In the Church of England our readings and Collects, today, encourage us to think about the Creation; and today, The Second Sunday before Lent, is sometimes referred to as Creation Sunday.

I don’t really think, at least in my experience, that enough is made of Creation Sunday. It would be good for all of us to think more about creation sometimes. And that doesn’t always have to encompass the thorny theological issues surrounding a literal six-day creation, or intelligent design, or evolution. We pray in this collect that we’ll be given reverence for all creation, not just the big issues.

God has created a world which is, in many places, of outstanding beauty. And yet he has shared the work of creation with us human beings. And having done so, he relies on us to bring his creative work to completion.

Art, music, and drama are the most obviously creative human activities. But many of the day-to-day things we do, and the relationships we build, show that we’re made in the image of God the Creator. Plant flowers in a garden, or arrange them in your house; wrestle to find the right words to say or write; cook an imaginative meal; teach unruly children to behave in a civilised manner; these, and numerous others, are all creative acts, acts through which we share with God in creating the world as he wants it to be.

When we behave creatively, we’re acting on God’s behalf, as his hands. We should concentrate on the many different chances God gives us to be creative. Enjoy them, and do them as well as we can, for in these ways we are acting as agents of God the Creator; in these ways we will give reverence for all creation.

Almighty God,
give us reverence for all creation
and respect for every person,
that we may mirror your likeness
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Second Sunday before Lent
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

The love our God gives to each one of us, as witnessed to in the birth, crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a truly wonderful thing. Today’s Collect, for The Third Sunday before Lent, reminds us that, amazing as that love is, and as much as we might want to hang on to it, we are not to keep it for ourselves. But we’re to allow that love to transform each of us into the image of Christ, and then to show that same love to those around us. Sadly, that isn’t always the image individual Christians project to those around them.

And that isn’t something we should only be doing on a personal level. We should also, as a corporate body, that is the Church, be absorbing God’s love, and then passing it on to others too. Sadly, that isn’t always the image the Church projects to those around it.

The amazing thing is, the more we can become a channel for God’s love to others, the more we will appreciate it, and gain from it ourselves. Not that we will actually receive more, God already loves each and every one of us as much as if we were the only ones to love. But we will gain more from the love we are already receiving.

So let us, personally and corporately, become channels for God’s love to flow out to the world. That may mean letting go of the crutches of prejudice, judgementalism, and too many other negative viewpoints. And that may well be quite a scary place to go to. But our Lord Jesus Christ will walk that journey with us, and God’s love will sustain us, if we’ll let it.

Eternal God,
whose Son went among the crowds
and brought healing with his touch:
help us to show his love,
in your Church as we gather together,
and by our lives transformed
     into the image of Christ our Lord. Amen.

Additional Collect for The Third Sunday before Lent
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Today is the feast of The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, often known by the Church as Candlemas. The story of Christ being presented in the Temple can be found in Luke 2:22-40. In days of yore Christians used to bless a year’s supply of candles at Candlemas, which is, I guess, where the name comes from.

Candlemas marks the end of the Christmas season, and the beginning of the build-up to Good Friday and Easter. Many Churches will be dismantling their Christmas cribs in the next day or so, and storing the figures away for another year. I always feel a little sad to see the crib go; but it would soon lose its appeal if left up all year.

The phrase, “make your home among us”, I chose from today’s Collect, was chosen because of the hope it offers us. The hope for a better world. I’m sure the world would be a better place if everyone lived as though Jesus had made his home among us; especially if they also believed that he was God with us in human form. Now I know you and I probably believe those to be so, but there are millions around the world who don’t.

The hope is a world without war, … without crime, … without poverty, … without suffering: a world where peace and joy abound, … where the light of our Lord Jesus Christ reigns supreme: a world where we are made pure and holy.

An impossible dream? Maybe. Maybe if it were to ever happen we Christians would be too busy arguing the detail for the utopia to last. But there’s no harm in dreaming, in hoping, for that perfect world. Is there?

