Advent and Christmas Greetings from

Rev. Sheila Macgregor, 

St. Andrew’s United Church, Bayfield ON

December 2024

Dear Friends,

It was so good to be back with you all again this past Sunday, on the First Sunday in Advent! And what a beautiful service it was, as we welcomed our very talented friends from the Bayfield Ukulele Society and their wonderful music! What a splendid way to celebrate our new Church Year! As we lit the first candle in our lovely Advent wreath, the Candle of Hope, my heart was filled with gratitude for your many cards and get well wishes while I was off due to knee surgery. I felt truly blessed by your many expressions of care and concern. 

While I chose to begin this season with a message about good, faithful, compassionate Joseph, who too often gets overlooked in the nativity story, the Advent/Christmas story of course really begins with the confession of Mary.

Everything begins with Mary when she says ‘yes’ to the angel’s proclamation. Mary’s sacrifice begins with the Annunciation when the angel Gabriel announces that Mary will bear a son by the Holy Spirit, Jesus, who is called the Son of God. Thereafter all generations call her blessed.

I wonder. What would it mean for you to see yourself as ‘blessed’? What would it mean for you to claim God’s glory, as Mary does in this song from Luke’s Gospel? What would it mean for you to stop denying the glorious image of God in which you were created and to live out that identity without fear?

I love the words that South African President Nelson Mandela quoted as his inaugural address in 1994: 

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” (Note: Mandela was actually quoting from a passage in a beautiful book by Marianne Williamson, A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles.)

Mandela was right to quote Williamson’s words. Deep down inside we are afraid, not of our inadequacy, but of our glory, not of our darkness, but of our light. Claiming that we are not good enough or not wise enough or not young enough or not old enough or not talented enough is to deny that we have been created in the image and likeness of God. We have been created with a purpose, namely, to help bear the Christ Child into a world that knows him not.

Remember what Cardinal Newman said: “God has created me to do God some definite service; God has committed some work to me which God has not committed to another.” Remember the little drummer boy who did what he could and thereby let his light shine.

Christmas is an invitation not to play it small but rather to claim our glory and let our light shine, so that “others may see our good works and give praise to God in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) 

One of the best ways we can let our light shine is through our gifts to the United Church Mission and Service Fund, which supports the needs of people in our own community and across Canada and around the world. Gifts to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Huron Hospice, the Food Bank, the Huron County Christmas Bureau, the Huron County Women’s Shelter, amongst other charities, are also important ways we allow our light to shine. But a personal visit or a phone call can also help to bring light and hope into the life of someone who is lonely, as can coaching a local team or helping a child with his or her homework. Taking time to pray for others sheds light as well and is something we all can do.

How will you claim your glory this Christmas? How will you let your light shine in our community?

As a community we can let our light shine in our worship and praise of God. This is why I hope you will join in our Advent worship services as well as two very special services coming up during this holy season. The Longest Night worship service, where we join our friends at Knox Presbyterian Church at 7 p.m., Saturday, December 21st, and our Christmas Eve service at St. Andrew’s United at 4 p.m., Tuesday, December 24th.  Hope to see you there!

And now, on behalf of Richard and our family, I wish you and yours a blessed Advent and a joyous Christmas, as well as a safe, happy, healthy New Year.

With love and blessings,

Sheila 

A prayer for you to pray during this holy season --

Glorious God, help me to claim my glory and share my light, so that others too may be enabled to claim their glory and serve you with love and joy.

Amen.