One of the most popular Christmas stories is ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. There is one scene in it where the Ghost of Christmas Past has just paid a rather unnerving visit to Ebenezer Scrooge. Clearly the old man is shaken by the entire ordeal. But when he awakens from his sleep does he take the message to heart ? No, he simply dismisses it by saying: Bah, humbug, it wasn't real – in fact he puts the episode down to indigestion as he mutters to himself, "Just a bit of last nights undigested beef," he says to himself, "There is more gravy about you than the grave."
As we found out though in the rest of the book – the episodes were real for Scrooge and his life was eventually transformed for the better… And that word transformation is a huge part of Christmas…
Somewhere around 350 years after Jesus was born Pope Julius I authorized December 25 to be celebrated as the birthday of Jesus – it wasn’t a big festival at the time and I wonder who could have predicted the festival it has turned out to be today – both spiritual and secular.
Later, when Professor Charles Follen lit candles on the first Christmas tree in America in 1832, who would have ever thought that the decorations would become as elaborate as they are today.
It’s certainly a long time since those events and very much has changed, but it is much longer still from that dark night when that star shined brightly – that night in which Jesus was born, and whilst much has changed in the world – lives and cultures are very different not just in this country but in many parts of the world, the nativity story is one that continues to penetrate people’s hearts.
It is an unchangeable message just as the shepherds saw as they witnessed the new born baby; and it’s good sometimes to put ourselves back in time – back to that night. In the midst of the excitement and commercialisation which surround Christmas today – we take a trip into the past.
There was the proclamation of the angels, and there was the awe and wonder of the shepherds as they went to see the new born king and left inspired to tell others. There was the chaos of a baby being born in unsuitable conditions – what we so often perceive as a peaceful night must have been far from it…
We can think of Joseph – a proud father and yet a man who must have been wondering what would come next – this child was remarkable, this child was given by God in a way that no other child had been…
And then there were the two most important characters in the nativity story – Mary and the baby Jesus. Mary, a teenage girl, had been chosen to be the mother of the Messiah, of the Saviour of the world. Her willingness to say ‘Yes’ to God remains an inspiration and a lesson to us all – and then there was the child – the child who was born to transform not just the lives of Mary and Joseph, not just the shepherds, not the Wise Men who would come along later – this child was born to transform the lives of us all.
In a recent ‘Pause for thought’ on the radio, the soon to retire Archbishop of Canterbury spoke about the power of Twitter – he spoke of a student who had asked via Twitter for help to rebuild the city of Christchurch in New Zealand after the earthquake. The response was amazing with thousands of students turning up to help – the point he was making was that a small initiative such as this single Tweet could bring huge change, and that in many ways the birth of Jesus was God’s very own small initiative – small in the form of a baby – one of many born that night no doubt, but a small initiative that was born to transform the world.
That baby cries out today in the person of Jesus calling each one of us to allow ourselves to be transformed into his likeness – loving and seeking to live like him.
The power of that first Christmas night is one that cries out to be lived over and over again – not just in the wonderful nativity plays that we see each year, not just in the bible readings we hear, but in our hearts and in our lives…
In 1984, a comedian and singer called Mark Lowry wrote a programme for a Christmas play at his church. His script included questions for Mary while she was holding the baby on Christmas night. Some years later, according to Lowry, he found his script and gave it to his friend Buddy Greene, telling him to write a hit with the words - Lowry claims to have been kidding. But Greene took him seriously and wrote the music for a new song, "Mary, Did You Know?" A couple of years later, this song was recorded first, and has since been sung by many other artists. "Mary, Did You Know?" became the hit Mark had joked about – it has become one of the best known and most loved modern carols…
That song is certainly popular because of the lovely music – but the lyrics of "Mary, Did You Know?" stir our hearts with some of the deepest mysteries of Christmas. We think of Mary, a young, vulnerable woman called into the most extraordinary human work in all of history: giving birth to the Saviour of the world. We are reminded that the baby to whom Mary gave birth would walk on water, heal the broken, and save us. We are astounded once more by the fact that Mary's baby boy is "Lord of all creation".
It may be a mystery beyond our understanding as to how a baby could change so much, how even a man could grow and accept the sin of the whole world and rise to life again victorious having conquered the power of death. And yet, so much of the Christmas story reminds us not just of God’s power, but also his love and his willingness to come to us and seek us out…
Christmas is, at its core, a celebration of the Incarnation – God coming down amongst us. During the Christmas season, we think of the mystery of God becoming human. We marvel at the grace of God, who entered our reality in order to save us, to make us new, to heal us…
The words of the song which will be played at the end of the sermon read,
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know, that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered will soon deliver you.
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby
You've kissed the face of God.
Mary, did you know? Mary, did you know?
