PostScript: Stars for Christmas?
Advent is not just about waiting for Star Wars™ (Luke 1.39-55; Matt. 2.2-18).
Introduction
As we come to the last Sunday of Advent, often taken over by carol services and the like, the lectionary focuses on Luke’s story of Mary (and to a lesser extent Joseph). In the secular world, Christmas will be over by next Sunday, but people will still be seeking tickets for the latest Star Wars film. And one British family will, for the first time, look towards the stars and know that their husband, father and son is some 400 km above them in the International Space Station (ISS).
Context
This week has seen the world premiere of the latest film in the Star Wars series. Even if you are not a fan, you probably know that the films are about good and evil, and some people have seen them, at least in part, as an allegory of the Christian faith. Amongst many books about the Star Wars films and the Christian faith, is one by a British Methodist minister, the Revd Professor David Wilkinson: The Power of the Force: The Spirituality of the Star Wars Films (Lion Books 2000). David is a physicist and theologian who often uses his scientific background in his ‘Thought for the Day’ slots on Radio 4 – listen to his broadcast on 7 December slot which features Star Wars. If the Star Wars films excite you, why not draw on them in what you say today?
On Tuesday (15th December) Major Tim Peake left earth on board a Soyuz rocket to join the ISS. His father has been quoted as saying, ‘I’m far more worried about him driving home along the M27’ – more worried, that is, than about the risks of this space mission! However Christmas is usually celebrated by the Peake family, this year it will surely be different, knowing that a member of the family is in orbit 400 km nearer the stars, and travelling at a mind-boggling speed of around 17,500 mph (7 km/sec).
Reflection
One star features prominently in Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus (Matthew 2.1-12). In the first century, it was widely thought that the stars conveyed messages. It was not then understood how far away the stars were, nor that the light from them had travelled for many years. Our sun’s nearest celestial neighbour, the triple star system Alpha Centauri, is four light years away – meaning that we are seeing it as it was 4 years ago. On a clear night, we can see millions of stars. The furthest star that we can see with the naked eye is over 16,000 light years away – its light has been travelling 16,000 years. With the most advanced telescope available, that stretches to stars and galaxies over 13 billion light years away – the distances that represents are mind boggling. The stars tell, amongst other things, of the vastness of the universe and of the celestial insignificance of our sun and hence of the planet to which Christ came.
At the press conference before his departure, Tim Peake spoke of looking forward to seeing planet earth from space. At 400 km he will not see the whole globe, but even so other astronauts have told him that nothing can prepare you for that sight; it comes as a surprise. At the heart of the Christmas story are a series of surprises. Gabriel’s visit to Mary in today’s gospel reading is just the beginning; soon angels appear on the hillside to the shepherds, and a star appears to wise men far away to the east.
In Matthew’s story of the birth of Jesus, wise men follow a sign in the stars, perhaps a supernova or a conjunction of planets. Tim Peake has now travelled, albeit only a short way, towards the stars; he is there to do science. Some of the work which has revealed, for example, the many planets surrounding other stars, depends on the fact that we can now make observations from beyond the earth’s atmosphere. There may be much that we still do not know about the origin of the galaxies and of life, but surely our increasing knowledge and understanding of the heavens is no less amazing than the story of Christmas itself.
On a completely different tack listen to Lucy Winkett’s Thought for the Day for 15 December on the theme of refugees, and the fact that a dinghy from Lesbos with its life jackets is hanging in the nave of St James Piccadilly in London, where Lucy serves as Vicar. Lucy’s message includes the fact that the Christmas story is both messy and miraculous, and has as much violence in it as love. The challenge, she says, is to learn to give ourselves away.
Prayer
For intercessions
We pray:
for those for whom Christmas brings sad rather than joyful memories;
for those who (for whatever reason) will spend Christmas alone;
for refugees, for those fleeing from violence and injustice and for those who are stateless;
for those across the world charged with implementing the Paris agreement on climate change agreed last week.
A ‘themed’ prayer (with thanks to Lucy Winkett for the underlying thoughts):
God of the universe and the stars,
as Advent comes an end
and we stand ready to mark your first coming into the world,
help us to understand both the mess and the miracle,
both the violence and the love,
and to take to our hearts the message that by giving yourself to us,
you challenge us to give ourselves away;
in the name of him whose second coming we await now and always.
Amen.
Questions
- What surprises have you encountered recently? Even if they would hardly compare with the surprise of Gabriel’s visit to Mary, what impact have they had on you? And suppose that Gabriel were to come to you today with a message as surprising as that for Mary, how might you react?
- How do you respond to Lucy Winkett’s suggestion that Christmas is both mess and miracle? Might we do more to tell of the mess? Should we, for example, make more of the massacre of the innocents, or the flight into Egypt that meant Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus became refugees (Matt 2.13-18)? How might that help us in responding to today’s refugee crisis? God gives himself away in the person of the Christ child; what might it mean for you today to give yourself away?
Action
Make a personal response to the refugee crisis – rather than (or, as well as) giving money to an appeal, what could you actually and realistically do?
Young people
Mary may well have been a teenager when Gabriel came to her; what do you make of her response (see Luke 1.26-55)? How might you respond if an angel came to you tomorrow with an equally challenging message?
If you have access to the internet, you might find Applecart’s version of the annunciation story helpful.
Dudley Coates is a Local Preacher in the Yeovil and Blackmore Vale Methodist Circuit and a former Vice President of the Methodist Conference.
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