Wrington and Lynch Chapels

Minister’s Website Article for January 2022

How was your Christmas? Did you have a good time, especially with family? Did you sing Carols and eat too much. Did you have fun? To me, a lot about Christmas is to do with being happy and at peace. After all, there is little we should take too seriously over Christmas, is there? Yes, meeting with family is important; celebrating the babe in the manger is important; sharing ‘tidings of great joy’ is important; but it’s a time of relaxing and enjoying the season. Arguments may happen, but overall it should be enjoyable. Hmmm…

I once heard someone say: ‘We take Jesus seriously; we just don’t take ourselves seriously.’ Maybe that sums up Christmas. We want to relax and not be uptight; but the question is ‘How serious is serious?’ Following Jesus is clear in the Bible. It’s not a religion in which you figure out the ritual and go on auto-pilot. It’s intentional, where you decide, each day, ‘In this situation, am I following the way of Jesus?’

After Christmas, of course, we look forward: We’re in the New Year: new challenges, things changing. Maybe you have plans for the future. Yet, I suggest that no Christian can plan for the future, without saying, ‘What’s my mission; my next step, spiritually-speaking?’

Faith is not about mindless ritual. Going to church is good; but is going to church why Jesus died?’ Do we simply do our own thing and then go to church on Sunday and hear a message?

Unfortunately, I think that may be the way for many people. Christianity for them is like being a chick, in a bird’s nest. They sit and wait for someone to chew up worms and spit them in their mouths. They don’t read the bible, don’t pray, relate, do anything. Yes, they get worms that they can live off all week, good stuff to think about. Preachers chew it up so it’s delicious. But is that the point?

Jesus’ Great Commission called people to become impassioned about his way of transforming the world. When we consider the future, we should ask, ‘Do I have a mission, or do I just wait for someone to feed me?’

Perhaps that’s a good New Year resolution for us all: ‘I determine to consider more seriously what my mission is as I follow Jesus.’

Every blessing

Duncan