Newsletter: December, 2004

God is with us

“… they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, ‘God is with us’” (Matthew 1:23)

The poet John Betjeman was an observer of the details of English life. His poems describe the ordinariness of people and their lives, but also the moments of surprise and transformation within that ordinariness. His poem “In a Bath Teashop” speaks of the transforming power of love: Let us not speak, for the love we bear one another — Let us hold hands and look. She, such a very ordinary little woman; He, such a thumping crook; But both, for a moment, little lower than the angels in the teashop’s ingle nook.

Many centuries ago in a small village in occupied Palestine, Matthew tells us, another ordinary couple were about to have their lives transformed. Joseph the carpenter is looking forward to his marriage to Mary. He is a respectable tradesman, a devout Jew, minding his own business in Nazareth, keeping well clear of the Jewish king and the Roman occupiers alike. Mary is a respectable village girl. The betrothal has happened, the marriage itself will be soon, and then, hopefully, a life of quiet comfort: home, children, work, the security of the village community, friends, faith.

But then Joseph’s plans fall apart. Mary is pregnant, and Joseph is not the father. There is the threat of scandal. The marriage is no longer possible. Joseph is not a man to exact revenge; he does not want to cause Mary any unnecessary grief. She will not be publicly denounced; the wedding will quietly be cancelled, and the village left to draw its own conclusions. No doubt it has happened before; there’s nothing particularly unusual about it.

Until angels start to intervene. As we read Matthew’s account, we quickly realise that we are facing something extraordinary here. Girls get pregnant, engagements get called off — so far we are in a world that we recognise from our own human experience. But when we hear of dreams of angels, and ancient prophecies, it’s as though we’ve stepped suddenly into a Harry Potter film.

This is how Matthew tells us about the Incarnation. The extraordinary breaks into the ordinary. In a village in Palestine the lives of this peasant couple are being transformed. What looked like a scandal in the making is actually part of God’s plan. Joseph’s sleep is disturbed by messages from God. The baby Mary will bear is no ordinary baby, and to show this he is given two symbolic names: Jesus, Joshua in Hebrew, “Saviour”; and Emmanuel, “God is with us”. He will be the child of the Holy Spirit, the fulfiller of ancient prophecies, the one who saves people from their sins. More than two ordinary lives will be transformed, by the love of God which is about to break into the world.

Joseph accepts his destiny. He marries Mary, and waits through the long months for the birth of her extraordinary child. He is threatened with violence, forced into exile, and compelled to settle far from home and family in Nazareth. No quiet, contented life for him. Then he disappears from the Gospel story, his role complete. His story has begun to show us the way in which lives are touched and transformed by the presence of God. As Mary’s son grows up, he will transform many more lives with the touch of God’s presence. But this story at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel also sets out his theology of incarnation. The child to be born is born to an ordinary couple, and yet is the child of the Spirit; he is descended from David, but is also God-with-us. He is entirely human, and yet embodies the presence of God. God himself is entering our ordinary human world. As we prepare for our Christmas celebrations, it is easy to focus on the magical elements of the Christmas story: the angels, the magi, the star, the birth in a stable. Matthew reminds us that we must also remember the human side of the story. The world to which God comes is our world, the world of village communities and gossip, of sex and pregnancy, of relationships and struggles, of hopes dashed and fulfilled. It is that world that God chooses to enter, that life that God is willing to live. God comes, and his love transforms our ordinariness into something extraordinary, so that we, too, are “little lower than the angels”.

Lorna C. Smith

NEWS IN BRIEF
The Church will be open only from 1.00 to 2.30pm on Saturday 11th December.

This early closure will enable some of the stalwarts who keep the Church open on Saturdays to go to the Royal Holloway Carol Service for the Village which is in Chapel at 3.00pm.

The Christmas Fair on 20th November raised a total of £809. This will be sent to USPG, a society which is currently helping Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia. Many thanks to all those who helped and to those who came along and supported the event.

The annual Runnymede Choirs Association Festival was held in the Royal Holloway Chapel also on Saturday 20th November. Our own organist, Robert Pitt, was Cantor and the combined choirs of all the Deanery churches made truly wonderful music. A real treat was missed by those who did not go.

We are pleased to announce that we have been able to send 43 filled shoeboxes to the Operation Christmas Child Appeal. Many thanks to all those who helped with this.

ST JUDE’S WEBSITE
We are sorry that the St Jude’s Church website has been unavailable for the last few weeks. This was due to circumstances totally beyond our control. You will, of course, have found it at the slightly different address:www.stjudeschurch.info

ST JUDE'S KNITTING CIRCLE
The second consignment of Teddies and squares for blankets is now under way. This time we hope to send 100 teddies and, of course, as many blankets as we can. This is an ongoing project and will continue well into the coming year.

There is also an important way that those of us that do not knit can help. We need new, brightly coloured double knitting wool which may be brought to church on Saturday afternoons between 1.00 and 4.00pm or at any of the services and cash contributions towards this would also be appreciated.

FROM THE REGISTERS
Baptism:
(28th November) Rosie Anne Carr.

Holy Matrimony:
(19th November) Colin Daniel Kavanagh and Katherine Louise Hickman.

Funerals:
(3rd November) Dorothy Murphy.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

COFFEE MORNING
There will be a Coffee Morning at the Church on Saturday 11th December from 10.00am to 12 noon. There will be cakes, preserves etc as well as some items which will make ideal Christmas gifts and an opportunity for coffee or mulled wine and mince pies.

The money raised from this will be for the Parish Centre Appeal.

UNICEF GIFTS AND CARDS
Joan Wintour will be selling these in Church on Sunday 5th December after the 9.30am service. She will also welcome visits at home but ring 437796 first.

CRIB FESTIVAL
It is not too late to enter your Crib into the Crib Festival. Please let Margaret Taylor (01784 435886) know if you would like your Crib exhibited and blessed. You will then be able to take it home after the Carol Service at 5.00pm on 19th December.

We will need help with keeping the Church open for this and providing refreshments. Again, offers to Margaret.

CALENDAR FOR DECEMBER 2004