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Equipping future leaders for Christian Ministry

The Evangelical College in the Heart of Oxford

A Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford

Wycliffe HallAdvent Devotional 2013

The Lord is my LightUniversity of Oxford motto

The Way, the Truth and the LifeWycliffe Hall motto

Cover photo: Turl Street, Oxford in Winter.

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Greetings from Wycliffe Hall

Question: What do you get if you cross a fairy and a turkey?

Answer: A goblin.

Advent is the build–up to our celebration of what happened when Divinity was crossed with Humanity. Normally, when you cross one species with another species, you get something that is half one, and half the other. So, if you cross a horse with a donkey, you get a mule, which is half horse and half donkey. But when you cross Divinity with Humanity, you get something – Someone – who is fully divine and fully human. Why? Because when I interact with anyone else, I draw out bits of who they are, but not other bits – inevitably, because I am finite, and because I am not patient or attentive or interested enough in them to draw out everything. But when God interacts with others, He enables them to be fully who they are. Nothing human gets lopped off or squeezed out. He alone enables everything to be fully itself. As Rowan Williams is fond of saying, ‘God does not compete with us for space.’

So the more we engage with God, the more human we become – not less. The more ourselves we become – not less. This Advent devotion is an aid to help us to engage with God – and therefore to become more human and more ourselves. It has been produced by Wycliffe students, Wycliffe alumni, Wycliffe tutors, and Wycliffe friends.

Wycliffe Hall is an evangelical theological college that is part of Oxford University. Like the great early reformer after whom we are named, we are a college that prizes the Bible, that studies the Bible, that imbibes the Bible, and that seeks to live out the Bible. So these devotions emerge from the pattern of academic biblical study and personal biblical meditation that we try to make part of ourselves. I hope that you find it helpful, that it enables you to enter into Christmas more fully and joyfully.

Wishing you a good Advent and a very happy Christmas,

The Revd Dr Michael Lloyd

Principal

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FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1

ISAIAH 2:1-5, ROMANS 13:11-14, MATTHEW 24:36-44, PSALM 122

Advent is a season, not just of expectancy, but of waiting.

One of the most perceptive essays on Advent was written by a priest called Alfred Delp. He wrote that Advent was a kind of reality therapy, of putting aside our illusions and seeing the world as it is. “There is perhaps nothing we modern people need more than to be shaken up. Where life is firm we need to sense its firmness,” he wrote, “where it is unstable and uncertain and has no basis, no foundation, we need to know this too and endure it.” Delp wrote his essay in 1945 in a six by six prison cell, wearing handcuffs day and night, sleep and food deprived, in 24-hour light, waiting to be hanged following a failed assassination plot against Hitler. His writing is suffused by this combination of level-headed acceptance of his circumstances, a concern not for himself but for others, and, strikingly, an irrepressible joy. He writes:

“The first thing we must do if we want to be alive is to believe in the golden seed of god that the angels have scattered and still offer to open hearts. The second thing is to walk through these gray days oneself as an announcing messenger. So many need their courage strengthened, so many are in despair and in need of consolation, there is so much harshness that needs a gentle hand and an illuminating word, so much loneliness crying out for a word of release, so much loss and pain in search of inner meaning. God’s messengers know of the blessing that the Lord has cast like seed into these hours of history. Understanding this world in the light of Advent means to endure in faith, waiting for the fertility of the silent earth, the abundance of the coming harvest.”

Hope, courage, a heart quick to hear, a mouth slow to speak, release from our interior prison, an unsentimental knowledge of our soul and of the needs of those around us, a son, a Savior, the dignity of being God’s herald: all these are Advent gifts.

This Advent may God enlarge our hearts that we may receive him. And living within us, may he make space there for new miracles as we await with joyful expectation the Last Day when the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

The night is far spent: the day is at hand.

The Rt Revd Anthony Burton, (1995-97, BA & MA) is the retired Bishop of Saskatchewan and current Rector of the Church of the Incarnation, Dallas.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 2

AMOS 2:6-16, 2 PETER 1:1-11, MATTHEW 21:1-11, PSALMS 1,2,3

Psalms 1 and 2 are a single song and the first is a gateway to the entire Psalter. Refusing the counsel of wicked, the “blessed” meditate on God’s Word “day and night.” Consequently, while the wicked are compared to “chaff that the wind drives away” and are those who “will not stand in the judgment,” the blessed one is like a fruitful tree. At a time when the Davidic kingdom included Gentile fiefdoms, Psalm 2 mocks the vassals who attempt to gain independence. Indeed, the whole history of Israel is foreshadowed in the picture of the earth’s rulers and realms plotting together the destruction of God’s holy nation. Now, it is the king who stands as the representative of the whole congregation of Israel. He is the LORD’s “Anointed” (or “Messiah”). Psalm 2, then, pictures a coronation ceremony, where the nations are expected to do homage, but instead revolt in arrogance. In Psalm 3, David himself calls upon the name of Yahweh for his own salvation.

The great tragedy, however, is that Israel too came to take its stand against the LORD and his Anointed. “Like Adam, Israel broke my covenant…” (Hos 6:7). Israel might have sneered at her Gentile neighbors as Amos brought God’s covenant curses upon them. “For three transgressions…and for four” was a common courtroom idiom: three represented enough reason to punish, but four went over the top. But in chapter 2, the same indictment rings out: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four….” Israel itself is indicted in the covenant lawsuit (much like Paul’s argument in Romans 1-3). On the basis of the law, no one can be justified. Everyone stands condemned.

Yet even in the exile, Yahweh promised a new covenant, based not on Israel’s oath and faithfulness to it, but on God’s alone. With Matthew 21, we have the triumphal entry of the faithful Son of David who is the “blessed one” of Psalm 1, whose food is to do the will of the Father. He is the LORD’s Anointed (Messiah) who saves his people from their sins. He is the representative King who fulfills all righteousness, bears the sins of his people, and is raised triumphantly as the beginning of the new creation.

Dr Michael Horton is a Wycliffe alumnus and J Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology & Apologetics at Westminster Seminary in California.

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3

AMOS 3:1-11; 2 PETER 1:1-11; MATTHEW 21:12 -22; PSALMS 5,6

Read 2 Peter 1:1-11

As our thoughts turn to buying gifts for Christmas, it is amazing to be reminded that God has already given us everything we need for life and godliness, in the gift of His Son, that first Christmas and in His subsequent life, death and resurrection (v3). This gift of His Son has made it possible for us to know God both now and for eternity (v4). But Peter is keen to further remind us that this gift is not a ticket to heaven we can put safely into a drawer and forget about until the moment when we need it. No, this gift of His Son enable us, no, more than that, requires us to participate in our growing up in Christ. In verse 5, Peter reminds us to ‘make every effort to support your faith with...’ and then gives us a whole list of areas of our character which we need to work on. And whilst the list starts out with areas which could be worked on individually, the list ends with areas which can only be worked out corporately; for it is only when the whole community is making progress in these areas that there will be any fruit (v8).

