Loving God, As we come to celebrate the birth of your Son,
Speak to us and fill us with Your Love.
Amen

So the waiting is over and Christmas has finally arrived; the shops are shut and we will have to manage with what we have got! Can anyone tell me what they have been doing to get ready for Christmas?

Shopping
Cooking, make Christmas cake/Christmas pudding/mince pies
Decorating the tree
Wrapping presents
Leaving out a stocking for Santa Claus
Carol singing
Ringing the bells

And what are you looking forward to?
Christmas lunch
Opening presents
Going to see family and friends

Well you’ve all certainly been very busy. But can anyone tell me why we celebrate Christmas? Whose birthday is it?

A little while ago we heard the story about how Jesus came to be born in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph had travelled from Nazareth to take part in a census. And while they were there Jesus was born. A little bit before the reading we heard Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel and told that she would become the mother of the Son of the Most High and would call him Jesus.

And so it was that Jesus, the Son of God came to be born.

But God has a way of surprising us – this very important, this supremely important baby was not born in a palace, he wasn’t even born at home, but in a makeshift manger in a strange town. But that wasn’t the only surprise. Who were the first people to see Jesus after he was born? Well, of course that was Mary and Joseph and even for them this happy event had been somewhat traumatic. For Mary and Joseph were not married and Joseph knew that he was not the father of this baby. It had taken him sometime to believe it but now he knew, like Mary did, that this baby was the Son of God. And both Mary and Joseph were given the daunting task of being parents to this very special baby. For the moment, however, they were just happy that he had arrived safely and that they had some sort of a roof over their heads.

No doubt they were exhausted after their journey and Mary’s labour and perhaps were just going off to sleep when suddenly some visitors arrived. And here was another surprise. These visitors were not the rich and mighty but some lowly shepherds. They were so humble that they were not allowed in the Temple to worship God, and in fact weren’t really very welcome anywhere. Being a shepherd was a 24/7 job and they were quite unable to follow the rules regarding hand washing and other regulations of cleanliness. They lived on the outskirts of the town with their sheep, keeping them safe from danger. However the Jews depended on these shepherds to provide the unblemished lambs needed for sacrifice at the Temple. How appropriate the shepherds who provided lambs for sacrifice were the first to meet Jesus, sometimes referred to as the Lamb of God. It also reminds us of God’s way of doing things – the Jews and us will often set down rules of how things should be done, and then God surprises us by choosing another way of doing things. And God works in an ‘inclusive way’. He welcomes all who wish to meet with Him and learn from Him, worship Him and eat with Him at His table.

The shepherds were guided to the stable by the angels who appeared to them in a blaze of glory. They were terrified but they acted on what the angels had told them. And when the shepherds got to the stable and saw Jesus, they too started glorifying God because they knew, in a very special way, and probably in a manner that they couldn’t explain, that Jesus was indeed someone very special.

Our Old Testament reading talks about ‘the people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light.’ (Isaiah 9:2). As we look at the Nativity scene with its shining star, we can see something of God’s great love for humanity. We can see the risks He is prepared to take to meet with us and show us that He loves us so much.

As we look at that star we are reminded that God is our light in the darkness. There is no place that we can hide from Him, or that He will desert us. In the midst of our messy world, God is there for all of humanity.

At the end of the service we will be handing out Christmas cards to remind us all that God is with us in a very special way. And that his love for us is so great that He is prepared to take amazing risks to meet with us and show us that love first hand.

Amen