Christmas Invitation. (A Liturgy)

O come all you faithful, all you sceptics, all you who believe and you who doubt.
Come and see the baby in a manger who is born a King.
We are here to see the Christ Child.

Come like the shepherds; just as we are. Invited by the heavens to share in the mystery -
The mystery of the Word become flesh and pleased to dwell among us.
We are here just as we are.
We are here to see the Christ Child

Come like the wise men; driven by intrigued and wonder.
Determined to find what they are looking for and awestruck when then do
We are here to find what we are looking for.
We are here to see the Christ Child

O Come all you faithful. Come in wonder and intrigue; in humility and awe
We are here to see the Child; Christ the Lord.

Joy to the World: Mary's Song.

The Magnifcat (Luke 1:46-55); It’s sung across the globe around this time of year in thousands of churches. It’s called the Magnificat because that’s the first word in the Latin version. My soul magnifies the Lord – we’re talking magnifying in the telescope sense rather than microscope. We’re not taking something small and making it bigger, we’re looking at something huge and getting a detailed glimpse of a fraction of it.

It’s exciting. My Soul Glorifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my saviour!

We’ve lost the music and the tune she sang it to but you can almost hear the passion and excitement and wonder and amazement in Mary’s voice as this incredible experience begins to sink in. It’s like when an athlete becomes world champion all the interviews afterwards are loaded with phrases like ‘I can’t believe what has happened, it hasn’t sunk in yet’. People trying to put into words the extreme emotion they’re bursting with. And that’s what Mary is doing... but why?

She’s maybe 13/14/15 years old. She’s just been told she’s pregnant. She’s signed up to nine months of scandal because Nazareth, where she’s grown up and where she lives and where she’s engaged to the local tradesman, is a small town where everyone knows everybody else’s business. And a pregnancy outside of marriage will not go untalked about – oh no! Conversations over garden fences, outside Sainsbury’s, on buses, in the street – they’ll all be about Mary. Poor little knocked-up Mary.

But still she sings.
And what she sings gives us a hint of the kind of girl she is.

New Lyrics: You Say

You say 'love the poor', and 'seek the lost', and 'help the weak'
You say 'shout for those who have no voice; who cannot speak'
Putting others first, living life with joyful mercy
The purpose of the Church is to live in humble service
Here I am use me

You call us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves
You call us to give selflessly, to share the wealth
Loving those hurt, binding up the brokenhearted
the purpose of the Church: to carry on what Jesus started
Loving those in need

You will not forget or leave us, God, you're always here
You give us a hope that never fails, that perseveres
Not left in the lurch, your Spirit is our help and comfort
The purpose of the Church, empowered by our loving Father

Christ my Lord
O I adore you
Here I am use me

Jimmy Orr ©2010

Don't just talk, Tell the Story

We are officially in a very magical time of year. It's December. There is snow all across the UK at present. But more importantly, we are in the season of Advent.

Traditionally advent is the period before Christmas when the Church awaits the coming of Baby Jesus, the King, the Christ. It's a time punctuated with carol services and nativity plays and various other Christmassy events. Candles are lit and advent calenders help countdown the days until 25th December. It's all very, very exciting and can often see the most reserved of grown-ups transform with the giddiest, childlike anticipation of Christmas Day and all that brings.

In the church environment preparations increase for the expected rush of people craving carols and free mince pies and mulled wine. It's a time of year when people, who would not usually set foot inside a church without good reason, may decide to venture inside the door to experience the religious side of this holiday.

It is for this reason that I offer this advice, which I saw on a whiskey advert recently and that struck me as the Lord working in mysterious ways: 'Don't just talk; tell the story'

To those who lead churches or have the opportunity to speak this Christmastim - Don't just talk, Tell the story. Don't just churn out another sermon, tell the story of the Word of God becoming human. Tell the story of Mary and Joseph - God using ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Tell the story of sheperds - the socially despised work force being the first to be invited into the adventure. Tell the story of a child born a king, who inspired wise men to travel huge distances just to pay respect. Tell the story of a child who set a whole city on edge, how he would grow up to be the most famous person in history.

And to those who may not be speaking to the masses but will have conversations this festive season, Don't just talk, Tell the story. Follow the shepherds' example. They told everyone they met about what they had seen and heard and 'all who heard were astounded'.

Don't just talk - don't waste words on complaining about the inconvience of the snow and how stressful the journey to work is and how we're never prepared for snow yada yada yada -

Tell the Story