The reversal of this is, of course, what is going on in today’s Gospel reading and why Matthew puts the cleansing of the temple so close to Jesus cursing a fig tree, a symbol of Israel, because it bore no fruit. We too are in danger of falling into the trap of being either too worldly or too religious to be of any use, just like Israel, and Peter wants to ensure that we keep on working on our characters, strengthened by all that Christ has done for us, so that our churches are those which are fruitful.

This Advent then, let us be reminded, and encouraged, by Christ’s achievement for us, that we might be spurred on to develop our characters and our communities, resulting in more fruitful lives and ministries. Why not pray that the for the next twenty-one days God would help you to begin working on one or two areas which Peter has identified in verses 5-7.

Mike Print is an Ordinand at Wycliffe Hall.

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4

AMOS 3:12 - 4:5, 2 PETER 3:1-10, MATTHEW 21:23-32, PSALM 119:1-24

There is a central theme during Advent as we prepare our hearts to celebrate the greatest gift the world has ever known: God sending His son, Jesus Christ into our world to save us from our sin. This central theme is for us to: (1) repent, turn and run away from the sin you know, (2) embrace the God who gave you life, (3) ask Him to forgive you and, (4) seek comfort and protection in His word, His laws and His decrees.

Amos, the prophet, is quite clear in his message to Israel, ‘I will punish Israel for her sins’. In the first part of chapter 3, God lets us know that of all the people of the earth, He chose us. And how do we respond? Well Amos lets us know and spells it out: with arrogance, lack of compassion, false worship, doing things we shouldn’t do, and not doing things we should.

Saint Peter encourages us in his letter ‘to stimulate us to wholesome thinking’. He reminds us that there will be those who will try to lead us to embrace the evil and selfish desires that separate us from God. How marvelous are Peter’s words when he writes ‘God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance’.

In the gospel of Matthew, on what we consider to be Palm Sunday, Jesus speaks to the leaders of the Temple as they confront him regarding his authority. In Jesus’ parable to these religious leaders He tells them that doing what God has asked and demanded requires the heart to repent.

Repentance: to turn away from, to reverse, to run away from. Years ago a friend helped me understand this when he said: Sin is dangerous. Sin is deadly. Sin will hurt you. Sin will hurt those you love. When we become conscious of our sin we are to turn and run away from it like our lives depend on it. My friend went on to say, “when you see a rattlesnake or an alligator, do you walk up to it and try to grab it? Certainly not, you run away from it. You pay attention not to get bit by the creature. Sin is the same way. Don’t try to handle your sin. Run away from it. And go to God with a humble heart and say ‘I am sorry. I should not have done this’. God will do a mighty thing with your repentance. “ Turning away, running away from our sin is crucial in our relationship with God.

May the God who created this universe and who knows you by your name, dwell within you always.

Bruce O’Donoghue is an Orlando businessman and the Chairman of US Friends of Wycliffe Hall.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5

AMOS 4:6-13, 2 PETER 3:11-18, MATTHEW21:33-46, PSALM 18:1-20

2 Peter 3:11-18

The Christian church is still waiting. We’re waiting, says Peter, for the arrival of ‘the day of God’ (2 Peter 3.12). It’s an unusual phrase, which only appears in one other place in the New Testament, in the Book of Revelation where we read of mighty armies assembled for battle at Armageddon ‘on the great day of God the Almighty’ (Revelation 16.12). Peter earlier uses the more familiar language of ‘the day of judgment’ (v.7) and ‘the day of the Lord’ (v.10). He means the advent of Jesus.

As we wait, how should we be spending the time? Certainly not by investing in the material things of this world, which are all scheduled for destruction. Peter’s language is all-encompassing in its scope. Both the heavens and the earth as they now exist, ‘all these things’, will be dissolved and burned up and melt away. You can’t take it with you, as the old adage goes, but neither can we leave it secure for future generations, because ultimately this world is on the way out. The house, the books, the family heirlooms, the cities, the farms, the factories and fields, the schools, the universities, the church buildings – none of it will last beyond that final day. We’re waiting instead for God’s new reality, for ‘new heavens and a new earth’ (v.13), from which the ungodly are expelled and where only righteousness dwells. We don’t know the timetable, but it’s a promise of God. So the sensible investor plans now for that long term future.

As we wait expectantly, Peter exhorts us first and foremost to invest in our walk with God, which will last. We don’t prepare for the last day by sitting on our hands or examining the skies with a telescope. We must ‘be diligent to be found in him’ (v.14), pursuing a holy life, and wanting to know Jesus better (v.18). As Peter considers the day of the Lord, he brings us back again to the Lord of that day, to Jesus the Saviour. And he can’t help but burst into praise. ‘To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.’

The Revd Dr Andrew Atherstone is Latimer research fellow at Wycliffe Hall and teaches church history.

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6

AMOS 5:1-17, JUDE 1-16, MATTHEW 22:1-14, PSALMS 16, 17

Christmas morning and the stockings were overflowing. My mischievous five-year-old pointed at the presents and said, “See! I told you I was good!”

We all like to think we are good and deserve a happy ending. As NT Wright (Wycliffe alumnus) says “We want to hear a nice story about God throwing the party open to everyone. We want (as people now fashionable say) to be ‘inclusive’, to let everyone in. We don’t want to know about judgment on the wicked, or demanding standards of holiness, or about weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

But, like it or not, that is exactly what we do hear today: Psalm 16 says we have no good apart from God; Amos says God cares about justice and knows our sin; Matthew tells of the total destruction of those who refuse the invitation of the King; and Jude promises that those who “pervert the grace of God” will end up “wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever.”

It isn’t spiritual tinsel is it? More Advent alarms bells – prophetic words of judgment.

Our own agendas, our own clothes and our own goodness simply won’t do. For the messianic invitation of the King demands a response and His banquet requires us to change – to be transformed by grace into people fit for His presence. He loves us as we are but we can not stay the same.

Benjamin Franklin once observed that many remember Christ’s birth but few keep his precepts. ‘Many are called, but few are chosen.’ The challenge, and gracious invitation of the King, is to be one of the few.

