Watchnight Service

I suppose it’s to be expected that people send clergy religious Christmas cards! Though this year we have had a few robins and Christmas trees and unexpectedly, a dancing puffin, but I don’t know what that has to do with Christmas. And one card was particularly striking. It had camels and magi going in one direction and sheep and shepherds in another. And the farmer friend who sent it said “Sheep always were awkward”. But it made me think about journeys and of each of us following Christ. In this coming year are we journeying with him as our Saviour and friend or are we indifferent to him and determined to go our own way?

Of course travelling entails preparations for the journey ahead. When the mother of Anthony Trollope landed at Calais in 1835, she overheard a conversation between an inexperienced first-time traveller and someone who had been many times before. “What a dreadful smell” said the newcomer and his companion replied “it's the smell of the continent, sir”. And when we travel what should we pack for the journey? In 1852 a gentleman was expected to take the following: A black coat, light dress waistcoat, one pair of dress trousers, six shirts, six pairs of socks, two neckchiefs and six pocket handkerchiefs, a leather dressing case, a second pair of elastic-sided boots, one pair of slippers, some pencils, a sketch book, sponge, soap, an India rubber bath, a guide book and a strong purse.

Men wore a variety of hats: white top-hats, wide-awake hats (with a broad brim), and later bowlers, Homburgs and straw boaters. Important too were waterproofs; capes or coats, and from the 1820s and 1830s a new invention – the mackintosh. Ladies were encouraged to take what were known as 'uglies'. Apparently, these were folding hoods supported on wires that were fixed to the front of bonnets to shade the face from the sun. And when bonnets gave way to hats then the 'uglies' disappeared!

In the Bible, there is much about travelling. Think of Abraham journeying to the Promised Land, think of Moses and the people of God leaving Egypt and taking 40 years to complete their journey. Much later the exiles were transported to Babylon and then some of them made the return journey back to the Holy Land. In the New Testament, the story of the Good Samaritan begins (Luke 10.30):

A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho…

And later we read of the two companions who walked with Jesus from Jerusalem to Emmaus. The infant Jesus went with Joseph and Mary to Egypt and then back again. And throughout his public ministry Jesus was always walking on the dusty roads and on at least one occasion sitting on a donkey. He walked too as he carried his cross. And Paul was a great traveller – on land and sea. He was shipwrecked three times, and knew all about the dangers of travelling.

From a Christian point of view, life is like a journey. For each of us we have a journey of 60, 70, 80, 90 or 100 years. But how do we spend those years? In the company of Jesus or choosing to ignore him and to go our own way without him? In Pilgrim's Progress John Bunyan told the story of the journey of Christian who journeyed from the city of destruction to the celestial city (in other words from earth to heaven). On the way, Bunyan described his adventures and sometimes his strange companions. But the key moment (early in the story) is his coming to faith in Christ at the cross.

Now I saw in my dream that the highway up which Christian was to go was fenced on either side with a wall, and that the wall was called Salvation. Up this way therefore did burdened Christian run, but not without great difficulty, because of the load on his back.He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending; and upon that place stood a cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a sepulchre. So I saw in my dream that, just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble; and so continued to do till it come to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more. Then was Christian glad and lightsome … he stood still awhile to look and wonder; for it was very surprising to him that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden. [Pilgrim’s Progress, Lent edition, p36].

Christian left his home and his family and carried a great burden on his back. His burden of sin made his life difficult. It weighed him down. It hindered his progress. It restricted his freedom. But when he came to the cross, his burden was immediately lifted from him. He now had Christ as his Saviour and friend. If you want to know the rest of the story then read Pilgrim’s Progress.

In the journey through life, in the journey through this coming year where will you be? How will your story unfold? What sort of life will you lead? What issues will you have to face? What decisions will you have to make? And through them all (whatever they are) will Christ be your constant companion as you walk through all of the great unknowns in the year ahead? Put your hand in the hand of Christ as your Lord and Saviour and friend.