We are all living stones: what a home makeover show teaches us about faith and belonging at Christmas

A family somewhere, often people who have recently been through really hard times, is living in a house that just doesn’t work for them anymore or has become a bit of a disaster zone.

Sometimes they need major adaptations because of the illness or disability of one of their family members.

Or perhaps they’ve been let down by cowboy builders, left with leaks through the roof and faulty windows that let in wind and rain.

The team arrive on site, listens to the problem, and then sends the family away.

With neighbours and local tradespeople coming together, the community makes the disaster house into a functional, beautiful, heart-warming home. The best bit of the show is, of course, the reveal. But not just because we get to see around the redeveloped home.

No, this is the best bit because we also get to see the family arriving, to be greeted with a whole community of people outside their front door, waving and smiling, and ever so keen to show off the results of their incredible – and freely given – labours.

Tears are shed, usually by me as well as the on-screen participants.

The result isn’t just a transformed house, but a restored home. And the people inside and outside the house are no longer just neighbours but are now a newly made community, formed around their care for each other.

This Christmas, I will be thinking of that image of all the DIY helpers standing waving for the cameras when I read the First Letter of Peter, about God’s people being living stones, built up into a spiritual house to worship God.

We are God’s people, crafted together into a Christian community, where we worship God, build each other up in our faith, and care for those in need.

Whatever you might have heard about Christmas being cancelled, it’s not true. Whatever you might have heard about the church being in decline, it’s not true.

Our churches are there for everyone. As well as being wonderful buildings, combining history and heritage with a sense of mystery, stillness, wonder and awe, they’re open day in, day out, for community space, practical service, and groups that bring people together.

This Christmas, they will stand open and ready to receive all who come to worship. All are welcome – friends, strangers, those who have been around for years, and those who are displaced or uprooted.

Many churches will also be feeding Christmas lunch to those who would otherwise be on their own.

Jesus began his earthly life in the most fragile of circumstances: homeless, vulnerable, born in the cold of a Bethlehem night to a refugee teenage mother facing the disapproval of her family and community.

We are living stones when we feed the hungry, care for the sick, and provide shelter for those who are similarly homeless and vulnerable.

We’re living stones when we come together to help bring dignity, comfort, and connection to those whose lives and social networks have fallen apart.

DIY SOS: Wouldn’t that be a great motto for the church? Providing practical ways to transform lives, enfolding people in God’s love, bringing people home to God through Jesus Christ who Saves our Souls.

This Christmas, if you can, come and join us to celebrate the great reveal.

Jesus Christ is living among us, restoring lives, building up individuals and communities. We are his living stones, and he longs to bring each one of us home to God.

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The Rt Revd Dr Joanne Grenfell is Bishop of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.

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