Issue 096
Communication is a tricky business. As soon as more than one party is involved, the possibilities for misunderstanding multiply. Companies and organisations invest in activities from team-building to advertising, and including marketing and management in between, in order to improve communication. Global businesses mean that cross-cultural communication, taking into account language, history, religion and tradition is now a major challenge. Even the sharing of a common language such as English is no guarantee that the English, Americans, Australians or Canadians know what the others may be saying.
In this field, a certain type of person can be crucial in making things happen. Someone who is bi-lingual or has dual heritage can make the difference between winning and losing the business; closing or losing the deal.
Now magnify this challenge even further and imagine trying to communicate with another species. Even if you swear your dog understands every word you say, the research will assure you that it doesn’t. Your capacity to communicate is so much greater than his that it doesn’t take long before your dog or any other animal you meet is not so sure what you mean. Clever though many animals are at communicating with each other, they struggle with human language.
Multiply this challenge to the ultimate level and you see God’s problem in having a dialogue with us. The gap between his intelligence and ours is literally infinite and the content of his mind so complicated that we are bound to sink out of our depth with the first attempt at understanding.
When the Magi arrived with their Christmas gifts, one of the gifts was an aromatic resin which had made many a trader wealthy;a substance with a symbolic as well as a commercial history, frankincense was part of the recipe for holy oil, used in ancient worship and closely associated with the office of a priest.
The priest that they were unwittingly or deliberately honouring, however, was no ordinary go-between. Here was and is the answer to the mightiest communication challenge of all time. Here, in this, apparently helpless, baby was a bilingual, dual heritage individual who speaks human and divine. Uniquely qualified to understand and interpret God to us and us to God, this speechless baby was the Word which as yet no-one could quite speak. ‘God with us’ at Christmas does not just mean God amongst us but God combined with us. It is a powerful combination which solves the riddles of misunderstanding which have hallmarked the centuries.
By using this divine interpreter you will be able to understand yourself and your God more fully. You will be able, through his skill, to decode the riddles of the people around you as his wisdom gives you insight into human nature. Christmas was the beginning of his career as go-between, and his success is the foundation of your communication skills this week… if you are prepared to follow the path to his door, open your baggage and give your gifts to him.
John 19:25-27
25Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” 27and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
John 17:1-5
1After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: 2″Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began
Luke 11: 1-4
1One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2He said to them, “When you pray, say: ” ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation
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Geoff Shattock
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