Lord Jesus Christ,
light of the nations and glory of Israel:
make your home among us,
and present us pure and holy
to your heavenly Father,
your God, and our God. Amen.

Additional Collect for The Presentation of Christ in the Temple
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Communications technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, and at the same time, become easier to use. As a result, the world appears to be becoming a much smaller place than it once was. And in many ways that is especially highlighted by the rise in popularity of the likes of twitter and other types of social media. Some amazing statistics about social media are available on the “econsultancy blog”. Nowadays we can pass on news and hear news from all around the world in an instant. When I think back, even to my childhood, there have been massive advances in the technology available. It makes you wonder what it will be like for the coming generations.

So, because of all those advances in communications technology, it has never been easier to send a message to the ends of the earth; never easier to “send the gospel to the ends of the earth”. And I’m left wondering if we take advantage enough of the technology available to us in talking about the “good news” of Jesus Christ. And especially if I am, personally, doing enough.

I know I write this blog, and while I don’t think of myself as evangelising in my writing — that isn’t the intention — I hope I am sharing the love of Christ, the love of God, with those who read my words on here. And I know that, in theory, this blog could be read by thousands, even millions, of people. In practise, of course, it isn’t; in fact it’s around about a thousand a week. I have had to accept, because of my ongoing health concerns, that this is frequently going to be my only viable opportunity to share God’s love with other people — even this wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other websites written by people who all want to share the love of God with others from around the world. And probably an equal, or greater, number that are about evangelising and conversion. So the reality is that a great deal is being done to “send the gospel to the ends of the earth”.

But there is one thing that all of these websites, including mine, have in common. They all rely on people being interested enough to make an effort to read what’s being written; the same as with any other kind of website available on the internet. I suspect the social networking sites, such as Twitter, will begin to play a part in changing that, but even with them there still is an element of people needing to make an effort to “follow” you, or your message will just be lost within the myriad of others being sent at the same time.

So, on this Fourth Sunday of Epiphany, I’m left once again with questions. Are we, am I, doing enough to help with sending the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, to the ends of the earth?

God of heaven,
you send the gospel to the ends of the earth
and your messengers to every nation:
send your Holy Spirit to transform us
by the good news of everlasting life
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

I wonder where you would put yourself if I asked you whether you were rich, poor, or in between. The chances are you would do the same as me, and say, “in between”. We know that in a global context our access to clean water, sanitation, food, healthcare — and especially the computer you’re reading this on — puts us firmly into the wealthier segment of the world population. But we all know someone richer than us, probably lots of people.

So what exactly does it mean for us to celebrate our relationship with Jesus, the one who announced his presence as “good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18)? If we’re not poor, how can we discover for ourselves — and share with others — the gospel which is good news to the poor?

I recognize that there is a spiritual dimension in this. Whatever my material wealth, I can only receive Christ when I recognise my spiritual poverty. Think of those words from the hymn, “Rock of Ages”: “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to your cross I cling”. This suggests a truth we too often fail to recognise — it’s hard for the rich to enter the Kingdom partly because the more we have the harder it gets to admit that our wealth has its limitations: money can’t buy me love, and that includes God’s love.

So our beatitude of choice is Matthew’s “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3) because we can see how we might qualify for blessing; Luke’s “Blessed are you who are poor” (Luke 6:20) seems to leave us out in the cold.

A theological explanation for this apparent disparity — that seems so glaring to us in our society, in which poverty is usually interpreted purely as an economic matter — probably lies in the consistent biblical understanding that poverty is the result of sin: “There will, however, be no one in need among you, because the Lord is sure to bless you” (Deuteronomy 15:4).

People who are poor are oppressed; they are sinned against as much as they are sinners. That’s why the gospel is good news — it sets them free (“let the oppressed go free” Luke 4:18). Even more strikingly, one of the ways the gospel becomes good news to the poor is because it sets the rich free from sin and they cease to be oppressors.

