I know, big question. Let's narrow it down. Why am I joyfully telling classes of primary school children all about the nativity in a brilliant exercise called Experience Christmas at St Mary's Moston in 2015?
The first reason why is this: Barbara Guest.
Barbara Guest is a lovely West Midlander, previously librarian at Aldridge Comprehensive School, where I worked as a sub-librarian in the late 1980s and early 1990s (sub is short for sub-human, I think!). Barbara took up work there in October 1990, just as Margaret Thatcher was being toppled, the Pet Shop Boys were releasing Being Boring and I was applying for universities. And Barbara regularly invited me to her church. I, just as regularly, said "Thanks, maybe," which means, "Not on your nelly." But circumstances (that is, God) conspired against me - maybe conspired for me! - and on the 23rd of December I found myself at a carol service at St Mary's, Aldridge. That's where I became a Christian. That very morning. And Barbara Guest must take some blame/credit, because it was her kind, sensitive but relentless invitations that finally put me in a place where God could properly talk to me.
A library a lot like mine.
The second reason why is this: Gareth Davies.
Gareth Davies is Welsh, in case you'd not guessed. He was minister at St Mary's in Aldridge, and on the 23rd of December 1990 he preached a Christmas sermon with overtones of Easter, and suddenly for me, the story of Jesus came together. It finally made sense. Jesus was born among us and died to save us. I prayed a prayer of commitment and the angels rejoiced in heaven and God danced a little dance. And so Gareth Davies with his clear gospel presentation must take some credit/blame, because it was he with his forthright but polite sermon who passed on God's message of salvation.
The third reason why is this: Faith Clayton.
Faith Clayton is a religious studies teacher, who taught me RE for about four years at school. It wasn't during those four years that I became a Christian, but she - a Christian herself - laid out the faith and the life of Jesus so well that when Gareth Davies stood up to preach, all the raw material I needed was already in my head. I hadn't made sense of it: it was like one of those 3d magic eye pictures before you get the hang of looking the right way. But on the 23rd of December it clicked, it came into focus, it all made sense. And so faith Clayton must take some credit/blame, because it was she who talked us all through the gospel of Luke so clearly and kindly.
The fourth reason why is this: God. I've saved the best for last.
Who gave Barbara Guest the will to keep on inviting when a 17-year old kept saying "Maybe" and meaning "No"?
Who gave Gareth Davies the courage to keep preaching a hard-hitting gospel at Christmas when it's easier to soft-pedal the demands of discipleship?
Who had been filling Faith Clayton so long with the fruits of the Spirit that she shone with every smile and could communicate the stories so well?
I'm crediting/blaming God.
23rd December 1990 in heaven.
This 23rd December will be the 25th anniversary of me being born again. I may raise a toast to God.
But if I do, I'll raise it too to Barbara and Gareth and Faith. They'll be surprised that they've been part of the story of me becoming a Careforce Worker then a lollipop man then a theological student then a curate then a team vicar then a priest-in-charge.
You can be part of someone's story too. How?
Invite. Invite. Invite. It took a lot of invitations to get me to church, but I guess every one softened me up a bit, made me wonder why this Barbara kept coming back for more, why someone was bothering with me. Even a declined invitation isn't wasted.
Preach. Or pray for your preacher and pray for people in church to hear the message well. It's hard getting up again and again. Support your local preacher.
Experience Christmas. Today there were four of us taking year 3 children through the story of Christmas, but we've had other volunteers too. It's so much easier for these children to grow up and find Jesus if they've heard the stories and taken them in. I hope they'll never forget the amazing things told them in ten-minute gobbets by Tom and Vartan and Peter and Pat and Barbara and Matt and me. If the raw material goes in, it's there, ready to fuel the faith when God comes calling.
Thank you to Tom, Vartan, Peter, Pat, Barbara and lots of others.
Thank you to Barbara. To Gareth. To Faith.
All of you reading: you can be like them. Be part of a long chain of faith that stretches back to Christ. Pluck up courage and invite. Take a deep breath and explain. Do the preparation and teach.
Go on. Invite someone this Christmas.
It's a pleasure to spend my 25th anniversary of faith at St Mary's. It's been an exciting, exhilarating, sometimes demanding quarter of a century. I wonder what's next?
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