Grace, mercy and peace be to you
from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our sermon
text today was inspired by the Holy Spirit by the apostle St Luke. And we read from
his gospel the history of the event of Christmas, where the angel says:
Fear not,
for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, that will be for all the
people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is
Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped
in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
Prayer: O holy child of
Bethlehem, descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us
today. We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell. O come to us,
abide with us, Our Lord, Immanuel. Amen.
The thing
about Christmas is that it completely changes the way we think about
everything. So often, we learn our bible stories as children, but then the only
thought we give to them is when we are children. When we get to Christmas, we
just get together to be all sentimental and nostalgic about all the things we
learnt long ago when we were children.
No—it’s time
for us to think about the history of our Saviour’s birth as grown-ups, as
adults! But you know—instead we often just sit around and enjoy the vibe of the
thing!
Do you know
what’s behind the vibe of Christmas? Do you know what lies hidden behind the
Christmas trees, and the decorations, and the Christmas lunches, and the family
fights, and the Christmas carols, and the pretty lights, and the
commercialisation, and the shopping, and the reindeers, and the jingle bells?
Do you know what’s hidden in all of this?
Right in the
middle of all of our celebrations, is something that completely changes the way
we think about everything. Right in the middle of all this is something that is
not sentimental, nostalgic, magical. Right in the middle of all this is a
living creature of the living God—a supernatural being—an angel, a creature of
light, a creature of purity, a creature made for one purpose only—to worship
before the throne of God and sing praises to him day and night—a creature who
shines light into the darkness of the night, who holds the sword of God’s word,
a sword which flashes fire all around, with wings, with a trumpet. And this
living creature of the living God appears in all the darkness of the world on a
dark night to tell you something.
And so,
what’s he going to tell you? We read: And
in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over
their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory
of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel
said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that
will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will
find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
This is no
fairy story. This is recorded by St Luke as living history, history that
completely blows our minds, so that we may never think the same again. Just the
thought that there is a complete other supernatural realm, where angels
live—just the thought that there is another brilliant order and army of
creatures other than ourselves, should completely blow our minds—let alone the
fact that in a manger in Bethlehem is a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.
The world
will never be the same again. It has never been the same again since.
Once a few
years ago, I remember meeting a German man, who was a soldier during the Second
World War. He was an avid photographer, and one afternoon, he showed me an
album full of photos that he had taken during the war, particularly when he had
visited Slovakia, in Eastern Europe. One of the photos he showed me from Slovakia
was that of two shepherds. This photo was unlike anything I had ever seen—it
was like it was straight out of the mediaeval times. Here they were with clothes
all moth eaten and tattered, wearing old floppy hats, holding sticks in their
hands.
What struck
me was just how poor these men were, what a simple life they lived in hard
times. When we imagine these shepherds in the field on the night of Christmas,
let’s not forget that these are poor people, etching out a simple existence for
themselves, eating from hand to mouth.
And from
God’s perspective, we are all like that! All of our ambition for our own lives,
all of our plans, all of our goals, all of our measuring and statistics—in
God’s eyes, he sees us all as a group of simple lowly shepherds, simply living
in the same clothes we have had for our whole lives, living from hand to mouth.
All of our human achievements are nothing. Do we realise just how much we
depend on God for everything, for every crumb of food, for every day of work,
for every cent in our bank account, every tile on the roof over our heads? God
has provided it all—we are completely dependent on him.
And don’t
you think that it’s significant that the angel should come tearing out of
heaven on Christmas night, not to bring the good news to those in the world who
think they have everything, the Caesar Augustuses of the world, the King Herods
of the world, those who are building their empires and stocking up their bank
accounts. No—the message of Christmas goes to simple shepherds, to show us that
God is the father of the afflicted and the oppressed. This shows us something
very special—the message of Christianity is only going to be received by those
who need it. The church is going to be strongest throughout history in hard
times, in times of persecution and oppression. The church is going to be
ridiculed by the world as something for the weak and simple-minded. So be
it—but that same church is the choir of the living God that joins in with the
angels and sings: Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to those with
whom he is pleased. That same group of nobodies in the eyes of the world is
going to be the ones that go to Bethlehem
to see the thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.
I read
recently a story about St Ambrose, who was a Christian pastor and bishop in the
4th century, who was particularly known for his writing of beautiful Christian
hymns and songs. He was the bishop in the Italian city of Milan, and still to
this day, the cathedral in Milan is named after him. In fact, he is one of the
few fathers of the early church that you can go and see if you want—after 1600
years, he doesn’t look to good, but you can still see him if you want!
