It is impossible to celebrate Christmas without thinking of Bethlehem. The ancient tradition that it was the place of Christ’s birth is enshrined in many of the carols we joyfully sing each year. Yet in recent years it has been hard to celebrate a joyous Christmas there. Life had been hard since the erection by Israel of the West Bank Barrier from 2002, and this intensified after the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas in 2023 led to horrendous reprisals by Israel on Gaza. The ceasefire negotiated in January this year is fragile. Embrace the Middle East reports that “critical aid like food and fuel is being distributed in Gaza” but “essential items, such as generators, are often denied entry”. The Palestinian community is divided between Gaza and the West Bank, and the repercussions of what happens in Gaza are naturally felt in Bethlehem. After two dark Christmases, a Christmas tree stands this year in Manger Square and lights up the sky as a beacon of hope. Bethlehem, at least at the moment, is safe, according to its mayor. The pastor of the Lutheran Church, Rev Munther Isaac, says; “Bethlehem is beautifully decorated and the tree is lit, but there is a deep sorrow on every Palestinian…Palestinians send a message of resilience; we are still here, determined to keep Bethlehem the capital of Christmas”. There is still bombing in Gaza and the continuing establishment of new Israeli settlements on the illegally occupied West Bank are ongoing obstacles to peace. Whilst we sing our Bethlehem-set carols with joy, let us not forget our brother and sister Christians in Bethlehem, the West Bank and Gaza. They are on the front line of a centuries-old struggle. May the flame of their love of Christ blaze with faith and love. And may our own faith and love be kindled afresh as we continue our Christmas celebrations this weekend. May the flame of our faith in God-with Us never go out. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light, The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. Michael Kingston
I’ve had the joy this week of watching a school nativity play performed by the very youngest classes. It included those memorable moments no nativity play would be complete without, such as two boys being moved apart because they were colluding in silliness while singing about being angelic! There were no appearances from extraneous animals that we can be certain were not present at the birth of Jesus. In fact, not even any of the animals that we might assume were present made an appearance in this telling of the story. But we did have shepherds and wise men. The shepherds’ very casual glances at the baby Jesus as they dutifully visited, along with the unceremonious depositing of the wise mens’ gifts were great moments. And we had angels and the holy family. Perfect. And snowflakes…. The snowflakes sang and twisted and turned, fortunately not to the point of dizzily falling off the stage! Bethlehem is situated in the Judean mountains, and it does snow from time to time, so why not? Whilst these days we might be hearing about a snowflake generation that lack resilience, it was clear that these children do not meet that descriptor. The headteacher praised the children for their courage in going on stage to teach the gathered adults the Christmas story. It was courageous, and professionally executed. Each child cast their own individual stamp on the performance. Resisting the current trend of seeing snowflakes as ‘flaky’, let’s remember that snowflakes although following the same basic template of six-fold symmetry are beautiful and unique, formed by their own individual journey through the air. Each and everyone of us is also exceptional and matchless. The Christmas story is a message of love from our creator God who says that each of us is specially loved and we are worth the journey from heaven to earth that God made to be with us.
As we come to the end of our season of Harvest Festivals, I rejoice in all that’s been celebrated. In church and in school festivals we’ve received so many donations of food for Bicester Foodbank as people have shared with huge generosity, thanking our generous God for all he gives us. We’ve considered the changing of the seasons and the promise it gives that God is with us in all the changing scenes of life; that each season plays its part in producing the food that we need. In one of the schools, I showed the seven letters of the word HARVEST in the colours of the rainbow as a sign of God’s love and care for us. We’ve examined some church harvest decorations to help us in our spiritual journey: the Harvest Wheatsheaf Loaf with its traditional little mouse showing God’s care for all of us even down to the tiniest of creatures; an abundance of apples reminding us we are the apple of God’s eye; the sunflower with its heliotropic characteristic encouraging us to turn to the one true light, our Lord Jesus Christ. We’ve explored God’s call to give our first and our best from the description of the Festival of the First Fruits in Deuteronomy, learning how this would begin with noticing the first buds on the plants and marking them out to be the gifts to be brought to God when the time of the festival came. This expands to a call always to give God our first and our best in time and talents too. Jesus said I am the bread of life, all that you need. Trust me to provide all your needs: food for the body, mind and soul. We join with those first disciples as they say to Jesus – Give us this bread always. (John 6:34)