The blind will see The deaf will hear The dead will live again
The lame will leap The dumb will speak The praises of The Lamb
Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the Great I Am.
As we celebrate Christmas may we be so inspired by that awesome life changing birth that we dedicate our lives afresh to Jesus, our Saviour, the Messiah. Amen.
As we found out though in the rest of the book – the episodes were real for Scrooge and his life was eventually transformed for the better… And that word transformation is a huge part of Christmas…
Somewhere around 350 years after Jesus was born Pope Julius I authorized December 25 to be celebrated as the birthday of Jesus – it wasn’t a big festival at the time and I wonder who could have predicted the festival it has turned out to be today – both spiritual and secular.
Later, when Professor Charles Follen lit candles on the first Christmas tree in America in 1832, who would have ever thought that the decorations would become as elaborate as they are today.
It’s certainly a long time since those events and very much has changed, but it is much longer still from that dark night when that star shined brightly – that night in which Jesus was born, and whilst much has changed in the world – lives and cultures are very different not just in this country but in many parts of the world, the nativity story is one that continues to penetrate people’s hearts.
It is an unchangeable message just as the shepherds saw as they witnessed the new born baby; and it’s good sometimes to put ourselves back in time – back to that night. In the midst of the excitement and commercialisation which surround Christmas today – we take a trip into the past.
There was the proclamation of the angels, and there was the awe and wonder of the shepherds as they went to see the new born king and left inspired to tell others. There was the chaos of a baby being born in unsuitable conditions – what we so often perceive as a peaceful night must have been far from it…
We can think of Joseph – a proud father and yet a man who must have been wondering what would come next – this child was remarkable, this child was given by God in a way that no other child had been…
And then there were the two most important characters in the nativity story – Mary and the baby Jesus. Mary, a teenage girl, had been chosen to be the mother of the Messiah, of the Saviour of the world. Her willingness to say ‘Yes’ to God remains an inspiration and a lesson to us all – and then there was the child – the child who was born to transform not just the lives of Mary and Joseph, not just the shepherds, not the Wise Men who would come along later – this child was born to transform the lives of us all.
In a recent ‘Pause for thought’ on the radio, the soon to retire Archbishop of Canterbury spoke about the power of Twitter – he spoke of a student who had asked via Twitter for help to rebuild the city of Christchurch in New Zealand after the earthquake. The response was amazing with thousands of students turning up to help – the point he was making was that a small initiative such as this single Tweet could bring huge change, and that in many ways the birth of Jesus was God’s very own small initiative – small in the form of a baby – one of many born that night no doubt, but a small initiative that was born to transform the world.
That baby cries out today in the person of Jesus calling each one of us to allow ourselves to be transformed into his likeness – loving and seeking to live like him.
The power of that first Christmas night is one that cries out to be lived over and over again – not just in the wonderful nativity plays that we see each year, not just in the bible readings we hear, but in our hearts and in our lives…
In 1984, a comedian and singer called Mark Lowry wrote a programme for a Christmas play at his church. His script included questions for Mary while she was holding the baby on Christmas night. Some years later, according to Lowry, he found his script and gave it to his friend Buddy Greene, telling him to write a hit with the words - Lowry claims to have been kidding. But Greene took him seriously and wrote the music for a new song, "Mary, Did You Know?" A couple of years later, this song was recorded first, and has since been sung by many other artists. "Mary, Did You Know?" became the hit Mark had joked about – it has become one of the best known and most loved modern carols…
That song is certainly popular because of the lovely music – but the lyrics of "Mary, Did You Know?" stir our hearts with some of the deepest mysteries of Christmas. We think of Mary, a young, vulnerable woman called into the most extraordinary human work in all of history: giving birth to the Saviour of the world. We are reminded that the baby to whom Mary gave birth would walk on water, heal the broken, and save us. We are astounded once more by the fact that Mary's baby boy is "Lord of all creation".
It may be a mystery beyond our understanding as to how a baby could change so much, how even a man could grow and accept the sin of the whole world and rise to life again victorious having conquered the power of death. And yet, so much of the Christmas story reminds us not just of God’s power, but also his love and his willingness to come to us and seek us out…
Christmas is, at its core, a celebration of the Incarnation – God coming down amongst us. During the Christmas season, we think of the mystery of God becoming human. We marvel at the grace of God, who entered our reality in order to save us, to make us new, to heal us…
The words of the song which will be played at the end of the sermon read,
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know, that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered will soon deliver you.
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby
You've kissed the face of God.
Mary, did you know? Mary, did you know?
The blind will see The deaf will hear The dead will live again
The lame will leap The dumb will speak The praises of The Lamb
Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the Great I Am.
As we celebrate Christmas may we be so inspired by that awesome life changing birth that we dedicate our lives afresh to Jesus, our Saviour, the Messiah. Amen.
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