always winter but never christmas

In C.S. Lewis’s beloved classic, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, he pictures the land of Narnia as being always winter but never Christmas. It’s a country in which hope is frozen. Lewis writes, “it never gets to Christmas”. Narnia is held in the icy grip of the White Witch. However, we quickly discover that “Aslan is on the move” and things begin to change. “Soon there were more wonderful things happening. Coming suddenly round a corner into a glade of silver birch trees Edmund saw the ground covered in all directions with little yellow flowers”.

The coming of Aslan destroyed the endless winter in which the inhabitants of Narnia were held and Spring awakened once again across the land.

I’ve always been enchanted by the character of Aslan the lion and the way in which Lewis clearly portrays him as the Christ figure in the story.

As with Aslan so more wonderfully with Christ. His coming brings winter's cold night to an end. "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned" (Isaiah 9:2). 

 I have reflected a great deal this last week on the fact that when the bible speaks about the coming of Jesus it does so in three tenses. Let me explain.

Firstly, Jesus came (at a particular moment in human history).

The Apostle Paul describes his coming in the way: “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children”.

Galatians 4

He came in time as our Saviour.

Secondly, Jesus comes (in the ordinary circumstances of a Christian’s life).

This is the promise of Jesus: “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).

He comes today as our Shepherd. 

Thirdly, Jesus will come again (in a decisive act that will see the curtain drawn on this stage of time). 

The ancient prayer of the church in this regard has always been “Maranatha” “Come, Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 16:23).

He will come again as our Sovereign 

And so the Bible presents the coming of Jesus in three tenses. When viewed in that light, the centuries old carol takes on even greater meaning:

O come, O come, Immanuel,

and ransom captive Israel

that mourns in lonely exile here

until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel

shall come to you, O Israel.

In my humble opinion this is the most beautiful rendition of this carol:

Happy Christmas 

(Picture - Eaglesham Moor)

old and unimproved

 I bought a 4 pack of Irn Bru 1901 the other day and was intrigued by the strapline on the packaging - Old and Unimproved. It is a very clever marketing strategy, springing from a belief that this Barr’s product is quite exceptional. Why change what has become a national institution?

Let’s borrow that slogan and consider how it matches perfectly with the message of Advent.

First, the message of Advent is OLD.

When we use the word old we do so on two levels. 

Old could, in one sense, refer to something that is beyond its sell-by-date, tired or broken and no lower fit for purpose.

Alternatively, it can describe that which is enduring, lasting; something that time honours.

The message of Christmas is old. It’s comes to us from another time and place. But it speaks with tremendous power and relevance to our lives in the 21st century. 

700 years before the birth of Christ one of the Hebrew prophets, Micah, described his advent in this way:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2). 

Jesus, the Messiah’s “coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (ESV). And Micah says of him, “he shall be their peace” (5:5). He is the one who speaks peace into our troubled souls. 

Inner peace has to be one of the most elusive qualities of life in our modern world. Has there ever been a generation that is more restless and therefore lacking in peace than this one? 

The ancient prophet Isaiah speaks into our age when he says, “You will guard him and keep him in perfect peace whose mind (both in its inclinations and in its character) is stayed on you, because he commits himself to you, leans on you and hopes confidently in you” (Isaiah 26:3).

This advent season may our minds be fixed on the promises of God so that when the storms of life buffet us we can draw on those promises and find rest for our souls.

The message of Christmas is old but ever new.

Second, it’s UNIMPROVED

How could it be otherwise when we read again from the prophet Isaiah:

“For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”.

(Isaiah 9:6)

The coming child would be given titles that could only be attributed to God. He is truly, “Immanuel God with us” (Matthew 1:23). The mystery and wonder of that truth is captured in a sentence by Charles Wesley, “our God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man”.

The message of advent is old (it’s enduring) and unimproved (the greatest story ever told). 

(Picture - Ben A'an)

the advent(ure) begins...

We have just entered the season of Advent when we focus on the coming of Jesus into our world. For me one of the stand out lines in the carols we sing comes from Charles Wesley’s hymn, “Hark! The herald angels sing”. In verse two we sing out, "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 was 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 as I recount the following incident from some years 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 11th 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 made available for the purpose. As this event unfolded I recall standing out on the street and a gentleman from the estate handed me an old welding mask to observe this 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 that 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 neighbourhood in the person of Jesus. He becomes all personal, someone we can know in the everyday experience of life.

May we experience much of that reality this Advent season.

(picture - winter walk above Crieff)