“Are you paying attention? Then I’ll begin…”

This paraphrase of the start to ‘Listen With Mother’ (a radio programme for children which ran from 1950 until 1982 which started “Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin…”) reminds us that paying attention is crucially important if we want to learn. The Samaritans to whom Philip preached after the scattering of believers through persecution (Acts 8:1-8) paid close attention to what he said and as a result, many of them were saved.

All of us know what it is like to talk to someone who is not paying attention to us; it’s frustrating and infuriating. As a teacher, I would find it very annoying if pupils did not pay attention to the instructions they were being given; as a mother, it was equally exasperating to talk to my son only to find his attention was elsewhere! But I have also been guilty of not paying attention myself, of finding my thoughts elsewhere when someone is trying to share something important to me, of ‘tuning out’ my son or grandchildren because I have other things on my mind.

Paying attention is a vital ingredient in building good relationships and the Bible has much to say about the need for us to pay attention to God. It’s a wise son, Proverbs tells us, who pays attention to what is said (see Prov 4:20), and a failure to pay attention to God’s commands will always lead us into trouble! (see Ex 15:26) The writer to the Hebrews urges us to ‘pay the most careful attention’ to what God says (Heb 2:1) and Peter reminds us that we are privileged to have the prophetic message and therefore need to pay careful attention to it. (2 Pet 1:19)

To pay attention, we have to be present in the moment, not running ahead to the next task, but willing to wait quietly before God with a heart emptied of all our cares and worries. Paying attention requires time and patience; we have to learn to be still and know that He is God. (Ps 46:10) As we pay attention to what people say and to what God reveals in His word, we will find our attitudes transformed and our lives enriched, but first, we have to learn to listen without jumping in with an answer, to wait without running ahead.

God’s promises sometimes take a long time to be fulfilled. Most of us find even the waiting days of Advent tedious and difficult; waiting is not something we find easy at any age. But Christmas reminds us that God remembers His promises and also that He has the power to do what He promises.

Gal 4:4 reminds us that Jesus came at just the right time. We may still be waiting for God to fulfil a promise to us. It may feel like God has forgotten His promise or that it’s just too difficult for Him to do. Christmas reminds us to hold on. At the right time, the promise will be fulfilled. God never promises anything beyond His capability, so we can be sure that if He has promised, His faithfulness will mean the promise will come to pass.

Christmas is a vivid multi-coloured reminder to us that God cares. In the UK, Christmas comes during winter, during the dark, bleak month of December, and the vibrancy and vigour of the truth that God cares is badly needed as we struggle through the hours of darkness which far outweigh the hours of light.

Christmas is a tangible reminder that God cares for the world He created and for the people He made. He cares so much that He did not abandon us to our disobedience and rebellion, but sent His son to be the reconciling bridge back to fellowship with God. We only need to look at Jesus to realise that God cares.

God is frequently described as ‘almighty’ or ‘all-powerful’ (Gen 35:11, Num 24:4, 1 Sam 17:45). There is nothing too difficult for Him. (Jer 32:17) Many times in life, we face impossible situations, but we serve a God who can part the sea, open blind eyes, cause walls to fall, calm the storm, heal the sick, raise the dead and work miracles in our everyday desperation.

Christmas reminds us of God’s power, for the conception and birth of Jesus show us the impossible being made possible: ‘a virgin will conceive.’ (Matt 1:23) What is humanly impossible is possible with God. One of the many blessings I can count is the times God has made a way where there was no way, and because He doesn’t change, He will continue to do this for each one of us!

The fact that we have a good God is a tremendous blessing. Other religions have powerful ‘gods’, but so often these ‘gods’ are capricious, wrathful and liable to harm as much as to bless. God is good and what He does is good. (Ps 119:68) This is a fundamental truth which needs to be thoroughly absorbed to equip us for a life where so much that happens is not good.

Goodness and niceness are not the same thing, however. God’s goodness doesn’t preclude suffering or discipline, but we can rest secure in the fact that He is working for our good in every circumstance and situation of life. (Rom 8:28) God takes the long view and is working from an eternal perspective and for an eternal destiny. Even when life is difficult, tragic and unfair, God’s goodness is the foundation on which we can base our hope.

In our ‘Little Big Church‘ service tonight, we had the help of Mickey to explore the meaning of Christmas:

Mickey seemed to think the meaning of Christmas was PRESENTS! He knew a lot about Christmas traditions, and the children enjoyed how he talked about Father Christmas (bringing presents) and Christmas trees (under which you put presents).

But, as Auntie Herlen reminded Mickey, there is more to Christmas than presents. Mickey talked about a fairy story, with a princess and a brave knight, but oddly enough, God did not choose to send His Son into a fairy story. Mary was no princess; she was an ordinary girl. Joseph was no knight; he was an ordinary carpenter. But God sent His Son into the world to save us in very ordinary ways, with the shepherds being the first visitors to the baby Jesus.

Mickey’s talk about presents was appreciated, nonetheless, when all the children received an Advent calendar – with a story book about the meaning of Christmas included. As the children enjoy the chocolates day by day, we pray they will also appreciate the meaning of Christmas more, and for the adults present… we too need to take our eyes off the presents and traditions and remind ourselves of the central theme of Christmas: Jesus sent to save the world from our sins, a story found in the New Testament (especially in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2), a story which has the power to transform our lives and give us meaning and hope.