A sentimental Christmas.....

I read a very festive tweet this week from someone who commented whilst clearing up after a church event, “you can tell it’s Christmas, there’s no room in the bin”…

Christmas is quite rightly a time of great celebration, it’s a time when we especially remember an event that changed history, a time when we celebrate that God cared about us enough, and still cares about us enough, to come into a pretty damaged world to offer the possibility of making things right for everyone…  

After saying that it’s also important to remember that for some people Christmas isn’t easy – for some it can be a reminder of happy times which seem to have ended, or people that are missed, or loneliness, or poverty, addiction or a lack of a home… Further afield it can be massively challenging for Christians living in certain parts of the world, not least Bethlehem itself, where life can be tough not just at Christmas time but throughout the year…

We can paint a very different picture from some of the more sentimental cards and messages, but this evening I actually do want to think more along the lines of those sentimental thoughts. I certainly don’t want to ignore those with problems but I do want to reflect on the joy and the peace and the hopes and the love which God wants for every one of us, regardless of our present circumstances…

You see, I think much of the Christmas story reminds us of God who does the impossible, who loves beyond anything we can understand, who challenges the problems in the world and who promises life, eternal life, which can be better than anything we can ever imagine.

The miracle of Christmas is the miracle not just of the virgin birth, not just of the faith of Mary and Joseph and the skies being lit up to welcome this new born Saviour, but the miracle of transformation available for everyone…

Because although it might not always look like it God is in control… The prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament reading earlier (52:7-10) wrote “your God reigns” and later that “all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God”.

It is clear that God is in control and that he has a real desire to see salvation for people everywhere – there is nobody who is outside of God’s hopes and plans for salvation... We may come up with our own prejudices but God doesn’t consider background or place of birth or what we’ve done or failed to do or what we look like or who we love - he stretches out his arms to all… all the ends of the earth…

That is the magnitude of the love that God lavishes on each one of us. That is the love that saw Jesus come into the world anonymous to so many but history changing as he grew and as his message was shared. And the power that changed history in Bethlehem 2000 years ago and in the immediate years that followed continues today – the writer to the Hebrews (1:1-4) reminds us that God “has spoken to us by a Son”.

And so when we come to Jesus we see a sentimental ideal of a world transformed, of a world where darkness is bathed in light and where people, to use the words of the psalmist (98) feel empowered to “shout with joy to the Lord… to lift their voices, to rejoice and sing…”

This sentimental ideal of a perfect world though isn’t just some sort of distant dream but rather the promise of God who can do all things and who, in the birth of Jesus, burst into the world afresh to give an example of his love and of how to live and love… Who burst into the world afresh to bring new hope, peace, joy, love and salvation…

God reigns and he invites all the ends of the earth, all of us, to recognise that he has spoken and speaks through Jesus today…  

And who can possibly ignore the wonderful literature of the beginning of the gospel according to John which we also heard earlier (1:1-14), “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being…”

I could carry on with the words which tell this amazing and beautiful story, but it’s important to remember that it isn’t a piece of wonderful literature alone, but a piece of history… John the Baptist came along as the messenger testifying to the light that was coming into the world, the light that was Jesus… And on this night, we celebrate the Word becoming flesh, we celebrate Jesus born to offer salvation for all…

And that raises a question so powerfully at Christmas time – what or who are we welcoming into our hearts day by day ? For amidst the cards and gifts that are exchanged, amidst the nightmare of shopping or the joy of seeing friends and loved ones, amidst the mess of lives which are damaged in some way and where people are suffering, the same Jesus came into the world with the same message of hope and peace and love and joy and salvation…

“The Word became flesh and lived among us” – have we seen his glory ? do we live as people changed by his love ?

Whatever the past year has brought for us and whatever we are thinking might happen in the days, weeks and months to come, may we be confident in Jesus’ presence with us and may we constantly be reminded of Him and of the words of one of the most popular Christmas carols (In the bleak midwinter), “What can I give Him, poor as I am… Yet what I can I give him, I give my heart”.

Let us pray : God our Father, whose word has come among us in the Holy Child of Bethlehem: may the light of faith illumine our hearts and shine in our words and deeds; through him who is Christ the Lord. Amen