News from the Regional Team
Rev Joth Hunt
SEBA Regional Minister
Preparing for Christmas
Read Joth's reflection below
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It’s that time of year again to get ready for Christmas. M&S, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Amazon and others have been reminding us for weeks that Christmas is coming so get prepared! For us in the church, the journey of Advent is upon us. I don’t know whether that fills you with fear and trepidation or excitement and expectation – or a little of both.
For those in the gospel birth narratives, the preparation for that first Christmas took much longer than four Sundays before Christmas. One could argue that for Zechariah and Elizabeth the preparation of the coming Messiah was years in the making. Luke recalls for us that the angel Gabriel’s first words to Zechariah are these, “Do not be afraid Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.” I wonder what prayer Gabriel is referring to. It might have been a prayer that Zechariah and Elizabeth might have a child, or possibly Zechariah, like Simeon, was praying for that coming of God’s Messiah. Regardless, it seems that this is a prayer of the past. Forgotten in a distant memory?
It seems to me that so often God’s timing is not quite in step with ours or perhaps I should actually say that so often our timing is not in step with God’s. Prayers prayed well in the past are heard and answered in a present moment of God’s choosing; prayers that will be prayed in the future can be answered by divine events of the past. The infinite God is not restricted by our time.
Nor is He restricted by our lack of faith.
I often wonder why God chose Zechariah. Although he was a priest he doesn’t seem to be one full of faith. It is easy for us to pray in faith and even preach a good sermon of faith, but when God acts our own lack of faith may be exposed. Even standing before the angel Gabriel, who himself stood in the very presence of God, was not enough to tip Zechariah into faithful obedience and trust. Instead he is quick to voice the natural, human, response that this cannot be. God has somehow made a mistake and should surely be looking for someone younger. Yet God, it seems, is more than happy to use people lacking in faith. The characters in the nativity story are far from perfect, but this encourages me that God can work with the imperfect to bring about His purposes and plans.
Zechariah’s lack of speech as a priest is a challenging penalty. The voice of a priest (and a minister) is a vital tool of their ministry. Without a voice how would he function, teach, call and lead people to worship? It is the voice that fulfils his calling as a priest. Yet Zechariah must learn that God is not reliant upon him to fulfil His purposes. The challenge for Zechariah is a tough one but a deep one. I’m convinced from that day forward his ministry was transformed from being a functional priest to a faith-filled one.
I’m not suggesting that we should take a silent retreat throughout advent; that might be a bit awkward for most leaders, ministers and chaplains over the Christmas period. But we can learn from Zechariah’s experience – God hears our prayers, God answers our prayers in His time and fulfils His purposes with or without us.
From all the regional team at SEBA we want to wish you a very happy Christmas and pray that your journey though Advent this year will inspire and renew you ready to serve in faith in 2026.
We look forward to seeing you in the New Year.
