Christmas 2014
If you listen to music on quite a
lot of TV or radio channels at this time of year one of the songs you will hear
played quite a lot is the Band Aid 3rd release of ‘Do they know it’s
Christmas’. And so many of you will know the first line of that song, ‘It’s
Christmas time and there’s no need to be afraid…’
However for many Christmas time is
a time of feeling afraid and it has, it seems, always been so – When Isaiah
foretold the birth of Jesus he described Him as light coming into darkness, and
perhaps most famously of all as the Angel appeared to Mary she was told ‘do not
be afraid’ – after all she was a young unmarried virgin engaged to a carpenter
who wasn’t the father of the baby… why should she worry !!!
And then in our gospel reading
this evening (Luke 2:1-14) the angel appeared to the shepherds and again
offered the words, ‘Do not be afraid…’ I wonder how many of us on a dark
mountain top wouldn’t be afraid if we heard an angel speaking to us !!!
And yet what is strange about all
those verses is that there is actually a response which leads people not to be
afraid… In the reading from Isaiah (9:2,6,7) we are told the people who walked
in darkness have seen a great light – in other words, this light has changed
their lives. From lives of fear or worry, there is some peace…
And Mary, who had every reason to
worry didn’t – she listened to God and she knew his plan would work however
strange it seemed to her at the time…. And the shepherds were also told not to
be afraid, and instead of either thinking they were seeing things or brushing
it all off and doing nothing, went down to the stable to find a Saviour… they
brushed aside fear, they looked and they found….
There’s a story of a man called
Arthur who loved fishing and spent a lot of time out doing it, but there was
one problem – he was bad at it and never caught anything ! One very wet and
cold day though as he was sitting by the river he felt something tugging on his
fishing line – he was shocked but excited – he remembered all he’d been told
about how to haul in the fish, but as he drew the line from the water he
noticed that all there was on the end of it was an old wig.
And so, fed up, he decided to go
home – really miserable ! And as the rain got heavier and he got colder so he
decided to put on the wig which had just about dried out in his bag, and he
began to think. He said to himself ‘I wish when I got home there was a lovely
roast beef dinner ready for me’, but then he thought ‘there won’t be though
because my wife never cooks a roast for me’.
But when he went in the house, he
could smell a roast, and sure enough his wife had cooked roast beef for him !
Later as he was rather full after
the meal, he decided he would take a walk. He couldn’t find his hat, so he
decided to put on the wig again to keep warm, and as he went out he wished that
the rain would stop and the sun would come out, and sure enough it did !
And he realised that whatever he
wished for came true if he put on the wig, and so the following day he thought
he’d like to go and have tea at Buckingham Palace with the Queen – on went the
wig and sure enough he was off to see the Queen. As he was leaving he thought
he really liked the Palace and so he made another wish, and that was that he
could be where the greatest king that has ever lived was born.
And then he woke up, in a stable
surrounded by animals and smelling, well, just like a stable really !
And it dawned on him where he was
because in the back of his mind somewhere with a whole lot of things in the way
of it was the knowledge that Jesus is the greatest king that has ever lived.
He came without any riches, he
came without an army… he came, born to people who were poor, born in a stable,
born seemingly without a chance of making a difference in his own town, let
alone the whole world.
And yet 2000 years on we celebrate
his birth, and we know that he has changed the lives of millions of people
since that time, and we know, maybe sometimes only in the back of our minds,
that he is the greatest king that has ever lived…
And this king wants to share our
lives with us. He wants us to take down the walls that separate us from him – this
is the king who came into the world at the first Christmas to bring peace, to
bring hope and joy and unlimited love…
Tonight, we
join with millions of Christians worldwide as we reflect on God’s greatest
gift. The gift of Jesus…
One of my
favourite parts of the Christmas season is Charles Dickens’ novel, ‘A Christmas
Carol’. It is of course the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, the man who hated
Christmas and everything to do with it, until he was visited by three spirits,
the spirit of Christmas past, the spirit of Christmas present and the spirit of
the Christmases yet to come.
This novel
is particularly symbolic as many of us will I suspect, stop at some time just
for a moments thought or reflection on the past, the present and the future.
Looking back
we may think of wonderful Christmas celebrations, of happy times with loved
ones, of great presents, perhaps great parties… We may think of holidays we
have taken or people we have met…
For some
though, Christmas will be particularly difficult because of something that has
happened in the past or is happening now… I have an uncle and aunt who lost
both their sons in December at the ages of 25 and 41… December will never be
easy for them… I have witnessed first hand my daughter facing a first Christmas
after her mother died… and this isn’t about me – there are many of you who will
have stories every bit as difficult and more…
Christmas
isn’t always easy and it isn’t always a happy time but it is into this darkness
that Jesus came as light – He came into a world that was struggling, filled
with conflict and oppression, poverty and pain… He came into a huge mess to
offer a way of clearing it up!
Christmas is
often portrayed with pretty scenes of peace and joy, but that isn’t the world
Jesus stepped into and it isn’t the world today, but as He did then Jesus has
come bringing peace and love and hope and joy…
Because,
amidst all of the problems we face or others have faced Jesus brings an
incredible message of good news of great joy… the greatest Christmas gift of
all…
There’s a
story about a boy who had recently passed his driving test and decided to ask
his father if there was any chance of him getting a car for Christmas, which
was yet some months away.
'Okay.' said
his father 'I tell you what I'll do. If you can get your 'A' level grades up to
'A's and 'B's, study your bible and get your hair cut, I'll consider the matter
very seriously.'
A couple of
months later the boy went back to his father who said 'I'm really impressed by
your commitment to your studies. Your grades are excellent and the work you
have put into your bible studies is very encouraging. However, I have to say
I'm very disappointed that you haven't had your hair cut yet.
But this was
a smart young man who was never lost for an answer. 'Look dad, in the course of
my bible studies I've noticed in the illustrations that Moses, John the
Baptist, Samson and even Jesus had long hair.' 'Yes. I'm aware of that...'
replied his father '... but did you also notice they walked wherever they
went?'
We have been
given a gift with no conditions… The future with Jesus may be unpredictable, we
may have uncertain times, it may have sadness, it may have disappointments, as
well as hopefully many joys, but Jesus is the God of the past, the present and
the future, and whatever it is that we have to face in our lives, Jesus has
been there, is there, and will be there.
The great
joy of Christmas is that God was coming into the world not for the first time,
but in the most visible way – and that demands a response. Everyone who sees a
baby responds in some way, whether it’s good or bad; everyone who sees a child
cleverly talking to adults in the way Jesus did in the Temple thinks something
about that child. Everyone who sees an adult taking a stand on behalf of love
or justice, or who sees an adult risking all for someone else will inevitably
respond. Everyone who sees a king has some opinion or not on the validity of
that king’s throne…
As we think
of Jesus his love for us demands a response – one of the loveliest carols sung
at Christmas is, ‘In the bleak midwinter’, and the one verse that says,
‘What can I
give him, poor as I am ?
If I were a
shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise
Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I
can I give Him: give my heart.’
Every one of
us at this Christmas time can do that – give our hearts and our lives to Jesus
– the God who has seen our past, who has been there for us, whether we realised
it or not, throughout our lives; the God of the present, who is alongside us today,
and the God of the future, who promises never to leave us.
The novel ‘A Christmas Carol’ finishes with the words of Tiny
Tim, ‘God bless Us, Every One!’ – And may God indeed bless us… every one, this
Christmas time and always ! AMEN
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