So… what really happened at Christmas?

Tom in the Box is reporting about a nativity scene in the US that has been judged to be non-Christian and therefore suitable for use on state property.

In a written statement, Reasoning explained, “Most scenes have no Biblical support, including (1) Mary’s riding on a donkey, (2) the appearance of an innkeeper, (3) the use of a small feeding trough that is just the right size to hold a baby, (4) the idea that shepherds brought sheep out of the fields to see the baby, (5) the notion that there were only 3 men from the east, (6) the thought that the men from the east were kings wearing crowns, (7) the conclusion that the men from the east saw a baby in a manger, and (8) the speculation that Shrek was one of the wise men. Therefore, given that the scene is largely non-Biblical or religious in nature, we are dropping the lawsuit.”

Yes, the site is a parody, but the sentiment is bang on. There is a lot of stuff in the popular telling of the story that simply doesn’t match what’s in the Bible.

So what does the Bible actually say happened at Christmas? Well, that’s complicated. The story is found in the first two chapters of Luke and the first two chapters of Matthew. I’d suggest you sit down with them separately and jot down a point by point summary of what happens in each. No cheating—just write down what the text actually says. Be careful of what you think you know.

Now, answer the following questions:

  1. What town did Mary and Joseph live in before Jesus was born?
  2. Did Mary and Joseph marry before Jesus was born?
  3. Where did Mary, Joseph and Jesus go in the weeks after the birth of Jesus?
  4. When did the family finally settle in Nazareth?

Now it’s quite possible to come up with a story that makes these stories fit together. To do so, though, would be to make a mockery of the stories as they currently stand. It seems to be much more satisfying to let them disagree. And let’s face it—if we can’t even tell if Shrek was one of the wise men or not, we’ve got bigger problems.

In the beginning…

Here are a couple of things to get you thinking about God’s relationship to the universe. Please bear in mind that these are meant to get you thinking. They’re not an attempt at systematic theology.

First, a video (thanks, N.T. Wrong!) There is some minor profanity in the video, so don’t let your kids watch if they’re apt to repeat certain phrases in front of your mother-in-law!

Next, I subscribe to the Podcastle fantasy podcast. One of their latest offerings was a short story called Intelligent Design. [Note—that link goes directly to the mp3.] It’s a whimsical look at creation.

A few interesting links

I don’t have too much to say today, but there’s been a few interesting things going on in the blogosphere.

There’s a good discussion at theRubicon about the place of married women officers in the Salvation Army. From its very earliest days women have been able to fill all positions in the organisation, but it doesn’t work that way in practice, especially when the woman is married.

Jason Davies-Kildea explains why he can’t be a fundamentalist. I have a different story to tell, but I agree with him completely.

Kay celebrates the fact that Christianity is a living tradition and that the Bible isn’t anywhere as clean cut as we’d like.

Kevin Kelly wonders how Christianity is going to evolve over the next 1000 years.

If you can’t decide what to buy me for Christmas, or you simply like your Bible’s robust and readable, you could do worse than looking at the Bible Design Blog. [Note: if you do decide to buy me something, I prefer the NRSV. Just sayin’…]

Well, that’s enough for now. Happy reading!

Hubble and Christmas Part Two

I thought yesterday’s post was all I’d have to say on the Hubble Space Telescope and Christmas, but I was wrong. If you go to the Hubble site you can get some jaw-droppingly gorgeous Christmas cards. What’s more, they’re free to download, print, and send to all and sundry.

Carina Nebula
Carina Nebula
Infant Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Infant Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Celestial Fireworks
Celestial Fireworks

(Thanks, James F. McGrath!)

Losing weight—a waste of time?

A few months ago I realised I needed to lose weight. Now I wasn’t huge or anything, but I did realise that if I didn’t change my diet and/or begin to exercise I would probably end up with a few health problems in the not-so-distant future. So I started walking more often and took more notice of what I was eating. Eventually I joined a gym.

I go to the gym, on average, about three times a week. Each work out takes about two hours—one-and-a-half for the workut and half an hour to recover afterwards. That’s six hours per week, which comes in (in round figures) at about 300 hours per year. That’s a little less than two weeks per year.

I should add that the exercise hasn’t been in vain—I’m at a much healthier weight now and I am far more able to play with the kids, the dog and the netball team I coach.

Still, that’s a lot of time. Is it really worth it?

Let’s think about that. If I continue with that regime for 26 years I would have spent one whole year working out in the gym. That is a lot of time.

If any of my readers happen to be actuaries I’d appreciate your input here. In 26 years I’ll be 61. If I’m going to get that year back I have to live to 62. Let’s compare:

  • If I stop going to the gym, what’s the chance I’ll live to 61?
  • If I keep going to the gym, what’s the chance I’ll live past 62?