Now the
story goes that Ambrose was travelling with some companions and he stopped off
at a farm, and asked the landlord how he was doing? The landlord said: Things
are going brilliantly for me! I’ve got an abundance of fruit on all of my
trees, my bank account is full, my fields are full of corn, my children are
strong and healthy. In fact, there’s nothing wrong with life at all right now!
And Ambrose was terrified and said told his companions to pack their bags and
leave immediately, because he said that God must have abandoned these people,
since they had no hardship, and God is the one who heals the broken-hearted and
binds up their wounds. He is the father of the wretched and the afflicted.
I think that
it’s not insignificant that Christmas time is often surrounded by so much
materialism and spending and shopping! Let this be a constant reminder to us
that the good news of salvation is preached to the poor. Now, am I saying that
rich people, wealthy people like us, who enjoy such a rich life with so many
material blessings, can’t be saved? No—not at all. There are many rich people
in the bible. But poverty isn’t just about finances and material
blessings—there has been an increase of awareness of mental health in Australia
on the TV this year, and depression. We look at the events in the news in the
last couple of weeks and we might think the future is bleak. We might worry
about what’s going to happen in the years to come now in light of what has
happened with ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Many people in our country have no
purpose in life, no hope. What a wonderful blessing it is when God sends
suffering to us so that our ears may become all the more attuned to God’s word,
and that we might hunger for it more! St James says in his letter: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you
meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith
produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you
may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Count it all joy, says James.
Whatever hardships are given to you are God’s gift to you—to humble you, to
clothe your mind and your heart and your soul and your spirit in the simple
dress of a poor shepherd, going about everyday life, looking after sheep through
the night.
What hope is
there for our troubled world? What hope is there for our frantic, fleeting
lives?
We read: An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and
the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And
the angel of the Lord said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good
news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a
sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a
manger.
The message
that the angel brings at Christmas is the end of all fear and it is the
beginning of all joy! Fear not. I bring
you not bad news, but good news. And
not news of doom and gloom, and scaremongering and hatred, but good news of great joy. And this news
of great joy is not simply for these shepherds, but it is for all people. All people: this means rich
and poor alike, happy and sad alike, sick people and healthy people.
And what is
the good news of great joy for all people? For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the
Lord. Of all the things Jesus could be called—he could be called a king, a
wise man, a mighty prophet, a priest, a teacher. But the angel goes right to
the centre of what all people throughout the whole world needs more than any of
these things—we need a Saviour.
And so where
is he? Is he going to be in a palace, in a nice comfortable room? No—This will be a sign for you: you will find
a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Can we imagine
the simplicity of this event, the humility, the gentleness in which Jesus
descends to earth to meet us? There’s an old song which says: What a great mystery it is that the animals
should see their creator, lying in a manger. Think about this—everything
you have ever thought about how the world works will be completely changed by
the angel’s message to these simple shepherds on Christmas night.
One of
favourite passages in the Old Testament is where the prophet Elisha and his
servant are going out to face a mighty army. We read: When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went
out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the
servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid,
for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha
prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord
opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full
of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
In our
prayers before the Lord’s Supper tonight, there is a prayer for Christmas that
says: that seeing you in the person of your Son, we may be drawn to the love of
those things which are not seen. I pray that that may also be true for you this
Christmas, that your hearts may be drawn to the love of those things that are
not seen, and that just like Elisha’s servant faced with this mighty army, you
may be encouraged and strengthened and enlivened as you sing together tonight
with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.
Let’s read
from our reading where it says: And
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God
and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with
whom he is pleased!”
As we think
about the birth of our Saviour in the city of David this night, let our hearts
and our souls and our spirits and our minds be raised up with all of God’s
angels, that what we begin to sing here on this earth may continue to be sung
with more and more increasing joy into eternity, where we will see our
Saviour’s face not just in the midst of swaddling cloths but in full view.
The birth of
Jesus is good news of great joy for all people! May it also be the good news
that brings and creates and uplifts our hearts with great joy as well!
Amen.
Dear Lord
Jesus, we thank you for being born in the city of David so many years ago.
Come, and dwell in each of our hearts this night, and encourage us as we join
the voice of angels in singing our praises to you! Amen.
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