God our King,Keep us as the apple of your eye,Hide us in the shadow of your wings.Help us to put aside our own agendas and make your invitation our first priority,Give us grace to attend your banquet with faithfulness and obedience,dressed for service and fit for your presence. For in your presence there is fullness of joy;And in your right hand are pleasures evermore.You are our Lord, and King, and we have no good apart from you.Amen.

Katie Thomas is an Ordinand at Wycliffe Hall.

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7

AMOS 5:18-27, JUDE 17-25, MATTHEW22:15-22, PSALM 20, 21:1-7(8-14)

Paying Taxes to Caesar- Matthew 22:15-22

Reading through this passage in Matthew, the old adage - “there are two things certain in life - death and taxes” comes to mind. No one particularly enjoys paying taxes and in the context of Jesus’ Palestine, death and taxes were very much causally linked. One of the most famous Jewish leaders during Jesus’ childhood was a revolutionary named Judas. He felt so passionately about the injustice of having to pay taxes to a foreign invading power that he led a revolt precisely on the issue. The Romans responded mercilessly, crushing the uprising and scattering crucified rebels across the countryside. The message was clear - failure to pay taxes could result in death. But at the same time, how could a leader of the “kingdom of God” movement endorse Roman taxes?

Jesus ably deflects the question by famously replying “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s”. But what does Jesus mean by this answer? One thing is clear, Jesus was not trying to avoid death by the Roman authorities. He had already revealed to his disciples that he would be crucified (Mat 20:17-19). No, Jesus knew his destiny, and was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice so that we might all have eternal life. What Jesus did do, was define how he wanted to be portrayed - as the Son of Man and the Son God, not a Jewish revolutionary determined to overthrow the Romans.

In doing so, Jesus also questions the base assumption behind the Pharisees’ question - that there is an essential inconsistency between loyalty to the government and loyalty to God. He demonstrates that it is possible to pay one’s dues both to the emperor and to God. This principle is more fully expounded in Rom 13:1-7, but to first century Jews under Roman occupation, it was understandably not at all so obvious. However, it is important to note Jesus’ position is nuanced. Our first loyalty must always be to God (Mat 22:36-40). That may mean, as Christians went on to discover under the tyrannical reign of Nero, that it is not always possible to accept the authority of the governing power.

Michael Morrison is the Development Manager at Wycliffe Hall and is also an Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics Alumnus (2012).

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SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT SUNDAY DECEMBER 8

ISAIAH 11:1-9; ROMANS 15: 4-13; MATTHEW 3:1-12, PSALM 72:1-7,18-19

The heart-felt cry in Advent is one of longing. ‘Oh that God would come and deliver us.’ It is the cry of the family torn apart in Damascus, of the man trapped in an endless cycle of poverty in the Philippines, of the young girl sold for sex in Europe, of the maimed child whose parents have been blown up in Afghanistan. Every day there is another voice added to the cry of longing for things to be different, for peace and justice to prevail. Is it a cry that is destined never to be answered?

Today we seem more interested in the dystopias of our imagination than the visions of the biblical prophets such as Isaiah. Yet, people still write prayers for peace in church visitors’ books. They still recognize injustice when they see it. The trouble is we see it so often and our expectations that things fall lower with every instance. So when we turn to Isaiah and read of wolves living happily with lambs and of lions eating straw like the ox, we conclude it can only be a dream. It’s a lovely idea, but like the Shaker-style picture I used to have on my wall of ‘The peaceable kingdom’ it belongs in the realm of the naive, the impossible even.

Harmony in the animal kingdom is only half the picture, however, for Isaiah prefaces his picture with reference to a shoot growing out of a stump. At first this is not promising. Both words signify a weak twig rather than a towering oak. But look again. This image turns out to be a person who defies all expectation, exhibiting the kind of qualities that lift the utopian picture of a renewed and restored Creation into a new dimension. We cannot begin to conceive of a world where peace and justice reign unless the rightful king is on the throne, a king in whom the Spirit of the Lord rests. True wisdom and understanding, counsel and might belong to God and only he can judge with righteousness. This unpromising shoot is the hope of our deliverance, the one who will set all wrongs right. Do we believe this? The apostle Paul based his Gospel on this hope and so must we.

The Revd Dr Elizabeth Hoare is the Tutor in Spiritual Formation at Wycliffe Hall.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 9

AMOS 7:1-9, REVELATION 1:1-8, MATTHEW 22:23-33, PSALM 25

Shame is unique among human experiences. It leads people into despair and destroys their ability to reason their way out of despair; but shame’s persistence stems from its believability. As a consequence, it can both paralyse us with fear that we will soon be blotted out, and simultaneously condemn us to the belief that we ought to be blotted out. It is an extraordinarily virulent kind of suffering.

The Hebrew Bible is never coy about the destructive power of shame: O Lord GOD, forgive! cries the prophet Amos; how can Jacob stand? Amos’ fear was that the deserved shame of his people would cause God to blot Israel out of existence. The Old Testament also deals straightforwardly with the social stigma of shame: the original law prompting the Sadducees’ trick question about marriage in heaven in Matthew. xxii was the Deuteronomic concern for avoiding familial shame in the event of childlessness—in the event of a family’s name and honour being blotted out.

But the Scripture equally hints at a future in which shame and the fear of being blotted out will no longer hold us captive. The Psalmist, living in the tension between Israel’s guilt and the potential for God to blot out Israel by handing her over to her enemies, concludes that God will not give her over to her shame but rather redeem Israel out of all its troubles. In Matthew xxii, Jesus makes clear that it is the resurrection that makes such a shame-free future possible: the kingdom of God, he insists, is not governed by the Deuteronomic laws set up to deal with shame and stigma, because the possibility of being blotted out is no longer on the table.

The resurrection, then, destroys shame and its power. The opening chapter of Revelation depicts this neatly for us: when John falls at Jesus’ feet as though dead, imitating the performance of shame and dirtiness by countless prophets before him, the Risen Christ speaks his shame away, with words of resurrection life: Do not be afraid; I was dead, and see, I am alive for ever and ever.

May the power of Christ’s resurrection destroy our shame, too.

Patrick Gilday is an Ordinand at Wycliffe Hall.

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10

AMOS 7:10-17, REVELATION 1:9-16, MATTHEW 22:34-46, PSALMS 26, 28

Criticism is hard to take in good times, by the best of people. It is no surprise then that the divine reproof a reluctant prophet was sent to deliver to a rebellious, apostate audience met with derisive hostility. Poor Amos.

The writer of Revelation fared no better. A millennium later, in a very different time and place, God’s messenger John was punished with exile for his faithful witness to Christ and the Gospel. John Wycliffe, Oxford scholar and reformer who altered forever the course of Bible translation and from whom Wycliffe Hall derives its name, suffered intense persecution at the hands of the religious establishment of fourteenth-century Europe. Considering our texts and the strong precedent of human history, God’s faithful messengers - both reluctant draftees and eager volunteers - should expect an unwelcome response for their efforts. No wonder the Psalmist pleads for vindication.

