The Legend of Tinsel

When I was young, Sunday School took a break during the December Christmas holidays. Instead, the children joined their parents in church but there was always a Children’s Talk, given either by the minister or somebody from the Sunday School department.

Those were the days when one was best advised to get to church half an hour early on Christmas day because people who only went to church once a year would go on that day.

Now, even before Covid, many churches close for the Christmas holidays and one battles to find a church to attend on Christmas day. Fortunately, our church, Rosebank Union Church, is having two services this Christmas although, because of Covid, attendance is limited to 100 people. We have booked our place.

Yesterday we attended the on-line service and Yaay! There was a Children’s Talk.

However, for those who weren’t so lucky, I decided to post my own Children’s Talk. This is a legend told to me by my mother in the days before internet.

Mary and Joseph were fleeing to Egypt with the young Jesus after the angel had warned Joseph in a dream that Herod would try to kill the child. If you’ve ever tried travelling with a toddler, you will know how exhausting it is. Travelling through the night was impossible so Joseph found a cave where Mary and the child could lie down and have a little sleep.

Herod’s soldiers were scouring the country for any boys under two years old and they were not far behind the fleeing family.

During the night, spiders built a web over the mouth of the cave. When the soldiers came across the cave, they could see that nobody had come that way since the large spider web was unbroken. They proceeded on their way.

The next morning the sun shone on the dew that had settled on the spiders web making it sparkle. This is why Christians decorate their homes and Christmas Trees with tinsel to remember Gods protection using simple spiders.

Image by Benjamin Balazs from Pixabay

I do not know if the story is true but I do know that God is able to take care of those that belong to Him.

I know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV) I have known Him use flat batteries and robberies for good. A bunch of spiders is not much of a stretch to believe.

I know that our God is Lord over all creation. By His word He created all things. Jesus used a word to still the forces of stormy nature.

“God moves in a mysterious way,
    His wonders to perform;” (William Cowper (1731–1800))

Bananas, Spiders and Lies

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Dr Kent Hovind tells the story of how his older brothers lied to him and he believed them. When he was six, he came down to breakfast one morning before anybody else and found there was only one banana left in the fruit bowl so he grabbed it, pleased that he was the first to see it. When his two brothers came down they asked, “Is that the last banana?” He nodded, feeling very pleased with himself. They then proceeded to put him off bananas for three years by lying to him. They told him bananas formed when spiders died. Their legs hung down and mould started growing around them, forming the banana. To prove it, they showed him the black dots on the inside of the banana. “That’s the remains of the spiders legs, they said.”

We all believe lies of some kind. Those of us who were around in the fifties and sixties believed what the government told us about the threat of Communism in South Africa. There were even those who believed that Apartheid was biblical, based on God’s commandments to the Israelites not to intermingle with other nations. Nowadays we don’t need to rely on the government to feed us misinformation, advertising and social media can do it just fine.

I’ve been reading books by Dr Caroline Leaf. She explains how thoughts influence the workings of our brain which controls all bodily functions. In her book, Toxic, she says toxic emotions arise from three negative and incorrect beliefs (ie lies that we believe.)

1. I must do well.
2. You must treat me well.
3. The world must be easy.

It is not only necessary to examine what we believe and decide if we want it to be part of who we are, it is also necessary to replace it with a truth. John 17:17 says, Thy Word is Truth.

Some examples are:-

1) 2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life…. It is not a matter of us having to do well, God has provided the resources we need to live His way.

2) John 16:3 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. Jesus knew very well that people will not treat us well and that life is not easy. Nevertheless, he has overcome the world and we can have peace even when people treat us badly and life is a mess.

3) Psalm 16:5 and 6 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundry lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

So, before believing bananas are mouldy dead spiders, let’s examine what we believe and if we find it to be a lie, replace it with the truth.