[This is one in a series of mid-week Reflections published by Horley Baptist Church during December 2020]
As I started to pray about this reflection a strange thought came to mind – “Mince pies are like flat-pack furniture”. Seriously? I was not thinking about either of those commodities at the time so from where did the thought come? How can anyone make anything of spiritual benefit out of a statement like that?
It did not go away: “Mince pies are like flat-pack furniture”. Ok; I used to make up statistics for a major local authority and should be able to demonstrate the credibility of the most unlikely statements, so let’s try.
Mince pies and flat-pack furniture are both made primarily from specified formulae of ingredients, rolled to a certain thickness and cut to shape. They are decorated, either with a glaze or a laminate, then packaged in cardboard boxes. They both look attractive when new but age badly. Both items are susceptible to water damage and neither travels well, especially when sent 1,600 miles in the back of a truck. You would not enjoy the taste of flat-pack furniture and the same could be said of some mince pies.
Flat-pack furniture represents settling down, making yourself a home. Mince pies are made from crops that have been grown and harvested; flour, fruit, spices. These activities require time and a positive attitude to one’s circumstances. An Old Testament prophet had this advice:
“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’” [Jeremiah 9 v5]
In modern parlance, the message is “For you the good old days have gone, this is your new normality, make it work for you”.
History tells us that God did not abandon His people; many people did well in their new situation and in due course He re-established them back in their land. Indeed, some have suggested that the ‘Three Kings’ who came to worship the baby Jesus were descendants of those who had prospered in Babylon.
Maybe that’s the message for us too – our circumstances may not be of our liking but this is where we’re at. God will not abandon us and we continue to have good reason to worship the newborn king.
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