This Advent Season, how will I respond to God’s directives to me? When assigned to deliver God’s call to repentance and preparation for Christ’s coming will I discharge courageously and unwaveringly my commission as a faithful messenger?

When I am the recipient of God’s corrective word will I respond in contrition and obedience; or will I ignore, excuse, argue and ultimately reject the conviction of the Holy Spirit like the unheeding listeners of Amos, Revelation and pre-Reformation Europe.

Repenting of my own sin and arrogance and choosing to cooperate unflinchingly with God’s transforming work in my life, I pray in contrition with the Psalmist:

Praise to You, O Lord, for Your have answered my cry for mercy. You are my strength and my shield, my shepherd and my refuge. With all of my being I trust in You and You have helped me. My heart leaps for joy and I give You undying thanks in song. Amen.

Lois Svalya is a member of the Advisory Council of US Friends of Wycliffe Hall.

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11

AMOS 8:1-14, REVELATION 1:17-2:7, MATTHEW 23:1-12, PSALM 38

I like teaching. What’s not to like? A group of students sit in front of you and have to listen to you talk for an hour. Well. . . let’s hope that is not the only thing I like about teaching. There may be something about pursuing God’s truth in Scripture with students as well. However, there is no doubt that it can be very ego boosting. Therein lies the problem. So many things we do, even good things like teaching, can become things that we do as an act of self-exaltation.

In our Gospel passage this is precisely what Jesus warns his disciples about concerning the scribes and the Pharisees. He says that “They do all their deeds to be seen by others” (Matt. 23:5). Now in many ways the Pharisees were a positive movement in Israel, calling the people to religious fidelity. Jesus himself tells his followers to “do whatever they teach you and follow it.” However, Jesus continues to say, “do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach” (Matt. 23:3). They have good things to say, but they have lost the plot. Religious fidelity is a good thing, but if it is practiced in order to be praised by others, it has gone awry.

The kingdom ethic that Jesus preached was a call to serve: “The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matt. 23:11-12). As we reflect on this teaching this Advent season we recall the greatest example of this in the creator God humbling himself as an infant born to a young Jewish girl in order to serve his creation. Coming to serve, humbling himself and becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:7-8).

If this story does not put us in our place, nothing will. If this story does not call us to humility and to self-sacrificing service to others, nothing will. But the story does not end there. If we cast our eyes to our passage in Revelation, we see John of Patmos confronted with the exalted Jesus. Truly, Jesus’ exhortation to his disciples is perfectly and completely exemplified in him: the greatest among us came as our servant. . . the one who humbled himself completely was, is, and will be exalted. Hallelujah!

Dr Ben Johnson is Tutor in Hermeneutics and Biblical Theology at Wycliffe Hall.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12

AMOS 9:1-10, REVELATION 2:8-17, MATTHEW 23:13-26, PSALM 37:1-18

Matthew 23:13-26

Yesterday (as I write) was a bad day. After three weeks of careful research and near misses I landed a significant eBay bargain (on an irrationally sought after Lord of the Rings chess set) only for the seller to make some poor excuse and re-list the item at a higher price. I was mad. Whatever happened to the eBay rulebook let alone a bit of honour and honesty?

But before throwing the first stones (or just leaving bad eBay feedback) we might listen to Matthew 23. Because those of us who would take the time to read or even to write an Advent devotional are surely the more likely candidates to represent the scholars and leaders whom Jesus attacks than are today’s crowds of dodgy eBay sellers.

Here Jesus stands as quite the Israelite prophet (compare today’s Amos reading) in his unrelenting concern for holiness as he attacks the untruthful lives of the Jerusalem leaders. Twice he calls them (us?) “blind guides” as their hypocrisy is effectively locking people out of the kingdom; their multilayered system of oaths and public piety are barriers to everyone’s experience of God’s goodness and justice and mercy.

This temptation to live out false lives is perhaps particularly acute for us, the devotional-reading-theological-leader types. Heightened expectations may prompt us to clad ourselves with ‘rightness’ - e.g. sound prayers, correct essay answers, impressive gestures. But this cladding (and the ‘holy’ status it achieves) is dangerous stuff; not only does it prevent our own lives getting caught up in the in-breaking of God’s goodness and justice and mercy but it has the knock-on effect of blocking its spread to others.

So in these weeks of preparation and frantic online shopping let us stop and look to God-our-source for something true:

We humbly ask you, the coming Holy One, to undo our cladding. Come and change us from the inside. Save us from the self-contradiction we find ourselves in. Overwhelm us again with your goodness that we might live truthful lives, so that our words may resonate with the full force of our lives, lives that have entered the kingdom, lives of worship, lives of justice, mercy and faith.

Show us what this might look like, even today.

Owen Gallacher is an Ordinand at Wycliffe Hall.

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13

HAGGAI 1:1-15, REVELATION 2:18-29, MATTHEW 23:27-39, PSALM 31

“The LORD preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily” (Ps 31:23b)

One of my favourite walks takes an intrepid hiker to the summit of the third highest peak in England, Helvellyn. The route follows a narrow arête called Striding Edge. I don’t know where the name comes from. Perhaps it is because a person may sit astride the knife-like ridge of rock, albeit with some discomfort. Twin dangers await those who fall: on one side lies the deep water of Red Tarn, on the other, the precipitous boulder-strewn slope of Nethermost Cove.

Many today so emphasise God’s love that they fail to speak of his fearful judgement. Others are so fixated on judgement and hell that one wonders where the love of God is to be found. How easy it is to fall into one of these twin dangers.

In the readings today, we follow the narrow arête.

In Haggai, the people of God had returned after exile in Babylon with high hopes of restoration. But instead of abundance, there was scarcity – and this was the LORD’s doing (Hag 1:5-6, 9-11). Yet in his love, God sent a prophet, Haggai, with a word of warning. “Get your priorities straight!”, he says. Why the exiles had stopped building the temple (“the LORD’s house”) we do not know. But more than 15 years had passed since they had returned. They had made their own houses temple-like (“panelling”; see 1 Kings 7:3, 7), but had neglected God’s house.

In Revelation, the majestic risen Christ confronts the church in Thyatira. Judgement will fall on Jezebel. The church must not tolerate sexual immorality and idolatry in its midst. Jesus knows their works of love, faith, service and patient endurance (19) and promises much to those who hold fast.

