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In other words, the Christmas message in the bible is one of transformation, but not the transformation of human beings in the first place, but the transformation of God. God transformed Godself to take on a human form, a human face and a human life in order to make the world a more humane place.
Incarnation means that the biblical witness is not an abstract message of love, something that merely evokes a warm feeling of goodwill. Incarnation means that love takes on a form, takes on a body, takes on a life and takes on a task. It means that love lives in deeds and not simply in feelings or ideas.
The letter to the Philippians qualifies this human form further when it says “He who was in the form of God....emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.” (2:6-8)
God's transformation, according to the bible writers, is at the same time a humiliation. And according to our theological forefathers, that humiliation did not commence with Jesus' suffering and death but commenced with his birth.
If you look at many of the paintings of the baroque masters, you will see somewhere among the joy of the angels and the happiness of the mother, often in the background, a cross is raised as well. In the minds of these theologians of art, the crib and the cross belong together.
The cross strips the crib of all sentimentality, just as the crib strips the cross of all tragedy.
For both the crib and the cross are witnesses to a God who cannot remain on the sideline, a God who cannot remain passive and apathetic, but a God who shares in the joys of birth and the sorrows of death.
A God who in Jesus Christ has become one of us.
Rev. Dr Ockert Meyer
VISIONSt Stephen’s Uni,ng Church Christmas Edi,on – December 2012197 Macquarie Street, Sydney Ph: (02) 9221 1688 Fax: (02) 9230 [email protected] www.ssms.org.au
FROM THE MINISTER’S DESK
CONTENTS
PAGE 1 – From the Minister’s Desk
PAGE 2 – Poem, Editorial, Calendar of Events
PAGES 3 – From Kahlil Gibran Readers’ ReflecEons:by BelindaFisher ; Marion Welch
PAGE 4 -‐ by Gavin Heise; Mark Drury
PAGE 5 –From Roger
Foenander
PAGE 6 View from
the organ Bench
PAGE 7 –by Janice
Dawson
PAGE 8 – Poem &
cartoons
PAGE 9– Symbols ;
“short-‐changed”
Incarnation and Transformation
Christmas is the time of presents, lights, music and a time when family and friends get around to seeing one another again. But to Christians Christmas is first and foremost the good news that the Word has become flesh. It is the news of the incarnation.
Probably no other Gospel writer puts it as movingly or as beautifully as John: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, full of grace and truth.” (1:14)
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Editorial – Christmas 2012
We have grown up with a one-‐dimensional picture of Jesus that to some, it feels sacrilegious to focus on his humanity. We are familiar with art works of the suffering Christ on the cross, but pain and suffering do not sum up his humanity. How oBen do we imagine him as a young boy struggling with his school work or learning the trade of Joseph, or of being playful, laughing, partying (didn’t his criEcs call him a “wine bibber”?), having fun, sharing a joke or as a child refugee in Egypt?
The naEvity of Christ as a helpless infant is the iniEal revelaEon of his humanity which gives us the confidence to believe that he understands our frailty and human condiEon.
It is as if Infancy were the Whole of Incarna,on
One Eme of the yearthe new-‐born childis everywhere,planted in madonnas’ armshay mows, stables,in palaces or farms,or quaintly, under snowed gables,gothic angular or baroque plump,naked or elaborately swathed,encircled by Della Robbia wreaths,garnished with whimsicalpartridges and pears,drummers and drums,lit by oversize stars,partnered with lambs,peace doves, sugar plums,bells, plasEc camels in sets of threeas if these were what we needfor eternity.
But Jesus the man is not to be seen.We are too wary, these days,of beards and sandalled feet.
Yet if we celebrate, let it bethat hehas invaded our lives with purpose,striding over our picturesque tradiEons,our shallow senEment,overturning our cash registers,wielding his peace like a sword,rescuing us into reality,demanding much morethan the milk and soBness and the mother warmthof the baby in the storefront crèche,(only the Man would askall, of each of us)reaching outalways, urgently, with strongeffecEve love(only the Man would give his life and liveagain for love of us),
Oh come, let us adore him – Christ – the lord.
Luci Shaw20th Century
CALENDAR of EVENTSDECEMBER 2012
2nd – Advent Sunday - Kirking of the Tartans
5th – 11 am -Fellowship Christmas Party with entertainment by Conservatorium High School
7th- Friday Music – Stacy Yang (piano), Michaela Leisk (soprano)
9th – Congregational Christmas Party
14th- Friday Music – Raisa Dobrinsky (piano), Gregory Emaloglou (cello)
21st- Friday music- Callum Close (organ)
23rd- Service of Nine Lessons and Carols with Harp and Brass Quintet
24th- 11pm – Christmas Eve Service with harp & Brass Quintet
25th -10am – Christmas Day service
28th- No Friday Music
JANUARY 2013
No Friday Music or Tuesday communion service in January
20th – Morning service with Combined Churches Choir singing excerpts from Handel’s Messiah
26th – Australia Day activities and half- hour concerts at 9.00; 11.00 12.00, 1.00; 2.00.
