Week Four

Gold — Gratitude and glory!

Royal purple of the Prince of Peace, Marian Blue of our Blues singing Mary, evergreen forest green of this precious world and now we look up to the brightness of gold from heaven! The bright raiment of angels singing to the shepherds in the fields. And we think too of the golden treasure in Mary's heart as she ponders all these things that have happened to her…

SEEDS TO SOW: This week consider how you can support organisations like the Bethany Trust who work to relieve the suffering and meet the long term needs of homeless and vulnerable people in Scotland.

Read Zechariah 7: 8-10

Gifts for God.

Want to get God a Christmas gift? Here’s his list. What can we get for God this year?

Read Luke 2: 6-12

Golden signs on a golden night.

This is it, before ‘all is calm, all is bright’, all is noisy, confusing and painful. And then the miracle and the exhausted calm, the tender brightness, Emanuel, God with us.

Who gets to see this golden sign? To be the first to catch on? Well, the local bigwigs are snoring in their feather beds and it’s a group of humble wooly shepherds, on the margins of the society round about them who get the honour. Because this Prince of Peace ain’t like any noble you’ve ever come across before.

What does it tell us about God that the golden light of the heavenly choir falls on this hillside rather than a palace? 

Read Luke 2: 13-20

Golden memories to treasure...

All is bright, all is very, very bright, as angels meet shepherds, heaven meets earth, eternity meets the present — and all on a little hillside to a very small select audience. This is the gold of heaven that does not perish, not the shiny metallic ring of crowns and coins that will simply decay and rust.

This is a kingdom from the ground up, the edges in. The Angel Gabriel didn’t sign up influencers to get Jesus on the agenda. It was beautiful ordinary people in their bright, beautiful, ordinary yet golden lives that shared their story, our story. 

What are the golden memories that Mary treasured that first Christmas? 

And what are the bright golden memories we want to make this Christmas season? Memories of surprise and generosity, compassion and wonder that we can treasure for years to come?