Bring blessing to be a blessing

My sermon today was based on an assembly about Epiphany:

The Feast of the Epiphany sees Jesus is portrayed as the hope of the world by his ‘epiphany’ or ‘showing forth’ to these wise men from distant lands. Epiphany celebrates the showing of the new king, Jesus, to the world.

In a European custom at Epiphany, chalk is used to mark houses and acts as a symbol of the Christian story of God becoming human, taking on flesh as part of the earth. As part of this custom children bless others and support projects for disadvantaged children. There is also support and publicity for the United Nations’ ‘Rights of the Child’ and the responsibilities which accompany them (see www.unicef.org.uk).

The custom at Epiphany in Germany, and several other European countries, is a children’s festival - Three Kings’ Day. After a service at church, children go from house to house to gather offerings for children in need in developing countries. They are dressed as the three kings and carry sticks with stars on the top. At the homes they sing songs and remember the birth of Jesus. They are known as ‘sternsinger’ or star-singers and they aim to bring blessing to be a blessing.

This year at each house they visit they will paint this code: 20*C+M+B+15. The numbers stand for the year: 2015. The crosses are not ‘pluses’ but reminders of Jesus Christ and his cross. The letters are the first letters of the traditional names of the wise men: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar; but more importantly they stand for the Latin Christus Mansionem Benedicat (May Christ bless this house).

All around the world people would like their homes to be filled with joy and blessing and Jesus came to bring joy and blessing to all people everywhere. That’s why Christians like to re-enact the story of the wise men being led to Jesus, visiting him at his own house. Finding Jesus brought them joy and blessing; they returned to their homes with new hope. In what ways have we received and responded to the joy and blessing that he brings?

In countries where children become sternsingers, Epiphany is a time to celebrate the possibility of new hope through children. As sternsingers, children ‘bless’ others with their resourcefulness, cheerfulness and energy. The bring blessing to be a blessing particularly by encouraging others to support projects which aim to improve the living conditions and educational chances of children all around the world irrespective of their religion, origin or colour. Like them we can become people who bring blessing to be a blessing both by celebrating our festivals and supporting disadvantaged children around the world.

Seeing at Epiphany that God becomes a child and that children bless us as well as having many needs can lead us to a recognition for the ‘Rights of Children’ and the responsibilities which accompany these rights. In Jesus, God was born as a child with a name, nationality and family ties. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child stresses, in Article 8, that Governments should respect children’s right to a name, a nationality and family ties. It also emphasises the rights of children to good quality health care, to clean water, nutritious food, and a clean environment, so that they will stay healthy (Article 24) and to an education including free primary education (Article 28). Jesus had these things in his childhood but they were put at risk by the visit of the Magi.

As the story of the visit of the Magi progresses it leads to the horrific ‘Massacre of the Innocents’ and the holy family escaping from Palestine to live in Egypt as refugees. Several other ‘Rights of Children’ deal with refugee issues, loss of country, language and so on. Eventually, Jesus’ family return to Nazareth and Jesus experiences the healthy and educative environment which should the right of all children. No doubt the expensive gifts which the Magi gave, helped in supporting Jesus’ family as a whole. Just as the wealthy Magi brought gifts to the Christ-child born into poverty, so wealthier countries should help poorer countries achieve these basic rights for disadvantaged children throughout the world.

Prayer: Maybe you would like God to bless your home and the homes of others. Copy the inscription (20 + etc) onto your hand, drawing with your finger as you listen to this prayer:

The world’s children are the victims of exploitation and abuse. They are street children. They are the children of war. They are the victims and orphans of HIV/AIDS. They are often denied good-quality education and health care. They are victims of political, economic, cultural, religious and environmental discrimination. They are children whose voices are not being heard. So, we pray for a world fit for children, because a world fit for us is a world fit for everyone. We pray for respect for the rights of the child. We pray for governments and adults having a real and effective commitment to the principle of children’s rights and applying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to all children. We pray for safe, secure and healthy environments for children in families, communities and nations. Bless, O Lord God almighty, our homes and all homes, this year, that in them there may be health and friendship, kindness and goodness, love and forgiveness, through Jesus the King, we pray, Amen.

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The Staple Singers - God Bless The Children.

Inspired for service (2)

I spent yesterday trying to inspire others to serve and care through an assembly and a funeral. For the assembly I used material from Unicef:

Durga is 12 years old. She is an orphan and of the Sikh faith. A few years ago a relative borrowed money from an important family. In repayment he gave them Durga. She became ‘bonded’ to the family. A bonded labourer pays off a loan with their labour. But it is not just the loan but also the interest on the loan. Durga’s labour was valued at 50 Rupees a month (£0.88), because the family fed and clothed her. She would never have been able to pay off the loan but would have had to work for the family for life, never receiving any money.