In Matthew, Jesus denounces the religious leaders of his day in shocking fashion: “You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?” (33) But his hard words of judgement come with tears of love: “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (37).

Lord, thank you for your loving justice and your just love.

The Revd Dr James Robson is Senior Tutor and Tutor in Old Testament and Hebrew at Wycliffe Hall and studied at Wycliffe Hall from 1991-1994.

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14

HAGGAI 2:1-19, REVELATION 3:1-6, MATTHEW 24:1-14, PSALMS 30, 32

Advent affords us with an opportunity to focus our attention upon the future coming of Christ; after all, the etymology of ‘Advent’ takes us back ultimately to parousia. For the Christian, we look forward to the parousia for various reasons, but perhaps the central concern it answers is well illustrated by the much loved poem of W. B. Yeats, The Second Coming. All too often human existence is that so aptly captured by the opening stanza:

Turning and turning in the widening gyreThe falcon cannot hear the falconer;Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhereThe ceremony of innocence is drowned;The best lack all conviction, while the worstAre full of passionate intensity.

It is unsurprising then, that in the midst of such nightmarish distress, a desperate cry comes forth: ‘Surely the Second Coming is at hand.’ Our hope in Christ’s parousia provides comfort in the face of the vicissitude of human existence, but not only is this a future hope it is also a present reality.

Although parousia refers to the Second Coming, we ought not ignore its meaning of ‘presence’. In Haggai we read of the glorious future for the temple promised by Yahweh. It was the temple that, from the period of the United Monarchy onwards, had been the place, par excellence, where Yahweh was present with his people and where his people communed with him using today’s psalms. In the Gospel of Matthew, unlike Haggai where the focus is upon its reconstruction, Jesus speaks of the temple’s destruction. This destruction, however, was not an end of God’s presence either in the world or in the lives of his people. Instead, Jesus Christ becomes ‘God with us’ – he was the locus of God’s presence – and following the Ascension, he dwells in his people through the Spirit.

This should be a comfort to us: God is present in our lives by his Spirit, and we are assured the coming that is still future will take place. The work of the Spirit in our lives will be completed and we shall dwell with Christ in all his fullness: ‘My spirit abides among you; do not fear’ (Hag. 2:5).

Richard Sherratt is an Ordinand at Wycliffe Hall.

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THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15

ISAIAH 35:1-10, JAMES 5:7-10, MATTHEW 11:2-11, PSALM 146:4-9

Love, joy and peace are Christian qualities which we esteem highly. But what about “patience”? Perhaps not so much? Yet in the list of the fruit of the Spirit, “patience” comes next (see Galatians 5:22).

We live life in a hurry. Instant communication and social media mean we don’t need to wait: If we want an answer, we find out online. If we’re hungry, we order “fast food”. If you want to shop, you can do it 24/7 – and, Christmas starts in August! Ours is an age which assumes that it is good to take the “waiting out of wanting”.

But, patience is a virtue; a Christian virtue. At least, James, in our bible reading today assumes this to be the case: “Be patient, then, brothers and sister, until the Lord’s return” (James 5:7).

The Advent season is all about living life in anticipation of the Lord’s return. He is coming back and many will be caught unaware when he does return. Though we can be certain of his return, we must be patient as we wait.

Of course, modern Christians are not alone in finding that waiting for the Lord’s return is perplexing. In fact many of the New Testament letters were written to help the first Christians live with the surprise that some would die before Jesus returned. 2,000 years later we still wait.

As you wait, James says, be like the conscientious farmer. Having prepared the ground and planted the seed, now all he can do is wait for the day of harvest. Of course, this does not mean that Christians are to sit back in idleness. In fact, Peter warns, because Jesus could come back any day, we should live holy and godly lives now (2 Peter 3:8-12).

None of us can reliably predict the day of the Lord’s return (so don’t believe those who say they can). However, we can be confident that the day of his return is closer today than it was yesterday. This fact should have an impact on our outlook on life.

As James says, “You too, be patient and stand firm because the Lord’s coming is near” (James 5:8). Let us, this Advent, put the “wanting back in to waiting”.

The Revd Dr Simon Vibert is Vice Principal and Director of the School of Preaching at Wycliffe Hall.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 16

Isaiah 8:16--9:1, Revelation 3:7-13, Matthew 24:15-31, Psalms 41,52

Psalm 52

David wrote this Psalm as he was running from Saul. While fleeing, he stopped by the town of Nob to pick up supplies and guidance from Ahimelech the priest. Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s “head shepherd,” spotted David in the temple and reported Ahimelech’s apparent treason to Saul, who then called the priests of Nob and had Doeg put them to death. Doeg killed 85 priests and decimated the entire town (1 Sam. 22:9-23). Psalm 52 is David’s outcry against Doeg’s action. The content of Psalm 52 reveals David’s unswerving faith in God and his ability to see beyond the crisis of the present moment.

Note the contrast in these verses between those who are evil: “You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue!” (v.4) vs. those who fear God: “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.” (v.8). If we are honest with ourselves we would all say that the first verse describes each of us at times. We are all sinful, and our sin causes us to have a broken relationship with God. This is why Jesus was sent to die for our sins – to mend our broken relationship with God. We can now flourish spiritually by confessing our sins to God and surrendering our hearts to Jesus.

Observe how David, in the midst of the grief and sorrow of loss, turns his heart to praise. Often we find ourselves so absorbed by our troubles that we get stuck. David says that even in the midst of hardship, he will give God praise because God has preserved his life and has promised to judge the wicked who have done those horrible things. During this Advent we can be mindful of this example, praising God in the midst of our predicaments and even our crises. We can spend time confessing any sin to God that the Holy Spirit lays on our hearts. We can invite Jesus to take control of our lives and help us flourish in our relationship with God. We can acknowledge Him as the source of our strength and fruitfulness. And we can thank him for dying on the cross for us, giving us the opportunity to have life—abundant life.

Stephanie Cocke is Coordinator of US Friends of Wycliffe Hall and received a Diploma in Biblical and Theological Studies from Wycliffe Hall.

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17

ISAIAH 9:8-17, REVELATION 3:14-22, MATTHEW 24:32-44, PSALM 45

A young woman in our church gave a moving testimony before she was baptised earlier this year: As a single parent she said she had never been any good at DIY- her dad always did it for her, until one night on the Alpha course the speaker had used the painting ‘The Light of the World’ by Holman Hunt, of Christ at the door, to illustrate the need for us to open the door and let Jesus into our lives. ‘Not only have I opened the door’ she said ‘but I have taken it off its hinges and broken it up with a hammer and saw so that it can’t go back again!’

