There’s a true story I heard recently about a little girl who had been chosen to place Jesus into the crib on Christmas Day. She had practised hard and she was all ready for the big day – but somehow on the day as she approached the crib, and looked up and saw the minister smiling, she suddenly panicked. She threw the baby Jesus up in the air and turned and ran back to her mother. Incredibly though the baby Jesus landed absolutely perfectly in the crib, and the minister quickly commented that the baby Jesus had arrived by air mail.
And that’s a wonderful story for Christmas, because just as the crib scene worked out ok in the end, despite the possibilities of it being ruined by the little girl, so with Jesus in our lives things will work out ok in the end.
On that first Christmas night, the angel announced to the shepherds, ‘I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people…’ and that is the message of Christmas today... Every one of us will probably approach Christmas with different memories and different experiences, every one of us will have different feelings – some will be sad, others will feel incredibly happy, but whatever our thoughts and our feelings, the birth of Jesus is incredibly good news for us.
Because a Saviour is born - a Messiah, a wonderful counsellor, mighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and he will bring light into darkness, and that saviour will be concerned for justice and for righteousness.., and he will be concerned for every one of us.
In 1903, after many attempts, the Wright brothers were successful in getting their "flying machine" off the ground. Thrilled, they telegraphed this message to their sister Katherine: "We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas." Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, "How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas." He had totally missed the big news that man had actually flown, and seen only part of the message. If we are missing the celebration of the birth of our Saviour and just concentrating on making Christmas fun then we too will be missing part of the message.
That message is certainly to enjoy ourselves, to celebrate the good news of great joy for all people, but it is also to recognise that a child was being born into the world to die for us… I don’t think for a moment that Jesus wants us to be too miserable about that – I think he loves us too much to want that, but he does want a response… He wants us to allow him to share in our lives.
There’s a story about a man who found himself in terrible financial difficulties. He was so desperate that for the first time in his life he got down on his knees and prayed to God for help. 'Dear God, I desperately need your help. I have no money to spend on Christmas presents for my family. Could you possibly arrange it so that I win the Lottery?'… The lottery draw is held, but he wins nothing.
And so he sends another prayer to God. 'My business has gone bust and if I don't get some money soon I'll lose my car and my Christmas will be very difficult. Please fix things so I win the lottery.'… Again, lottery night came, but again he didn’t win… And so he prayed to God again. 'Please God, I've lost my car and now they're trying to take my house. Please help me to win the Lottery or our Christmas will be ruined.'… When lottery night came again, he still failed to win anything. Undeterred, he prayed to God again. 'I am now a bankrupt, my house has been repossessed by the finance company and so has my car. We are now living on the street, but all I need to get my life back together and perhaps enjoy some kind of Christmas is to win the lottery.'…
Suddenly there's a flash of brilliant light as the heavens open and the man is confronted by the very voice of God himself. 'Hey, do me a favour will you, buy a ticket.'
Many people expect great miracles from God in times of trouble, but the greatest miracle of all has already happened – it is that child being born to save us all. That child, weak and defenceless, ultimately tortured and killed, was powerful enough to hold up the whole world in love and offer salvation to all. That is the joy of Christmas… God is there for every one of us…
In the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus God has performed everything that is necessary for our eternal salvation, and he has done more than that… He has come amongst us to bring peace and hope and joy, not just in heaven, but here today. On that first Christmas as a bright star announced the arrival of a new king, there would have been other stars, not shining as brightly, and there would have been clouds obscuring some other stars.
Today in the world there are some stars shining brightly for Jesus – some people working to share his good news, working to share his love and his hope and his victory throughout the world. There will be people who are truly celebrating the gift of life, and enjoying their lives to the full, but there will also be others for whom Christmas is particularly difficult and there will be some who find life generally difficult – they are like the stars who are obscured by the clouds, but the great joy of Christmas is that whatever our circumstances, whatever our background, whatever we have done or failed to do, there is a bright star shining – the bright star that is Jesus Christ, and just as that bright star called people to him as a little child, so he is calling us to him today…
May Christmas be a true time of celebration and joy, because the hope and the good news of Jesus is for all people. AMEN
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