All good words but no good deeds?

Dear Oaks,

I wonder if you could believe in a God who was all good words but no good deeds? I wonder if you could believe in a God of great philosophy or theology yet remained unmoved by the suffering and struggles of the world? I wonder if you want a God who promises the world, or even better heaven, but who is not involved in the here and now?

Thankfully none of those are options we need to opt for. At Christmas we remember the incarnation. As the Apostle John puts it “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” John 1:14.

You see God was not willing to simply remain The Word! The incarnation means that this divine expression of the mind of God actually took on human form and became one of us. God because he is love simply could not stay unmoved by the peril of this world. Love cannot remain silent or stationary when something can be done to change any state of imperfection.

So at Christmas we celebrate that love acted, He came, light came and darkness had to recede.

As Christians we are the image bearers of God. This means that if God in his compassion had to roll up his sleeves and get his holy hands dirty then so must we. Jesus left the glory of heaven and was plunged by the Father in to the squalor of the world. As Jesus reminded us “a servant is not above his master.” What was true for him will be true for us. So how are we at Oak Tree to be image bearers of God? What will it mean for us to be an incarnational community?

It will mean going where the lost and the broken are and not just expecting them to come to us. It will mean entering in to worlds and cultures that are different from our own. It will mean stepping out of the comfort zone and into the place of faith where we will truly encounter God. Too many people give up on Christianity when in truth they have only tried churchianity! Christianity is lived out in work places, neighbourhoods and families.

Real faith means that we will potentially care for the widow and the orphan and the drug dealer and the paedophile. See for example James 1:27 or Matthew 25:31-46. These are true expressions of incarnational lifestyles.

So this Christmas we must celebrate. God is not just a good theory or a wise word. He is love in action and literally the way for us to follow, the truth that sets us free and the life we are called to live.

This Sunday at 4:30 come along to our Carol Service and celebrate! We shall sing the old favourite carols; a choir will sing; an artist will paint and a dancer will dance. More than that in word and in video with readings and story telling we shall enter again in to the wonder of the God who loved so much that he sent his only Son to save us.

Oh and I should mention: Arrive early for a hot and spicy drink but come hungry as well. Plentiful Lebanese food will be served you in keeping with our middle eastern theme and atmosphere.

It will a time to remember and a time to rejoice.

In His love,

Mark