FEBRUARY
1st- Friday Music- Christine Draeger (flute), John Martin (piano)
8th- “ -Mendelssohn Quartet
15th “ - Tracy Wan (violin)
23rd “ -Hans Hielscher-Weisbaden from Germany (organ)
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On the Various appella,ons of Jesus
Some of us call Jesus the Christ and some, the Word. Others call Him the Nazarene, and sEll others, The Son of Man
Jesus Himself desired to be called the Son of Man for he knew the hunger, the thirst, the faEgue, the frustraEon, the sorrow of man.
The Son of Man was Christ the Gracious, who would be with us all.
He and Jesus the Nazarene would lead all His brothers to the Anointed One, even to the Word which was in the beginning with God.
In my heart dwells Jesus of Galilee, the Man above men, the poet who makes poets of us all, the spirit who knocks at our door that we may wake and rise and walk out to meet truth naked and unencumbered.
From Jesus the Son of Man by Kahlil Gibran, -‐ Lebanese poet and author of the well-‐ known The Prophet
Christ’s Humanity MaXersWaleed Aly, a lecturer in poliEcs and human rights at Monash University and a regular commentator to newspapers such as The Australian, The Guardian and The Age and regular presenter on the ABC was recently asked "What do you think makes us human?"His response was: "That is what the millennia of philosophy has been dealing with. I believe it is our incapacity to deal with the complexity of life and our constant struggle to try and understand and deal with things. If we did not have those limitaCons, we would be like God, and if we did not have to struggle, we would be more like animals. It is a fun place to be as frustraCng as it can be".So what of Christ's humanity? Jesus assumed everything about human nature except for sin, and was really and truly one of us. The scriptures make it clear that Jesus was a man -‐ "So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us" (John 1:14). He experienced human limitaEons such as hunger, weariness and suffering amongst others.Patrick Reardon has recently commented on a new text by Dr Russell D Moore who is the Dean of the School of Theology of the Southern BapEst Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. The text is called "The Humanity of Christ maiers". He comments:"The very beginning of the Christ story itself tells us that part of the sign of the Messiah is that he is wrapped in cloths (Luke 2:12). Why do you wrap cloths around a baby? For the same reason you might wrap your baby in a blanket or nappy. From the very beginning, Jesus is one of us, sharing with us every aspect of human nature. On crucifixion Jesus joined us in our humiliaCon, our indignity and Jesus was not ashamed to call us brothers (Hebrew 2:11). Jesus was really and truly one of us."So why is it so hard for us to imagine the humanity of Jesus? Quite poignantly, Patrick concludes, "ReflecCng on our Lord's humanity can drive you to the Jesus you might have forgoWen or, might never have seen. It can also propel you with longing for the day the spike-‐scabbed hands wipe away your tears as you hear a Northern Galilean accent introduce himself as your Lord, as your King but also as your brother."
Belinda Fisher
Why is the baby wrapped in so much cloth?
Because there were no diapers in the Middle East then, silly!
Marion
READER REFLECTIONS
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What was Jesus doing on Christmas Day?
For a young Jesus, the anniversary of his birth was not a public holiday or a day of giB giving . Jesus was probably not even expecEng a present, as children do today. The year of his birth would certainly have been remembered, for the Bible consistently records and makes menEon of people’s ages and we know that Jesus was about thirty when he began his ministry (Luke 3:23).
The day of his birth is also likely to have been remembered, for Herod celebrated his own birthday by holding a party (Mai. 14:6) and Pharaoh celebrated his birthday by pumng on a feast for all his servants (Gen 40:20). Then in the Book of Job, while Job curses the day of his birth (Job 3:1), Job’s children hold feasts and celebrate “everyone his day” with their brothers and sisters (Job 1:4).
It is hard to imagine Jesus’ extended family not celebraEng his birthday with a meal and with thanks and praise to God for Israel’s SalvaEon.
Jesus certainly did have “brothers and sisters” within his extended family who may have wished to celebrate his birthday with him (Mark 6:3, Maihew 13:55-‐56). The Jews even knew these brothers by name (James, Joseph, Judas and Simon). However we need not doubt tradiEon and the view that Jesus was Mary’s first and last born son since these brothers only added to the “offence” that Jesus caused the Jews. So instead of considering them to be younger brothers, they may have been cousins and even seen to have had more prominence or authority within the community.
