Are you sitting comfortably?

It’s a phrase that predates me. When I was very young we would visit grandparents in the North and my Grandma would sometimes read me a bedtime story, and this is how she would begin: Are you sitting comfortably?

When it was used on the radio, and when my Grandma asked the question, the desired answer was ‘yes’ because the phrase would be followed by, “then I dhall begin.” A story of some description would follow to be listened to in comfort and security.

So, I ask you, “are you sitting comfortably?” But I am not looking for the answer ‘yes’. I am looking to provoke thoughts. Because ‘sitting comfortably’ can lead to being complacent, and complacency can lead to laziness and carelessness. Not all the time, not everyone, but sometimes we can get so comfortable in our everyday habits that we miss the nudge that we need to make a change, or we become blind to parts of the world around us where we could help.

I am not writing here telling you that you need to change everything. In fact, I am not telling you that you need to change anything. But in this period of advent when the focus is on getting hearts ready for Christmas, I guess I’m encouraging you to just take stock for a moment, to stop and listen to the small voice of God speaking in your spirit, to see if there’s is something you do (or don’t do) that gets in the way of a good relationship with God.

In some church circles, the second Sunday of advent is used to look at John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin who wore camel hair and ate locusts and honey. He baptised people in the river Jordan, something strange for the culture of the time when baptism was reserved for purification of Jews or for conversion to Judaism. Unlike in the Christian faith, baptism wasn’t for everyone.

So John was shaking things up. And when the Pharisees and Saducees (religious leaders who were supposed to set an example) came for a baptism, John had some strong words for them. He called them a ‘brood of vipers’ and warned them to make a real change. He said, ‘bear fruit worthy of repentance.” In other words, don’t just go through the motions, take a look and see where you need to change to actually set a good example.

Please understand, I am not comparing any reader to those religious leaders. And I am certainly no John the Baptist with harsh words of warning. (For one thing, I’m not a huge fan of honey…) But John 3:16 says, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Jesus had mercy and compassion on those who listened and were open. He didn’t turn a blind eye, but gently pointed out where people needed to change. He wasn’t one to let people ‘sit comfortably’ either. More than once he spoke out and said things that led to others feeling uncomfortable, but only because he pointed out where they were living and behaving wrongly, in a way that wasn’t in line with God’s word.

So in this advent season, maybe even this week, see if you can find time time to ask yourself, “Am I sitting comfortably?” And maybe spend a bit of time being still and letting Jesus tell you if you should be.