MIngham

Last updated 00:00, Friday, 21 December 2007

Reverend David Emison, chairman of the Cumbria Methodist District

There is a story that I once heard Richard Baker tell. It was of one old shepherd who, when the others “hurried off to find Mary and Joseph and the child lying in a manger”, stayed out on the hillside with the sheep.

“Come, Amos” said the others. “Come and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us”. “No” said Amos, “sheep don’t take much to bright lights; the angels and their singing have unsettled them. No, I will stay here with the sheep.”

The other shepherds understood and they were grateful to Amos. They “hurried off to Bethlehem to see this thing which had come to pass”.

Morning came and the other shepherds returned, “glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard for it had happened just as the angel said”. “And what about you Amos, did you see glory out here with the sheep?” Amos pointed to a sheep with her newborn lamb. It had not been an easy birth and Amos was tired but upon his face there was a look of contentment and satisfaction. “No, not glory” he said, “but yet to my heart there came a whisper.”

There are some for whom religious experience seems to come easily. Some who find no difficulty in praying and singing hymns and songs of worship. Some tell of how God speaks to them almost daily. Folk like that can often make others feel quite inadequate and hopeless. I’m glad that the Christmas story ends with a picture of Mary quietly “treasuring up all these things and pondering over them”. I’m glad that in the New Testament there is the story of a woman who said “if only I touch the hem of his coat”, of a soldier who said “I am not worthy that you should come under my roof” and of a thief who asked nothing more of Jesus than that, when He came into His kingdom, He should remember a thief who had died beside Him.

Remember, God comes to all of us in His own way and in his own time. Enjoy Christmas; its parties, its laughter and its fun but – as an old story is remembered – my prayer is that you will hear a whisper of the love and joy and peace which is the gift that God longs to give to everyone.

Have a wonderful Christmas.