If the answer to the second question is higher than the answer to the first—and I suspect it is—I’m (statistically speaking) gaining time. In other words, I don’t have time to stop going to the gym.

There are a lot of other things I could take into account here. Because I am generally fitter, I take less time to do physically demanding jobs. In fact, I feel more motivated to do them to begin with, so I’m more productive. On the other hand, I spend more time cooking. But I enjoy my food more, so that’s a moot point.

Financially it’s not so great. My medical expenses are more or less covered either way, so I don’t save much money. Gym fees cost me, and eating fresh food can be more expensive, especially if it’s good quality. My clothes don’t fit me as well, although I still have many things I’ve grown out of! As my mother always told me, if you have to choose between health and wealth, choose health. And it’s certainly money well spent.

All up, I think I’m making a wise investment here. It seems a little strange analysing my health in this way, but when I’m pulling away at the rowing machine, I need every incentive I can find to keep going.

Have I missed anything? Let me know!

Some Christmas reading

Tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent, which means I’ll be preaching Christmassy sermons for a while. I don’t mind that. I love Christmas.

I really like thinking about the Christmas story. The Christmas story is principally found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. They tell very different stories, and I don’t think the differences can be easily reconciled. Still, the stories have a lot of value, even if some of the details are clearly wrong. I’m going to be exploring some of these differences over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I have a couple of things you might enjoy reading. The first is an exegesis of Luke 2:1-40 I had to do for a university course. I really enjoyed this exercise, and I learnt a few things along the way. Maybe you will too.

The other is a story I wrote a few years ago. It’s basically a retelling of Luke 2:8-20.

As always, if you have any comments, you know what to do!

Twitter of Faith

Twitter of Faith
Twitter of Faith

Adam Cleaveland at pomomusings is soon to be ordained. Part of the ordination process involves submitting a page long ‘statement of faith’ summarising Adam’s take on what he believes. While he was thinking about this, he asked Twitter for advice.

If you don’t know what Twitter is, you can get a good description here. In short, though, Twitter is a microblogging service. Posts are limited to 140 characters. Once you sign up, you can choose to follow other twitterers. Depending on how you chose to receive updates, you’ll receive their posts. It’s a little bit like Facebook status updates, but far more flexible.

(If this Twitter thing sounds like the sort of thing you’d be into—and believe me, it’s more appealing than you might think—you can follow me here once you’ve signed up. Go on, you know you want to ;-))

Anyway, Adam asked Twitter (or, to use the lingo, ‘dropped a tweet’) for suggestions for his statement of faith. He got some, but somebody had the great idea of getting people to sum up their faith via Twitter: in other words, do it in 140 characters or less.

Adam got some pretty good replies out of that, many of which you’ll find here.

I’m thinking about my reply. What do I leave out? What do I include? How do I do it without sounding clichéd or sanctimonious?

What about you? Can you sum up your faith in 140 characters or less? If you’re on Twitter and you want to submit your thoughts, head over to Adam’s site for instructions. Oh, and don’t forget to leave a comment here!

Sin managment versus Love management

John Smulo had an interesting post up today asking why abortion and homosexuality seem to be such hot political topics amongst Christians, almost to the exclusion of all else. It’s a great post, and I suggest you have a read.

The thing that caught my attention, though, was one of the comments. Kay writes:

I’m not sure why Christians focus on these two issues so much, to the exclusion of everything else. Then again, I’m not sure that focusing on specific sins of any flavor is helpful. It’s certainly hurtful. Does it bring people to God? Or does it drive them away?

I’m not saying that the topic of sin is not important. I think it’s very important. However, I think that ‘not sinning’ will be a natural response from a heart that is close to God, that feels God’s love, and upon realizing this, they love others in kind.

Put another way – I used to have OCD. The more that I worked on the OCD, the worse it got. The more I tried to overcome it, the more it consumed me. So I decided to stop working on overcoming it. I filled my life with other things and eventually the majority of the thoughts and actions went away.

I don’t think being a Christian should be about sin management. I think being a Christian should be about ‘love management.’ I think that if we aim our thoughts and hearts (hamartia) towards God and other (instead of selfishly inward), that the peace of God will follow.

That has to be one of the most profound things I’ve read in a while. Jesus reinterpreted the Law atthe Sermon on the Mount, making it impossible for humans to keep. Yet he summarised the Law in two statements: Love God, and love your neighbour. Discipleship is, for the Christian, about love, not staying away from a list of dos and don’ts, good as they may be.

It’s about love management, not sin management. I’ll be passing every sermon I preach through that filter now.

Thanks, Kay!

A new theme

It occurred to me the other day that I didn’t actually like my blog theme. It hadn’t grown old, and I certainly wasn’t bored with it. I just thought, ‘I don’t like that.’

So I changed it. If you’re reading Spirit Cry through a feed reader you might not notice. Either way, why not click through and let me know what you think?