veiled in flesh...

I wrote the following as an encouragement to the volunteers of the children’s and youth work at Cartsbridge…

I guess by now all the ministries connected with the children and young people of the church will have stopped for the Christmas break. It has been a busy session on the ‘Young Cartsbridge’ front and an opportunity to enjoy some rest will, no doubt, be much appreciated.

As we prepare for this central weekend in the Christian calendar the words of Charles Wesley’s hymn, ‘Hark! The herald angels sing,’ have impacted me over recent days. The line that has stood out from the others says, ‘veiled in flesh, the Godhead see.’ This statement becomes more poignant when it is viewed against the entire revelation of Scripture. Way back in the book of Exodus we discover an encounter between Moses and the Lord. One of Moses’ main requests of God on that occasion was, ‘show me your glory’ (Exodus 33:18). Moses is informed that were that to happen he would die…such is the awesome glory of God! However, in the gospel of John we read that, ‘We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (1:14). Charles Wesley did not write, ‘veiled in flesh, the Godhead hidden’ but ‘veiled in flesh, the Godhead see.’ Perhaps the significance of that truth can be more fully appreciated with the following illustration…

Back in August 1999 the country experienced its last total eclipse of the sun. We happened to be visiting Liz’s parents in Dalry at the time. At just after 11am on August 11^th the moon passed in front of the sun causing an incredible natural phenomenon. The air felt distinctly cooler and the birds immediately stopped singing. It felt like we were entering a strange twilight zone. On the days leading up to the eclipse the press warned against the danger of looking at the sun with the naked eye and special glasses were available for the purpose. As this event unfolded I recall standing out on the street and a gentleman from the estate handing me an old welding mask to observe this all too rare occurrence. To this day I have a very distinct memory of what took place and what I would otherwise not have been able to see were it not for the shield in front of my eyes.

In a similar way, it is through the Lord Jesus Christ that we see the glory of God. The God who revealed himself in all his brilliance to the ancient people of Israel comes near to us in Jesus Christ. We see his love, his humility, his wisdom, his compassion and…his glory. In Eugene Peterson’s famous translation of John 1:14, God moved into the neighborhood in the person of Jesus. He becomes all personal, someone we can know in the everyday experience of life.

My prayer would be that you will experience much of that reality this Christmas season and that the truth of it will overflow into your service with the children and young people of Cartsbridge in 2017.