So that’s the challenge. Is the gospel we present — by our words and actions — one that is good news to the poor because it changes our attitudes to wealth and poverty? Are we willing to be good news to those in our locality that we find it most difficult to relate to because they’re not ‘people like us’?

Perhaps you can cope with one more rhetorical question: do we prefer to adapt the gospel to our culture to make it more acceptable, or ensure that it is as true and counter-cultural in a world obsessed with wealth and celebrity as it was two thousand years ago?

Let’s face it; we’re in a minority. The global church is now predominantly made up of people who are poor, as will heaven be: the gospel really is good news to the poor!

God of all mercy,
your Son proclaimed good news to the poor,
release to the captives,
and freedom to the oppressed:
anoint us with your Holy Spirit
and set all your people free
to praise you in Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Third Sunday of Epiphany
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

This phrase, “our beginning and our end”, from today’s Collect (The Second Sunday of Epiphany), always makes me think about the book of The Revelation — the last book in our Bibles, and probably one of the most confusing.

I’m not especially confident or knowledgeable about the book of The Revelation, but there are some wonderful passages in there that really resonate with me. One such is one of our recommended readings for use at funerals, Revelation 21:1-7. It’s a reading that gives a real message of hope for the future. The words that form the link in my mind are to be found in verse six, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end”.

This is God speaking to St John in his vision, that is the book of The Revelation. As I understand it, the word translated here as “beginning” doesn’t simply mean the first point in time, but first in the sense of source of all things. And the word translated here as “end” doesn’t simply mean the end point in time, but the very goal of time, what time and life is striving to achieve. So what’s being said here is that all life begins in God and ends in God.

It’s hard to think of anything more magnificent to say about God. And at first sight it might seem to remove God to such a distance that we’re no more to him than flies on a windowpane. But the rest of verse six goes on to say, “To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.” All God’s greatness is at the disposal of humanity. “God so loved the world that he gave…” (John 3:16). The splendour of God is used to satisfy the thirst of the longing heart.

That’s the love that God has for each and every one of us. That’s the love that we’re reminded of in this prayer on this Second Sunday of Epiphany.

Eternal Lord,
our beginning and our end:
bring us with the whole creation
to your glory, hidden through past ages
and made known
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Second Sunday of Epiphany
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Jesus’ baptism marks for him much the same as baptism does for anyone. It marks a new stage in life, a beginning — a launching into a new life and ministry. That’s what all baptism’s signify, mine, yours, and yes, Jesus’ too. When Jesus went into the water he was an unknown carpenters son. When he came out of the water, he was a man with a mission, a mission to save the world.

In many ways, this Collect for The Baptism of Christ encapsulates many of the essentials of what we believe the Christian faith is all about. Jesus is shown to be God’s Son; we recognize him as our Lord; and because of that we can know that we are loved as children of God.

I don’t actually remember my own baptism, I was only four months old at the time, so no surprise there. But it did mark the beginning of my public Christian journey, just as Jesus’ baptism did for him. However, my journey into a recognized public ministry came many years after my baptism, many years after my confirmation when I was thirteen years old even.

One thing that is different for me than for many Christian ministers, though, is that my church-based ministry doesn’t take place many miles away from where my baptism happened. For I was baptised, and confirmed, in Godmanchester Church, the same Church as, half a century later, I’m a Licensed Lay Minister (Reader) — it’s the only Church I’ve worshipped at regularly throughout my life.

In many ways, because of that lifetime connection with a single Church, I feel as though I am a child of that Church. There are people in the congregation who were there before me, who remember me as a baby, remember me as a rebellious teenager, missed me when I left the Church, and welcomed me back with open arms when I returned.

I’m very fortunate. I know myself as a beloved child of God through my faith in his Son Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. But I also know myself as a beloved child of the Church that I love, too. And that means a lot, because, for me, the Church is an important part of my faith.

