Outside the stable door

Here are three word pictures.

The first is of me a good few years ago setting out on a crisp winter morning to trek through the Mourne Mountains with a group of friends. The scenery was spectacular. The pace was steady. We reached three mountaintops that day. It was an experience that made the rigours of climbing all worthwhile. Then as the light faded it was time to go home.

There was a swirling mist gathering on the mountains. Where we had been an hour before was now hidden from view. Suddenly a young man fell heavily into some rocks. It seemed he had broken a leg and he had a very ugly looking gash on the side of his head. He was semi-conscious.

A doctor in the group had a first aid kit and he was able to give him some basic medical care. But of course the priority was getting him to hospital. Two of us went on and raised the alarm and a few hours later a mountain rescue team brought our injured friend down the mountain on a stretcher. He made a full recovery.

We had enjoyed a wonderful natural environment. But it had become a very hostile and threatening place. In the hours of waiting for the rescue team the mist had closed in, it was dark and we had no means of knowing when help would arrive. In those days there were no mobile phones. We all felt very vulnerable, not least our injured friend.

The second picture is of a man in his late fifties. Last week he featured in a BBC report. It was all about his decision to change his direction in life. He was a former chairman of an international insurance group who had decided to retire early and do something to help the poor and oppressed in Africa.

The way he put it was that he had spent 37 very successful and lucrative years building up a pension fund and now it was time to make a difference. He said people dying of hunger and thirst needed to be rescued.

Now he is applying his considerable business experience and skills to bring hope to hundreds of poverty stricken families. He is also using his network of business contacts around the world to gather support and funding for various projects.

Right now he has identified 50 villages. His priority is to give each one of them a water supply. He is literally building wells and putting pumps in place. He said some of the villages had had water on tap in the recent past but the pumps had broken and there was no one to fix them. So his rescue plan will make sure this doesn’t happen in future.

All this has meant a tremendous change in his lifestyle. He has made choices and moved from a high-powered role in the city to providing a practical life-saving service.

We could say his new found vocation in life is lifting the mists of poverty. His actions and commitment have created a new environment of hope and a better life for future generations.

The third and final picture is of a young man who spent a great deal of his time feeling angry and frustrated with life. One day he found himself in a dimly lit and seldom used chapel. He paced up and down the aisles, slapping the empty pews and raging at God.

“God you created the world…what could you possibly have been thinking? Look at the problems people face. Look at the pain, suffering and hunger. Look at the waste and abuse. Everywhere I look I see messed up people, hurting people, lonely people.”

The young man raved on and finally, exhausted he sat in the front pew and looked hopelessly at the tarnished cross on the Holy Table. “It’s all such a mess! This world you created is nothing but a terrible mess. Even I could make a world better than this one!”

It was then the young man heard a voice saying: “That is exactly what I want you to do.”

When Joseph stood outside the stable door and faced the cruel terror of Herod he found himself in a very hostile and threatening environment. His family were in terrible danger and he asked himself the question: “What must I do to help Jesus?”

We are compelled to ask ourselves the same question. But in searching for answers and options we may find we have to climb a mountain of difficulties and uncertainties. We may find ourselves facing choices – big choices that effect the direction of our lives, choices that will shake-up our priorities. We may also discover that we are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. That could prove to be very difficult to accept.

But if we are to be part of a rescue mission for a generation that is staggering along in the mists of apathy, cultural glitz, drug abuse, moral delinquency and violent crime – then we need to stir ourselves and be active. Christ’s saving work of redemption and restoration can’t be done at arms length. Megaphone words of advice are not going to make a difference. We need to be close and involved; we need to be ready to help.

On this First Sunday of Christmas we bin the neat and tidy Christmas card pictures of the nativity and like Joseph, we stand outside the stable door. It is a Gospel imperative that we ask the question: “What must I do to help Jesus?”

Amen.