Bishop Steven reflects on his last Christmas as the Bishop of Oxford, sharing God's love with us and BBC Radio Oxford’s Phil Mercer.
Phil Mercer: At this special time of year, of course, we always like to welcome in a bishop and to get a nice Christmas message, something that is on our bishop's mind, and it is Bishop Steven, today, the Bishop of Oxford. Avery good morning to you, Bishop. And I guess, do you get quite busy at Christmas time or do you get a nice relaxed time of it?
Bishop Steven: Yeah, there's quite a bit to do, but it's really very enjoyable. So Christmas services until Christmas Day. I'm always in the cathedral on Christmas Day, which is wonderful. And of course, it's my last Christmas as Bishop of Oxford. This year's going to be special. And then on Christmas Day, the family start to arrive and my Christmas for the last few years has been dominated by now nine small grandchildren. So they come and go across the Christmas and New Year period.
Phil: I can only imagine. That sounds wonderful and chaos all in one go.
Bishop Steven: It's both wonderful and chaotic and there's lots of cooking and Lego involved and Mario Kart usually.
Phil: Excellent, all of those things sound wonderful. Okay, now look, you do have a message for us this Christmas, you?
Bishop Steven: I do. I want to say a very happy Christmas to you and yours and to remind us all that every year on Christmas Eve, we read these words from John 1: ‘No one has ever seen God. It is God, the only son who's close to the father's heart, who's made him known.’
Those words are so profound. No one has ever seen God. The key question in our lives is not so much whether we believe in God as what kind of God we believe in.
How do we know what God is like? Might God be angry or moody or cruel or indifferent or unforgiving or simply not interested in the details of our lives? As John 1 tells us clearly, no one has ever seen God. How then do we know what God is like? Well, this is what God is like. It is God, the only son who's close to the Father's heart, who has made him known. And we see what God is like in Jesus, in his humility and his compassion and his kindness.
In his mercy, in his miracles of healing, in his stories, especially this story. And Jesus knows the Father's heart and he has made him known. This is the reason for the season, lest we forget. Christmas is a celebration of God's kindness and mercy and patience and love. So remember today that God loves you, that God is concerned for you.
There'll be many challenges in the coming year. This year will be a year of change for me as I lay down ministry as bishop of this diocese, I don't know what the year will bring for you, but I do know that from time to time I may forget what God is like. And I will come back to this verse from the Gospel of John. No one has ever seen God. It is God, the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known. A very happy Christmas to you and to yours.
Phil: And very happy Christmas to you, as well. We look forward to you popping into the studio after Christmas, and we're going to get a nice chance to chat and look ahead to, well, I want to look ahead to retirement, but actually to talk a little bit about what a time you've had there as Bishop of Oxford. Should be an interesting conversation, but have a lovely Christmas.
Read more Christmas messages.