On a winter’s day in Nazareth on the 25th December, it would have been a cool 11-‐19 degrees (based on current temperatures), and possibly raining since winter is the period of highest rainfall. With snow on the distant mountains, the shepherds would have likely been searching out the last of pastures brought on by the recent rains but Jesus, the son of a carpenter had work to do at home. He would have to wait unEl he was thirty before he could go out in search of the lost sheep.
Mark Drury
Do You Hear The Children Weeping?—Gavin Heise
I recently read a news arEcle on “The Age” website which leB me quite shaken. It described a group of religious brothers in Victoria who, over the course of 30 years, had bashed, tortured, raped and killed the disabled children they were supposed to be caring for.
I have never had much of a connexion with Christmas. I always thought that Easter was the 'real deal' – the fesEval which actually told the ChrisEan story – while Christmas, with all its talk about babies and mangers, was something of a sideshow. What can a baby do, anyway?
But that's just the point. In Jesus, God didn't just experience death and resurrecEon. God also experienced birth. Helplessness. Dependence. Childhood.
Jesus makes the blessedness of childhood explicit in his teaching:
[T]he disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven....’ (Mai 18:1-‐3)
The child God is cruelly and horribly mocked by the crimes of the Hospitaller brothers. For me, this Christmas will be about remembering their vicEms. It will also be about finding hope in a God who has known the totality of the human experience from birth through death and beyond.
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week! InvesEgaEng further, these people came from 12 ciEes in North America, 1 from South America (Brazil), 3 ciEes from the UK, 6 ciEes in Europe, 1 in Africa, 1 in the Middle East, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Singapore, the Philippines, Auckland, and 10 ciEes in Australia. The most popular Australian ciEes were Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth with over 100 (but less than 500) people visiEng our site from each of these ciEes.
So far I have not been able to find a tracker which will indicate how many of these visitors are actually members of St Stephen's but if I did, I think the results would be extremely revelatory.
Over the past 120 years, St Stephen's has built up a huge collecEon of choir music. The majority of it has been inaccessible, having been stuffed into high cupboards with no way of knowing what was there or how to get to it. Ruth Lockley and I have commenced the long process of cataloguing and filing it. Much of it is like new and we have already found mulEple copies of music we have recently bought because we had no idea that the church already owned copies. We have even found a full set of the Maloie 'Lord's Prayer' which must have been sung regularly at St Stephen's in years gone past. Some of the music is extremely difficult which shows the quality of the music at St Stephen's in past years, how large the choir must have been.
Over these next few months, more restoraEon work will be undertaken on the organ. During this Eme, many of the pipes will need to be removed so not all the organ will be operable. This is to let the organbuilders gain access to areas of the organ badly in need of repair. The opportunity is being taken to replace some of the missing pipe work during this Eme so the organ should sound much beier and more in tune once all these repairs are completed. There is much more work to be done but this current stage should make a huge improvement and we are deeply grateful to the generosity of the late Adriana Degenfeld-‐Schonburg who has enabled this work to proceed.
CongratulaEons are due to our most wonderful Assistant Organist, David Tagg, on making it into the finals of the '2012 Sydney Organ CompeEEon'. This was the first Eme he had competed in the compeEEon and played the organ in St Andrew's Cathedral. He was also compeEng against far more experienced players. It was great to see so many people from St Stephen's there supporEng him and if there had been an audience prize, from the comments I heard from the audience, I am sure he would have won it.
The Music Staff and Choir are all looking forward to another busy Eme of Christmas music making and would like to take this opportunity to wish all Vision readers a most wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year.
Mark Quarmby
View from the Organ Bench
As you would all know, one of the extra duEes I took on aBer arriving at St Stephen's was to upgrade and manage the church's web site. Recently I installed a 'tracker' which indicates how many people are using and visiEng the church's web site. It also shows which ciEes the people accessing the site live in. The results have been quite astounding. Over the month of September (the first month with the tracker installed), over 1,300 people viewed our web site. That averages about 300 people per
David Tagg and I have created a Facebook page for St Stephen's and each week we adverEse the music for our Sunday morning services and for Friday Music. This week's summary (the second week of October) says that we have reached 3,472 people this week alone. 63 people are talking about our page with 56 new people checking the page just this week. Overall, 85 people have 'liked' our page and it would be extremely interesEng to analyse those who have 'liked' St Stephen's to see how many of them are actually members of St Stephen's. I think the results again would prove most revelatory and really tell us a lot about the congregaEon...