Heavenly Father,
at the Jordan you revealed Jesus as your Son:
may we recognize him as our Lord
and know ourselves to be your beloved children;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Additional Collect for The Baptism of Christ
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

The picture with this post is a part of one of my favourite windows at Godmanchester Church. We are fortunate enough to have some really good Victorian stained glass in the church. This particular one is above the St Ann altar, which we tend to use for most of the midweek Communion services, so it’s a window I see quite a lot.

When I read words such as I’ve picked out of the Collect for today, the Second Sunday of Christmas, “find him in those in need”, I’m reminded of that window, and the Bible passage it depicts. You can read the full passage from Matthew’s Gospel here: Matthew 25:31-45, but here are a couple of verses to serve as a reminder:

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.

Matthew 25:35-36

We should be caring for those in need simply because they are in need and we’re in a position to help. But we, as Christians, have an even greater incentive than that. We know that when we feed the hungry; give the thirsty a drink; welcome the stranger; clothe the naked; care for the sick; or help anyone in need, no matter who they are; we know that we’re helping more than them, we’re helping Christ himself.

“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

Matthew 25:40

Now, if only I could always remember that when I see the person in need, rather than thinking about what I could have done afterwards. I want to do the right thing all the time, not just when my awful memory works at the right time.

It’s good for me to be reminded of these things, especially in the Christmas Season. When those in need will have felt their need even more than normal, and those with an excess will have been celebrating it even more than normal.

God our Father,
in love you sent your Son
that the world may have life:
lead us to seek him among the outcast
and to find him in those in need,
for Jesus Christ’s sake.

Additional Collect for The Second Sunday of Christmas
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

I have, over the last few years, written a kind of review and look forward type post to usher in the new year. I’m not doing that this year: my head is all over the place following the death of a close family member over Christmas.

But I did want to, at least, wish all who read this blog a Happy New Year. My thoughts and prayers are with you all as you head into 2012. May we all find ways of living the rest of our lives to the honour and glory of God.

Eternal Lord God,
we give you thanks for bringing us through the changes of time
to the beginning of another year.
Forgive us the wrong we have done in the year that is past,
and help us to spend the rest of our days
to your honour and glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

A Collect for the New Year,
from Common Worship: Times and Seasons
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth. These are the words that started this blog four years ago. They come from our Collect for this most wonderful of days, Christmas Day.

Heaven touches earth at the birth of the Christ-child, whenever we celebrate it, and however we celebrate it.

Heaven touches earth in dramatic ways. We see it in Isaiah’s vision of light, peace, and liberty to the world that has too long dwelt in darkness, turmoil and bondage (Isaiah 60.18-61.6). We see it in the angel choir, through which we glimpse the joy of heaven overspilling into human time and space (Luke 2.8-18). And we see it later later still, in the star that drew the magi from the East, when the very fabric of the universe proclaims ‘Christ is born’ (Matthew 2:1-6).

But heaven also touches earth in the humble, in the very human. Once the angels have gone, the shepherds are left with something considerably less majestic: a long night-time walk through the back-streets in search of a newborn baby lying in an animal feeding trough, along with a couple of very tired parents. Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) – yes, maybe, but not only that. Also a child, weak, fragile, and dependent.

Heaven touches earth: in the grand and the majestic, and in the small and humble, they are all God’s grace breaking into the world.

Heaven touches earth when any one of us responds to God’s outstretched hand, and clasps it. Heaven touches earth when any one of us prays, ‘Be near me, Lord Jesus’. So let’s dare to clasp the hand of the tiny child in the manger, and allow him to pull us out of darkness into his marvellous light.

Lord Jesus Christ,
your birth at Bethlehem
draws us to kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth:
accept our heartfelt praise as we worship you,
our Saviour and our eternal God.

Additional Collect for Christmas Day
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

† † †

May the joy of the angels,
the eagerness of the shepherds,
the perseverance of the wise men,
the obedience of Joseph and Mary,
and the peace of the Christ-child
be ours this Christmas;
and may the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among us, and remain with us always.

A Christmas Blessing,
from Common Worship: Times and Seasons
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council