Durga worked as housemaid and nanny in the large household. But the grown-up daughter of the house took a dislike to Durga and bullied her. One day she poured kerosene over Durga and set it alight. Fortunately, Durga acted swifty and dashed water from the sink over herself so she only has superficial burns. The family put ointment on her burns and locked her up. From a window, Durga attracted the attention of a newspaper journalist. He persuaded the family to release Durga from her bond on the condition that he would not write about the incident.

The journalist brought Durga to Mokhila Camp, near Hyderabad. It is like a boarding school which the state government has provided for children who have never been to school. Durga said, “I am so happy to be at the school. I can learn and help with the school. I can be a teacher or anything, I don’t have to be a servant all my life.”

The Convention on the Rights of the Child says that: children should not be separated from their parents unless it is for their own good; governments should protect children from work that is dangerous or might harm their health or their education; and children should be protected from any activities that could harm their development.

All those rights were broken in Durga’s life. That is unjust and she needed the help of the journalist and the state government to bring her justice. We all have these rights but social injustice still exists and to put that right people and organisations are needed to bring about social justice. An 11-year-old boy called Alan Barry wrote a poem about the Human Rights Act, which makes the point that for social justice to come we all need to play our part:

Human Rights

I am not very old
But I think I understand
How the Human Rights Act
Would work throughout the land.

Freedom within the law
To work and think and pray.
To speak out against injustice
Which many suffer from each day.

I am still a child
But I think I know what’s right,
Like standing up for friends
When a bully wants to fight.

We must all work together
To create a better place.
So that all people, everywhere
Can have a living space.

Life is very precious.
We all have much to give.
We must care for one another
And must live and let live.

Alan Barry (age 11)

Have a look at your hands. Your hands can be the hands of God if you use them to help those in need. St Teresa of Avila said:

'Christ has no body on earth but yours;Yours are the only hands with which he can do his work,Yours are the only feet with which he can go about the world,Yours are the only eyes through which his compassion can shine upon a troubled world.Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Some of you were at the Solid:Remix event at Chelmsford Cathedral recently where lots of young people said that they what to use the lives and talents to serve God and other people. The granddaughter of one of the ladies in my church has the ambition of being an ambassador for peace in the world and is training with an MP in Parliament at the moment to help in fulfilling that ambition. Lots of the young people that we hear about in the media seem to just to want to make money or become famous for themselves but there are also lots of young people wanting to help others and make a difference in the world. Which will you be?

For the funeral I used the story of Ruth:

The story of Ruth, of which we have just heard the beginning, is a wonderful story of the benefits and joy of caring for others, even in the midst of tragedy. Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi lost all their close family members but chose to stay together and care for one another even though there was the opportunity to go their separate ways.

Difficult circumstances and tragedy can be the prompt or spur for real acts of care, as we have seen recently in news stories of neighbours caring for elderly folk made housebound in the snow and in the financial response that there have been to the suffering being endured by the people in Haiti.

We know that Fred and Ivy also knew tragedy in their lives, particularly through the untimely deaths of their two children Ivy and Fred. Such heartbreak can cause people to look inward and shut themselves off from others and from God, but that was not the response of Fred and Ivy who continued to love and support each other, to care for Ivy’s parents in their old age and, then, Fred cared faithfully for Ivy as she approached death.

Ruth and Naomi returned to Naomi’s home where Ruth’s care for her mother-in-law was recognised and rewarded by Boaz, a landowner, who firstly found ways to support the two women and later married Ruth bringing an end to the poverty in which they had lived since the tragedy of their husband’s deaths.

Similarly, the need that Fred and Ivy had in their lives to receive support and care, as well as to give it, was also recognised. Their Cambridgeshire cousins stayed in regular contact, as did their long-time friends Sylvia and Roy. Closer to their home in Ilford, Fred was also to receive care and support from Janet and Gill.

Janet was put in touch with Fred and Ivy by Gordon Tarry, then the Vicar of St John’s, and initially helped Fred with moving into their bungalow on Aldborough Road while Ivy was in hospital. After Ivy’s death, Fred met Gill by attending the lunch club at the Downshall Centre. Since those times, the pair of them, supported by their families, have consistently kept an eye on Fred and have helped him find the support that he needed in his final days through the care that was provided at Rosewood Lodge and Woodlands.

St Teresa of Avila said that: “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He looks compassion on this world.Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” People may ask where was God in the tragedies that we have mentioned this afternoon; the deaths of Ruth and Naomi’s husbands; the untimely deaths of Fred and Ivy’s children; the horrendous loss of life in Haiti. Where is God? God is in the hands and feet, eyes and ears, the bodies of those that he inspires to go and care for those in need.

In talking with Janet about Fred, she said, “The Bible says that people should not live alone. We can’t always be close to those who need care. Others can be a substitute. Just keeping an eye on another is not to be sneezed at.” As we offer practical care to those nearby and the support of remaining in regular contact with those further away, we are the hands and feet, the eyes and ears of God in this world. Fred and Ivy were the hands of God as they cared for Ivy’s parents and they received God’s love and care through those that God inspired to support them in their times of need.

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Larry Norman - I Am A Servant.