No Carol service or Midnight mass would be complete without our singing the Carol While Shepherds Watched their flocks by night which, of course draws its inspiration from the Christmas Gospel we have just heard from the pen of St. Luke.  It is one of many carols which celebrate the visit of the shepherds to the manger at Bethlehem on that first Christmas night.  Amongst the most recent is one composed in the Millennium Year, 2000, for the famous Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge.  The Carol, known as the Shepherds Carol, was set to music by Bob Chilcott but the words are an anonymous poem in which the Shepherds address the Blessed Virgin Mary.

We stood on the hills, Lady,
Our day’s work done,
watching the frosted meadows
That winter had won.

The evening was calm, Lady,
the air so still
Silence more lovely than music
Folded the hill.

There was a star, Lady.
Shone in the night,
Larger than Venus it was
and bright, so bright.

Oh, a voice from the sky, Lady,
It seemed to us then
Telling of God being born
In the world of men.

And so we have come, Lady,
our day’s work done,
Our Love, our Hopes, Ourselves,
we give to your Son.

And so we have come – here tonight – not drawn, I suspect by the voices of angels nor guided by a star but for the same reason – to discover anew God being born in the world of men.  Only faith tells us that what we sing and pray and think about tonight has any sort of truth but it is the same truth that led those first visitors to rush from their fields in the dead of night and seek out the babe lying in swaddling clothes in a manger.  In Jesus God was born in the world of men and so he becomes vividly accessible to us.

Of all the events in human history it is this one which has the most significance for us because it entwines our destiny not only as a human race but as individuals.  This is much more than a midwinter story to cheer our dark days and give us the excuse for excessive festivity – it is an event which shapes our lives so significantly that, if we choose to accept it for what it is, changes us irrevocably.  At one level Christmas turns us all into children again – so that we are caught up in wonder, amazement and expectation. There is something magical about the Christmas story which has never faded and still captivates people two thousand years after it first began. (as it did earlier tonight in the Crib Service).

There is very little in the history of humanity that can claim the heart as much as the Christmas story does and that should point us to its real significance.  At the heart of Christmas there is sheer gift which we are invited to enjoy but there is also a great risk – not ours but God’s.  St. Paul puts his finger on this when he tells us in his letter to the Philippians that though Jesus was in the form of God.. he emptied himself and was born in human likeness.

God chose to come among us as a babe – the most vulnerable form of humanity that there is and in this way he puts himself into our hands.  Being born in the world of men in this way means that we can reject or accept him as we wish.  As the late Mother Jane of the Sisters of the Love of God put it - we can reject and refuse him, misunderstand and abuse him, manipulate and use him or, on the other hand we can try, by his grace, to respond with a love that does, however feebly, take its character from his.

The Incarnation – God being born in the world of men – is not a theological conundrum – it is an act of sheer love and the purpose of all this loving by God is in order that we can become love and so discover that love is the only eternal quality we need to grow near to God who is Total Love.  It is so important that we grasp that God’s love for us is unconditional and yet it calls forth from us a response.

Why we are here tonight is part of that response because not only are we being called to accept God’s unconditional love and acceptance of us – we are being called to make a response to Him.  The Shepherds in the poem understood this – 'So we have come, Lady...our love, our hopes, ourselves, we give to your Son.'

Our Love, our Hopes, Ourselves – is the gift we must try to bring. That is the best response we can make to this risky gift of love that comes to us from God in the Bethlehem event.  And this gift, to be truly received, must result in action as it did with the Shepherds. 

St. Luke records that having visited the manger the Shepherds went away again – but they went away completely changed by their experience.  No longer tongue-tied, no longer incredulous, we are told that they went away glorifying and praising God.  They did more – they told others.  They made known what had been told them about this child and all who heard them were amazed.

Those Shepherds became the first missionaries of the Christian Church and as so often when people hear good news, they felt compelled to share it.  And that is our job too – we Twenty-First century Shepherds of Epping who have been drawn here to celebrate the wondrous birth of God – this life-changing event.  We are to tell, to show, what a difference it makes to us - we are to share our knowledge of what took place in Bethlehem two thousand years ago. 

And what have we been told?  That Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  That he went on to minister to the human lot in all its diversity, mess and perplexity and so give us a new purpose?  That he went on to heal the broken hearted, bring hope to the despairing and forgiveness for all our many failures to love?  That he was to give himself on a Cross for our salvation and, in rising from the dead, destroyed the barrier that separates us from a life without limitation and so open for all of us all manner of possibilities to live the fullest possible human life, enlarged by eternal, freely given love.

Yes, all that and more – but actually something else – something much more profound it is simplicity.  The shepherds of Bethlehem, those poor, shivering, not very significant people, who toiled when others rested, who were not regarded as very special by the society around them, learned it that night as they silently gazed on the child who brought new value to their lives.  What they learned is what we must learn:  that we, who have come to give the Christ-child our love, our hopes, ourselves are actually here to receive.

Let me explain what that is by telling you about Emmanuel.  He was an African boy who was always asking questions.  One day he asked the question: “What language does God speak?”  No one could answer him so he travelled all over his country to find the answer but he got nowhere. So he set off for distant lands in his quest. For a long time he had no success until he came, at last, one night to a town called Bethlehem and, as there was no room in the local inn, he went outside the village in search of a shelter for the night.   He came to a cave and found that too was occupied by a couple with a child. He was about to turn away when the young mother spoke. “Welcome Emmanuel, we’ve been waiting for you.” The boy was amazed that the woman knew his name. He was even more amazed when she went on to say, “For a long time you have been searching the world over to find out what language God speaks. Well, now your journey is over. Tonight you can see with your own eyes what language God speaks. He speaks the language of love, that is expressed in sharing, understanding, mercy and total acceptance.”

What we receive from the Christ-child is simply love and it is a truth that sets us free from all that is not love in our lives.  It is something that, if we accept it, will change us and help us to become love. 

What the Christ-Child of Bethlehem is saying to us – in God’s language – is that he really and truly and unconditionally loves you – tonight and for all eternity.  That is his Christmas present to you.  Now – accept it and let it make a difference to your lives.