John’s letter to the church in Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) is a stark reminder against the complacency of a lukewarm faith, which thinks that we have opened the door and that there is no more to be done. The neighbouring towns of Hierapolis and Colossae were known for their hot medicinal spa waters and cold pure drinking water respectively, but the waters at Laodicea were useless and unpalatable. The Laodicean Christians were spiritually blind to their poverty, nakedness and need. Ironically in order to look inside themselves and see this, John suggests that they should apply the produce of their city, an eye salve!

The promise for the Laodiceans and us is that Jesus waits at the door for us to acknowledge our need of him and let him in. Just like a house has many doors to different rooms, our lives have many parts and for us to be wholly transformed we need to ask him in to every part.

Perhaps in the last week before Christmas every time you put your hand on the door handle to your home you would ask God to show you any part of your life that remains closed off to Him, where he is unwelcome. As he reveals them to you prayerfully invite him to inhabit every part of you so that your Christmas feast this year will truly be a foretaste of the fellowship meal promised in heaven.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Angie Smith is an Ordinand at Wycliffe Hall.

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18

ISAIAH 9:8-17, REVELATION 4:1-8, MATTHEW 24:45-51, PSALM 119:49-72

One of the most tempting things a Christian can do is take God for granted. In two of our passages today, this is exactly the problem. The Northern kingdom of Israel has abandoned their wholehearted worship of the LORD. When he sends a discipline they refuse to believe that he is displeased with them. In Matthew, the lazy servant has lost sight of the return of the master, believing he can abandon his responsibilities to other people. He gives himself up to a selfish life, believing he will not be in trouble for abusing his authority over others.

The reading from Revelation 4 with its awesome picture warns us against taking God for granted. The images of strange creatures, the fire, the thunder, the drama of the sight, all are to remind us that God is beyond our imagining and beyond our understanding. Yet he is also God who is full of steadfast love (Psalm 119:64) to those who seek him, and, of course, God who reveals himself supremely in the Lord Jesus. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the One who will indeed be coming back.

How then should we live? Firstly the Psalmist says that although he strayed, after he was humbled he understood that following the LORD brings him good (119:68). So the challenge to us, especially those of us who spend our time studying theology, is to ask if we are humbling ourselves and seeking who he really is. Secondly the story in Matthew reminds us to live in the expectation of Christ’s return.

But what does a life filled with this expectation look like? Matthew tells us that faithful and wise servants live in active service towards others, especially those whom we are called to lead. Waiting for the LORD’s return is not a passive activity where we wait for him to turn up and bring the kingdom in. Rather it is to do kingdom work even as we wait and watch for the return of the God of steadfast love.

Lord give me open eyes to see you as you areKeep me from re-making you as I want you to beHelp me to serve others in the sure hope of your return.

The Revd Dr Jenni Williams is Tutor in Old Testament at Wycliffe Hall.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19

ISAIAH 9:18–10:4, REVELATION 4.9–5:5, MATTHEW 25:1-13, PSALM 50

Decorating for Christmas is an exhilarating time in the Hardin household, and it officially kicks off on the weekend after our (American) Thanksgiving feast. First, countless forlorn boxes are marched out of the basement closet and rushed upstairs to our living room. After re-configuring the furniture to accommodate the tree, an exercise that has been known to involve multiple failed attempts, we unfold our realistic fir tree and unravel tangled strands of lights. For the next hour or two, we bring the inorganic evergreen to life with flashing lights, ribbons, bows, popcorn, and cranberries, not to mention a rich assortment of purchased and homemade ornaments, which include crimson and golden balls, porcelain bells and doves, and (I hesitate to admit) basketball figurines. Everyone takes part in the decoration—two adults and three children—and because we usually heap our favourite festive décor on the section that corresponds to our stature, the nethermost region of tree has…how shall we say… a rather distinctive look to it!

As we’re busy swaddling our sapling in glorious splendour, the children invariably rediscover the olive-tree nativity set tucked away deep in one of the Christmas boxes. Last year it was Annie. “We’ve got to hide Jesus!” she shouted, carefully extracting Jesus from his resting place amongst sleeping shepherds, camels, and sheep. This is true. In our house, the little manger is devoid of Mary’s child until Christmas Eve, when we finally bring out the baby Jesus. Actually, the little wooden bundle looks more like a chess piece than a baby. But it’s no pawn. He’s the King, and he’s finally here at centre stage. It’s been a long time coming, but now the wait is over. Time for the celebration to begin.

In our reading from Matthew 25:1-13, we read about another anticipated festive occasion, a wedding banquet. When the bridegroom was a long time in coming, only those who had prepared for the festive occasion were ready to attend the feast. The ones who hadn’t brought along enough oil for their lamps missed the bridegroom’s arrival, and they were tragically excluded from the feast.

As we celebrate Advent this year, we are reminded once again that the King from that manger scene is coming again. Only this time he’s not a baby. He’s the bridegroom. Yes, he’s been a long time coming, but his arrival is certain. Are you ready for the feast?

King Jesus, help us to rediscover you afresh this advent as we wait for your glorious re-turn. We want to celebrate the feast with you, and we ask by your Spirit that you would help us to prepare our lives for your coming. Lord, come quickly once again to redeem your people. We long to feast with you at the royal banquet. Amen.

Dr Justin K Hardin is Director of Studies and Tutor in New Testament at Wycliffe Hall.

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20

ISAIAH 10:5-19, REVELATION 5:6-14, MATTHEW 25:14-30, PSALMS 40,54

Read Psalm 40 and Revelation 5.6-14

A New Song

In verses 1-10 of Psalm 40, David recalls the wonders God has done (5) and how the Lord heard his cry and rescued him from the slimy pit (1-2). The recollection of his experience of God’s power and goodness – which he shares with all of Israel, rescued from Egypt and set in a new land - is the basis for his hope in God. Because he has this hope, he makes his plea for mercy and help in verses 11-17. Part of David’s (and also Israel’s) experience was receiving from the Lord a new song in his mouth (think of Moses and Miriam in Exodus 15 after crossing the Red Sea). It is a song of praise to God. As a result, many will trust in the Lord (3).

What is the song in your mouth during this Advent season? As we prepare our hearts for the new hope that Christmas brings in that tiny baby, born in all humility, destined to be the King of Kings, do you need to ask God for a new song? Perhaps you need to repent of your current song if it lacks faith, hope or love. Israel’s hope, David’s hope, our hope, the hope renewed every year at Christmas, will culminate one day as we join in the song of Revelation 5 with the angels and all of creation,

‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strengthand honour and glory and praise!

To him who sits on the throne and to the Lambbe praise and honour and glory and power,for ever and ever!’

