

ADVENT 3

These things were written so that we might not fall away, for we have many battles to fight, both inward and outward. But being comforted by the Scriptures we can exhibit patience, so that by living in patience we might dwell in hope. For these things produce one another – hope brings forth patience, and patience, hope.
Chrysostom

ADVENT 2

It is not the fear with which Peter denied Christ that we have received the spirit of, but that fear concerning which Christ himself says, “Fear him who has power to destroy both soul and body in hell; yes, I say to you, ‘Fear him.’" This, indeed, he said, lest we should deny him from the same fear which shook Peter; for such cowardice he plainly wished to be removed from us when he, in the preceding passage, said, “Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.” It is not of this fear that we have received the spirit, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.
Augustine

ADVENT READINGS

Today is the first day of Advent, and between now and Christmas Day I plan to post a series of readings which might help cut through the goo of shopping and stressing and partying. These readings are all taken from the Ancient Christian Devotional by Thomas Oden & Cindy Crosby.

O God, who did look on humanity when they had fallen down into death and resolve to redeem them by the advent of your only-begotten Son, grant, we ask you, that they who confess his glorious incarnation may also be admitted to the fellowship of him their Redeemer; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Ambrose