Christmas 2013 Midnight

The author Gervaise Phinn tells the story of a Vicar speaking one day at a school. ‘This is a very special time of year children’, he said jovially, addressing the infants who stared up at him with open mouths. ‘Can anyone tell me what it is?’

‘Christmas’, volunteered a small boy, who began waving his hand in the air like a daffodil in a strong wind. ‘It’s Christmas.’

‘It is indeed’ agreed the Vicar. ‘It’s Christmas, a very special time of year.’

‘I’m gerrin a bike’, the boy told him. ‘I’m gerrin a doll that can wet ‘er nappies an’ talk’, added a girl with a round face and hair in untidy bunches. This was the signal for all the children to shout out what presents they were hoping to receive from Father Christmas.

‘I’m gerrin a remote control car’ ‘I’m gerrin a train set’ ‘ I’m gerrin a…’

‘Children, children’, exclaimed the Vicar, raising a hand like a crossing patrol warden stopping cars. ‘Christmas is not just about presents you know. It’s really a celebration of a birthday. It’s about the birth of a very special baby.’

‘I know what it were called’, said the small wiry boy. The Vicar replied ‘I’m very glad to hear it’, in that solicitous and kindly tone often possessed by men of the cloth.

‘It were called Wayne’, the child told him.

‘Wayne ? Certainly not !’ cried the Vicar in horror.

‘It were’ cried the boy, undeterred. ‘Babby were called Wayne !’

‘No it wasn’t called Wayne,’ said the Vicar, his jaw tightening and his voice quavering a little. He bit his lip momentarily. The poor man had imagined that speaking to a group of small children about Christmas would be an easy enough task but he was now regretting he had ever agreed to visit the school that morning. ‘The baby was called Jesus’, the Vicar said, slowly and deliberately.

‘It were Wayne,’ persisted the child, nodding vigorously. ‘Jesus’ snapped the Vicar.

‘Wayne’ repeated the child. ‘I know, ‘cos we all sang about it in assembly : ‘A Wayne in a manger, no crib for a bed.’

However amusing this story is, there is a serious aspect to it as we realise how little some people know of what Christmas is really about.It is about Jesus. Jesus born to radically change the world.

His birth may have been fairly low key. Even his earthly life may have impacted only a relatively small number of people at the time, but his message and his example have changed, and continue to change millions of lives today, and that is what we celebrate at Christmas.

Tonight’s gospel reading (John 1:1-14) is the dramatic introduction to John’s gospel. The reading describes Jesus as ‘The word’ – the reading talks of his relationship with God the Father, it talks of how John the Baptist witnessed to the fact that Jesus was coming as a Saviour, as a light into the world, a light that no darkness can ever overcome.  

In Bethlehem this Christmas celebrations will be muted. The town is surrounded by a 28 foot high wall, its residents need permits to travel outside those walls and the permits are not easy to get. The Christian population in the town has been radically reduced as many Christians have moved away to different countries, and yet even in the midst of these terrible conditions there is hope.

Hope today is in the form of those Christians who will be there, praying, working and hoping for a better future, for the life of peace which Jesus has promised. And hope is in the form of Jesus himself. At Christmas we celebrate his birth – a child like any other, small, defenceless, relying on the care of others, born into a normal working class family in an occupied land, born with none of the privileges associated with his future title as the Prince of Peace.

And it was no accident that Jesus was born into these conditions because in his birth God was associating himself with even those experiencing terrible darkness in their lives, the poor and the oppressed, the sick, the lonely, the hurting. Jesus was born to make a difference to all !

And the message of Christmas is that Jesus is still making a difference. Lots of people today moan about the lack of Church attendance, we rightly bemoan the lack of knowledge about some of the Christian festivals, we worry about the world in which we live. I’ve already mentioned Bethlehem – tonight there will be pilgrims in Bethlehem, but they will not be praying and singing carols comfortably – they will be worried, just as there will be people who are worried and fearful of the future in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and in so many other places.

And there will be people who are fearful of the future much closer to us, those experiencing difficulties at home, those facing problems with money or with jobs, those who are grieving, or caring for someone who is sick. Perhaps some of us fall into one of these groups….

Situations so often can feel hopeless, but it is into situations like these that the Saviour of the world was born, and remains today. One of my favourite words is the word, ‘Emanuel’. It literally means ‘God with us’, and he is with us every moment of every day.

Many people talk of the peace of Christmas – lots of cards have the word Peace written on them, and we regularly wish people a happy and peaceful Christmas… that peace begins in the hearts of every follower of Jesus, every person who allows him to come in to our lives and change us.

It isn’t a glib sort of peace that allows people to walk around with fixed smiles on our faces, but a peace that reminds us that in whatever situation we are, good or bad, Jesus is there with us – Jesus, the light which no darkness can ever overcome. Jesus, who changes our lives forever, if we let him.

The celebration of Christmas is wonderful. It’s great to enjoy the gifts, the cards, spending time with family or friends, coming to Church, singing the carols, eating the mince pies, and so on, but the peace of Christmas will be gone in no time. Soon it will be January and life will continue – the celebration of Christmas, as I say, is wonderful, but short term.

However the peace of Jesus is peace that is lasting. He came into the world to offer hope, to offer comfort and strength, to work for and teach about justice and righteousness, and to be the support that every one of us, whether we choose to admit it or not, needs. He came into the world because he loves every one of us…

And He doesn’t offer this peace just at Christmas time – he offers it all the time. And so this Christmas, and always, may you remember that baby, born in a manger - Jesus, not Wayne - and may you allow your lives to be transformed by his teaching of peace and justice and compassion and hope as you enjoy the fulfilment of life and salvation that he came to bring, and you receive and enjoy and celebrate and share the love that he has for us all.

And so, may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour, this Christmas and forever. AMEN