Shall we ask God today for a new song in our mouths that will be a fitting rehearsal for that eternal one?

Dr Jessica Braschi is pursuing a Certificate in Theological and Pastoral Studies at Wycliffe Hall.

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21

ISAIAH 10:20-27, REVELATION 6:1-17, MATTHEW 25:31-46, PSALM 55

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. (Revelation 6:9-11)

One afternoon in Houston as Bishop Mano of Pakistan and I were drinking chai tea, he received word of a suicide bombing in Peshawar. “This is the first in Peshawar,” he said, “and I am afraid it is only the beginning.” Those were prophetic words. On Sunday, September 22, suicide bombers viciously attacked All Saints Church in Peshawar, killing some 130 Christians and injuring 200. What do Christians do at a time of unbelievable loss?

First, we mourn with those who mourn and pray for our brothers and sisters, who have suffered at the hand of a great evil in which many of their fellowship have become martyrs, widows, and orphans. As the minority community in Pakistan, Christians are easy targets in an unjust society. A friend asked the possibility of getting these Christians out. From a practical point, it is impossible. From the gospel point of view, who would witness to Christ in Pakistan? We do not need to mount a rescue mission; we need to mourn and to pray.

Second, we share their story. Much of Christianity has been built upon the blood of martyrs, who witness fealty to the One who died for our sins upon the cross. Our brothers and sisters remain faithful in the most difficult of circumstances. The following Sunday there were more worshippers in All Saints than the Sunday before.

And third, we support them financially. As Paul raised monies for the struggling church in Jerusalem, we send funds to assist the saints in Pakistan.

One day Mano will return to Houston. We will drink chai tea together. We will sit and cry over what is the greatest act of evil his flock has faced. Praise Jesus that we know one another, that those who were slain are not faceless, and that there is a bridge between us built by the blood and love of a Savior, who was born into a simple, poor family much like the ones in Pakistan today.

The Revd Reagan W Cocke is Associate Rector at St. John the Divine in Houston and received a Diploma in Ministry from Wycliffe Hall.

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FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22

ISAIAH 7:10-16, ROMANS 1:1-7, MATTHEW 1:18-25, PSALM 80:1-7, 16-18

Matthew 1:18-25

Today we reflect on the Christmas story from the man’s perspective – we see how Joseph reacted to the news that Mary was going to have a baby and how God intervened with him directly.

Mary and Joseph were real people who lived in real time in the real world. And like a normal man who has discovered his betrothed is pregnant when he knows that he has not slept with her, Joseph assumes the worst. The Bible is not a mythical place or a dream world where strange things happen and people think them completely normal. Joseph understands biology and he does the kindest thing he can think of – he decides to break off the relationship quietly before the marriage. Matthew calls Joseph a “righteous man” in this course of action. But imagine how Mary must have felt. She too lived in real time in the real world.

But then a kairos event happens – the time for God’s dramatic intervention has come – and Joseph has a dream in which “an angel of the Lord appears to him.” It is only after this miraculous experience that Joseph believes that Mary’s son is the Messiah. The angel is explicit with Joseph – “what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” But it is not only Mary who has been selected for a significant role – Joseph too has been chosen to play a major part in redemption’s story. His time has come – Joseph is told, “You are to give him the name Jesus.” Resonant of Adam in Genesis 1 who was given the role of naming that which God had made, now that God himself is entering into his creation as a man, Joseph is given the awesome task of naming him. His name will describe what he has come to do. He is to be called Jesus “because he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew reminds us that these events happen in time – but they are the fulfillment of prophecies given much earlier in time. Isaiah had spoken 700 years earlier and now what he had prophesied was coming to pass. All of the anticipation, hope and waiting were over, the time had come. “Immanuel – God with us” was now a reality.

Jesus’ arrival in the world means that God is with us. That happened in history but it is a truth that continues for all believers at all times. As Jesus himself promises believers at the end of this same gospel “I am with you until the end of the age.” Allow that truth to sink in today. Established in history – Immanuel God with us continues to the present day and into the future.

Amy Orr-Ewing is Director of Programmes for the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA) and the UK Director for RZIM Zacharias Trust. OCCA is a partnership between Wycliffe Hall and Ravi Zacharias International Ministries Europe.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 23

ISAIAH 11:1-11, TITUS 1:1-16, LUKE 1:1-15, PSALMS 61, 62

Two busy days to go till Christmas! Cards are written (anyone been overlooked?), but many last-minute preparations remain: shopping, sermons, cooking, wrapping, decorating, travel plans, guest rooms… The best intentions of being ahead of ourselves disappear! Our wonder that the infinite God came to earth as a baby is easily engulfed. But now push aside the distractions of busyness to focus on God himself and on our relationship with him.

Before going any further, re-read the two Psalms, slowly, meditatively. What do they say about God himself? About David’s relationship with him? And ours? I see supremely the God who is strong and loving, who is utterly safe and secure. “My soul finds rest in you alone… You are my rock…my fortress. I will never be shaken.” As I write my life seems easy and secure; it is easy to trust. It was harder a month ago, when there was an assault on the rightness of a big decision. I was a ‘tottering fence’ (62:3). How I needed to be sure of the solidity of that rock and to hide in that refuge! I don’t know what will come in a month’s time. But I do know that God is a loving, unshakeable, trustworthy rock.

STOP PRESS I wrote that one morning. That afternoon I lost a bag containing (among other things) my cell phone and my diary. It disappeared from a place that gave minimal chance of recovery. Calm at first, my distress increased as the evening progressed. Then I re-read these psalms, and my earlier writing. I chose to trust God the rock. ‘My soul finds rest in you alone… I will never be shaken.’ Right, Lord, I will trust you. En route to bed, I stopped by my computer. An e-mail had just arrived earlier from a stranger. “I have it in the office.” Much joy! But even bigger was the joy that, having chosen to trust God, my soul felt lighter.

In the lull after Christmas, return to these readings. Psalm 61:6-8; Isaiah 11:2-5, Luke 1:6, 14-15; Titus 1:6-15. Each gives some ideals for Christian leaders, and some guidelines for those who pray for our leaders.

Lord, please help me to trust you at all times, and to live to please you.

Rosemary Green was part of the Wycliffe pastoral staff from 1997-2002.