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THE LAUGHING JESUS
When friends went to a seminary in Florida they saw an arEst paint huge works in under 60 minutes.
Christ laughing! A concept I had not seen before.
BeauEful!
From Roger Foenander
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The Magi
As a child, I really liked the exoEc aspects of the story of the three Kings from the East who came to visit the infant Jesus shortly a^er his birth. I liked the beauEful, rich colours of their robes, their foreign appearance and the strange nature of two of the gi^s which they brought with them. Their supernatural experiences, as recounted in Maahew Chapter 2, also appealed to me: the amazing star that guided them right to the stable, and the dream they had, warning them not to return to speak to Herod about their visit to the Christ child.
In this issue, we are reflecEng on the humanity of Christ. When considering the story of the Magi, we can see that the appearance of the three Kings presents a stark contrast to the humble surroundings where the infant Jesus lay. They had travelled a very long way, yet at the end of their journey, they found a very poorly dressed baby being cared for by very ordinary parents. Their faith was such that although to all appearances, this infant would seem to be a very unlikely future King of the Jews, they nevertheless fell to their knees and worshipped him.
Jesus was thus born in very humble circumstances, but in addiEon his life was threatened soon a^erwards. Joseph and Mary were forced to flee into Egypt to escape Herod’s cruel massacre of all male infants in his kingdom. From the moment of his birth, the fate of the Christ child was similar to that of small children in so many trouble spots in the world. This infant Jesus was not desEned to become King of the Jews, but was to suffer an unEmely death at only thirty-‐three years of age. The story of the circumstances of his birth and death can elicit a response of hope and peace in the poor, the dispossessed and the fragile. Although not all human beings fit into the first two categories, all of us feel vulnerable at Emes. Thus Jesus has come to suffer with us all and not to offer us help and compassion from afar.
The visit of the Magi was a joyous and exoEc event with its fair share of beauty and mystery. It is a Emely reminder of another side of the humanity of Christ: a sharing in the happy and colourful experiences which are also ours as we seek to live our lives to the full.
Janice Dawson
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The Inn-‐Keeper IIf only the Inn-‐Keeper had knownThe couple to whom he barred his door!If only he heeded Joseph’s moan,And piEed MARY, so sick and sore! IIIf only he knew the prophecy,If only he saw the guiding star;If only he saw the wise men’s gleeWould he have sent them to Manger far? IIII’m sure, and in no doubt whatever,He would have given his own bed and room,Embellished rich, with gold and silver,SaluEng BABE and MOTHER_SHALOM!
Welch Jeyaraj Balasingam
Sri Lankan Poet
I’m preparing a nine-‐pound turkey for my Christmas guests. I want to cook it in the microwave. How long will it take?
Just a minute …
Oh, thank you so much. You’ve been a great help!
SYMBOLS OF CHRISTMAS – The Turkey and the Pudding
The goose and the boar’s head were tradiEonal English Christmas food unEl the turkey was imported from America in the 1520s by the Spanish. This conspicuous bird soon proved popular because of its tasty meat and size and has remained popular Christmas meal ever since. It is seldom eaten at other Emes except for Thanksgiving Day in America.
Originally, the pudding was very much like porridge – wheat boiled in milk – and served for breakfast on Christmas Eve. It was said to have ‘magical’ qualiEes, ensuring that the corn crop would be a good one in the following year.
Then other ingredients were added unEl it was no longer a porridge but a boiled pudding with fruit and eggs. Later, it became part of the tradiEonal Christmas Day dinner as we know it today.
Short-Changed
A little boy wrote to Santa with a desperate plea : Could Santa please send $500 right away because Mum, he and the other kids need it badly.
A letter addressed to Santa arrived at the post office of the small town and was passed on to a local charity known as “Santa’s Helpers”. Without waiting for the next meeting or for an organized appeal, several of the members pooled their resources and got a $300 cheque off to the boy. They enclosed a little note signed , “Santa’s Helpers”.
A week later, another letter for Santa arrived: Dear Santa, thank you very much for answering so quickly. That was great! Your friend, Tom
PS Next time could you send it straight to me? – those helpers of yours take a big commission.”
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Le#er from a reader: Congratula2ons on such a great produc2on.( Spring edi2on-‐ 2012) The topic of praise is most appropriate and the content makes such interes2ng reading. I learned a lot about the other religions Thankyou you! S W
S. W.
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WISHING ALL OUR READERS A VERY BLESSED CHRISTMAS
If not claimed please return to:197 Macquarie StreetSydney NSW 2000