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24

1 SAMUEL 2:1-10, TITUS 2:1-10, LUKE 1:26-38, PSALM 72

‘Blessed be the LORD the God of IsraelWho alone does wondrous things.Blessed be his name forever;May the whole earth be filled with his glory!Amen and Amen.’Psalm 72:18-19

So it is Christmas Eve! I remember the Christmas that overlapped our time at Wycliffe when we were expecting Phoebe, our third child. Although the pregnancy was in its first trimester the familiar story of the birth of Christ takes on a renewed sense of wonder when you are expecting yourselves and we tried to imagine the emotional experience of Mary – but with that added sense of awe at the bearing of one who would be called ‘Holy – the Son of God’. Poor Phoebe was just the son of Nick and Fiona, ex-barrister and ex-nurse. Who knows how she will turn out – but for both Mary and Hannah from our Old Testament reading – their children were to have a pivotal role in the life of the world of their day and for all of history.

Hannah’s son, Samuel, was the gift of God to a desperately sad barren woman. But even as she offered him to the LORD, her heart praised the God who ‘brings low and exults’, who ‘raises the poor and lifts the needy’ and who ‘gives strength to his King’. Little did she envision that her son would be a king maker as the great prophet who anointed not only Saul but the great King David.

After David, another birth is announced by the Angel Gabriel, not to a woman struggling for many years with infertility but to a young woman, only just engaged to get married to a local carpenter, still a virgin. Her fear gives way to incredulity and then to faith. From ‘How?’ to ‘Let it be to me according to your word’. And so she conceives by the Holy Spirit and bears a son – the son of David, the Son of God, the hope for the world as its Saviour. He is the one whose name endures forever, filling the earth with the glory of God. On this night let us pause and praise our God for his wondrous things, Amen and Amen.

Lord, Let our hearts exult again in this marvelous story – the miraculous coming of a baby to an ordinary women of faith; the man who was God, who now reigns and whose fame continues to stretch across the whole earth and to us on this Christmas night. Amen

The Rt Revd Nick Dill is a Wycliffe graduate and the Bishop of Bermuda.

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CHRISTMAS DAY WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25

2 SAMUEL 7:1-1, TITUS 2:11-3:8a, LUKE 1:39-56, PSALM 80

FOURTH YORKSHIREMAN: We used to live in this tiny old house, with great big holes in the roof.

SECOND YORKSHIREMAN: House! You were lucky to live in a house! We used to live in one room, all twenty-six of us, no furniture, ‘alf the floor was missing, and we were all ‘uddled together in one corner for fear of falling.

THIRD YORKSHIREMAN: Eh, you were lucky to have a room! We used to have to live in t’ corridor!

FIRST YORKSHIREMAN: Oh, we used to dream of livin’ in a corridor! Would ha’ been a palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish tip. We got woke up every morning by having a load of rotting fish dumped all over us! House? Huh.

FOURTH YORKSHIREMAN: Well, when I say ‘house’ it was only a hole in the ground covered by a sheet of tarpaulin, but it was a house to us.

I was reminded of that famous Monty Python sketch when I read today’s lectionary readings. The Jews were always deeply ambivalent about building a house for God: a) Any house would be too static for a God who was always on the move (2 Samuel 7:6-7), and b) no house would be big enough to house the infinite Creator of heaven and earth (1 Kings 8:27).

Yet here He is, taking up residence in the womb of a teenage peasant girl - the utterly unconfinable, confined; the One upon Whom all creation depends, dependent; the Helper of Israel, helpless. ‘Behold the great Creator makes Himself a house of clay’ and lives in it.

Two conclusions follow. When Nick Parks, the creator of Wallace and Grommit, went to Hollywood with his team to make the animated film Chicken Run, someone at the company they worked with said, ‘They made us care a huge amount about clay.’ How much more does the Incarnation make us care about clay? About flesh. About stuff. About matter. If God became flesh, then flesh is exalted. If God became clay, then clay is radiant. If God became matter, then matter matters. Our bodies matter. Our physicality matters. Medicine matters. Food matters. Cooking matters. Sex matters. The environment matters. Global warming matters.

And secondly, if God could be God when one cell small in the womb of Mary, then we can be human when we are constrained. When we feel cramped. When we feel trapped. When we feel that life is not giving us the scope to be ourselves. Limited circumstances did not stop God from being God, and limited circumstances will not stop us from being human, or from being ourselves - or (Luke 1:44) from giving joy to others.

The Revd Dr Michael Lloyd is Principal of Wycliffe Hall.

About Wycliffe Hall

What is Wycliffe Hall?

• a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford

• an evangelical centre for the study of Christian theology

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Wycliffe equips its students through excellent academic teaching, practical ministry experience, and living as part of a vibrant and supportive Christian community.

The Founding of Wycliffe Hall

Wycliffe Hall was deliberately established in the centre of the historic University town of Oxford. The vision for Wycliffe was for its faculty and students to engage intelligently with people from different perspectives whilst holding a distinctive evangelical identity.

One of the clear advantages, to this day, of being situated in the heart of the University of Oxford is that there are many opportunities to interact with the next generation of world leaders, scientists, businesspeople and educators – and share the Christian message.

It is through the intellectually rigorous environment of Oxford that Wycliffe has produced world-class theologians and Christian leaders including NT Wright, JI Packer, Alister McGrath, Vicky Beeching, Oliver O’Donovan and Nicky Gumbel.

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Wycliffe Hall has remained faithful to the bold vision of its founders. It is the only theological training college within the University of Oxford specifically committed to the study and promulgation of orthodox evangelical theology. Wycliffe continues to train, equip and send out future leaders for Christian ministry around the world. Its students and teachers consistently gain the highest academic awards within

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Will you consider a gift to Wycliffe Hall?

Wycliffe Hall is passionately committed to training and equipping future generations of Christian leaders and theologians. In the midst of the dynamic and intellectually rigorous environment of the University of Oxford, Wycliffe continues to thrive as a centre of Christian life and thought – achieving global reach and influence.

Please consider giving to Wycliffe Hall. When you invest in Wycliffe, you invest not only in an organisation but in the next generation of Christian leaders and theological minds. Wycliffe has a proven track record of producing some fantastic alumni (NT Wright, Nicky Gumbel, Vicky Beeching, Alister McGrath, Rico Tice to name a few) but we need your prayer and financial support to continue.

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Upcoming Events

Spring 2014

March 8, 2014 Open House for Prospective Students

Meet the tutors and current students. This is an opportunity to find out about specific courses, funding and accommodation.

Summer 2014

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Wycliffe Hall’s School of Preaching exists to encourage modern preachers to consider the biblical text, examine major preaching themes and respond to the call to preach engagingly today. We hope that you can join us.

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Come and join us as we discover the deeper meanings of CS Lewis’s works and consider how relevant and applicable they are to the present day. For more information see www.wycliffehall.org.uk

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Wycliffe HallThe Evangelical College in the Heart of Oxford

Registered Charity No.309703

Equipping future leaders for Christian Ministry