Christmas Day

Throughout advent we have paused to consider in what ways we contribute, or share: hope, peace, joy and love. Today we come together to remember the birth of Jesus. We hear the Bible story, we sing the carols; Christmas is a time when tradition, and family traditions, come to the fore.

But each year there are people for whom Christmas does not follow the familiar rhythm and pattern. As people move house, and relocate for work, some families no longer get together for Christmas. Children grow and marry, there are two family traditions to try and attend to. People die. Marriages end in separation or divorce. I know 2 families this year, who are with a parent about to die.

Traditions change, and that is fine; life is continually changing, but one thing the Christmas story does, is to anchor us into something we find hard to put into words.

Luke records the story of the birth of Jesus, to a young woman, away from home.  This story still amazes me.  

The Christmas story includes angels in a few places, and they always seem to say “Do not be afraid”, so maybe angels aren’t cute and sweet looking?

An angel  appears to the shepherds, and says:

"Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger."

 ‘Good news of great joy for all the people’. What is the good news of Christmas? Presents, food, family, parties, holidays?

‘Good news of great joy for all the people’. “all people” I wonder what good news there is for ‘all people’ this Christmas, not only the ones who received gifts they like, not only the people with enough food and a place to holiday. ‘all people’ . the angel is recorded as saying “all people” ; ‘Good news of great joy for all the people’ – so that means the families who are mourning a death, it means people with no one to call family, it means people who live in fear.

Christmas is amazing, because the birth of Jesus happened amidst the ordinary world of ordinary people. Mary was faithful to God, but Mary was not a princess, she wasn’t a spiritual seeker off on  a pilgrimage, all we are told about her suggests she was a teenage girl engaged to Joseph. And Joseph, he was a carpenter; not a priest or a king. Two people, like many other couples of their time.

And then after the birth, the shepherds come to visit. Now in the play at carols 2 nights ago, the shepherds were clean and well mannered; but shepherds at that time in history were people who could not get any other work.

That is part of the joy of the Christmas story, that God chooses the outsiders, the rejected, the homeless.

What does this story of a baby born to a young mother and laid in a feeding trough, of shepherds coming in from the hills, of no room for travellers, of Roman imperialism, what does this story have for us today?

At the beginning of the service today we watched a video clip of people singing in a shopping mall, I believe it is called a flash mob. In the midst of people’s activity, Christmas broke in.

That is ‘the good news of great joy for all people’; that God broke into our existence, not to emperors and bishops, but to ordinary people in out of the way places.

The good news for each of us today is that God breaks into our lives, offering hope, peace, joy and love.

Loud Love

a shorter sermon again this week, we will also be watching a video message from the President of the UCA.

 

My mother grew up in the country, one of 11 children. Some of Mum’s sisters have very loud voices, and Mum would say they had forgotten they weren't  down the paddock anymore. I know some families talk about outside voices and inside voices. Luke records that Elizabeth “cried out in a loud voice,”  This phrase in Greek means to shout as though one is using a mega-phone.^[i]

In the Magnificat, or Mary’s song, the opening words are translated in the NRSV as “My soul magnifies the Lord ...” , which in the Greek means Mary's soul will "make mega" the Lord. [ii]

And what does Mary speak of?

 “Mary sings of God’s mercy, promising that God lifts up the lonely, the downtrodden, and the oppressed, not just of her day, but of our own as well. …..  According to Luke, when Mary sang, she didn't just name those promises but also entered into them.”[iii]

I wonder, how loudly do our words and our actions speak of God?

Over the past few weeks we have thought about hope, peace, joy, and today we will think about love.

Advent 1: you received a piece of paper, and wrote one thing you will do this year that will grow hope in the world, in your life, or in another’s life.

Advent 2: stars were handed out, and you wrote down in which way you are a prophet for peace or one way that you would like your life to show the peace of Christ.

Advent 3: we talked about joy, “experience joy that is experienced when we are  aware that in a given moment we are doing exactly what God wants us to be doing.”  You were each given a small bell, and were asked to think of a place or way in which you live out your joy, your discipleship.

All 3 symbols have been placed in the manger.

Today we think about love, not mushy romantic kind of love, that we see in movies and TV ads. Strong, brave love, love that steps in front of bullets, love that brings out our best, love that offers hope and peace. Love that we celebrate in the birth of Jesus, but also love of people shown in many ways .

The teachers at Newtown, in the US,  who were killed trying to protect their students, reminded me of the verse  “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” [John 15:13] which in the Message becomes “This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends.”

Love, then, becomes what we give our life to.

Love is what we give our life to.

This week you will each receive a heart shaped sticky note, on it I want you to write what you give your life to.

Hearts to manger

Group singing ‘Nothing is lost on the breath of God’

….

Advent is a time when we think about hope, peace, joy and love as we wait for the coming of Jesus. the waiting is an active waiting, not sitting around being bored, but waiting with intent, waiting while working toward the goal. Waiting for Jesus to come, is about waiting for the birth, and the celebration of the birth of Jesus that we call Christmas. We also wait for the coming again of Jesus, the time of the fulfilment of God’s kingdom. And we also wait and watch for signs of that kingdom in our midst.

The box we use for a manger was originally a munitions box, remember Isaiah and “ turning swords into ploughs” well we have a box for holding ammunition turned into a cradle. But it only becomes a cradle, when it is filled with our hopes, when we speak out about peace, when we live the joy of being known by God and when we give our life in love for what matters to God. An ammunition box becomes a manger when we live out the gospel values of hope, peace, joy and love.  

Mary didn't only sing about God’s mercy and the world being turned upside down, she willingly embraced and entered into God’s action in her life and the world.

This box can be just a  timber box, or it can be a place to lay a special baby.

 Let us pray: Christmas Prayer

Let the love that shaped earth and heaven

dwell within us this Christmas.

Let the love that created humanity

dwell within us this Christmas.

Let the love that overcomes suffering and hatred

dwell within us this Christmas.

Let the love that causes us to rejoice with loved ones

dwell within us this Christmas.

Let the love that forgives and renews

dwell within us this Christmas.

Let the love that brings reconciliation after separation

dwell within us this Christmas.

Let the love that brings the blessing of peace

dwell within us this Christmas.

May we share that peace with all people near and far.

Amen

— from the Christian Aid website. Posted on the Church of Scotland’s Starters for Sunday website

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[i] Commentary on Gospel by Karl Jacobson; working preacher.com

 

[ii] Commentary on Gospel by Karl Jacobson; working preacher.com

[iii] David Lose working preacher.com

Joy?

Earlier in the week I had in mind some thoughts for the service this morning. Yesterday Ian and I visited Ian’s father in hospital in Newcastle, Ian’s dad is OK. I wrote a few notes as we sat in the hospital room as he drifted in and out of sleep.

Then when I arrived home, ready to type up my thoughts and notes, mainly about joy, I found out about the school shooting in America.

 

What is Joy?

What is joy in the midst of war, of violence,  of refugee ‘solutions’ that don’t solve anything ; what is joy when you are living in poverty, without a home, or waiting to die.

A Christmas Prayer, letter to Jesus  by  Max Lucado

Dear Jesus,

It's a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.

These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.

The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod's jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence.

Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won't you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.

This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,
Your Children

What is joy? In the midst of darkness, what is joy?

Here are some thoughts from people in Queensland Synod

Video - Video – Qld UCA happiness and Joy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94sdYKZsFBo

From someone I talk with over the internet:

A (long?) while ago someone in this group asked what our joyful moments are. I couldn't boil it down to any one thing, but that question did help me define what I think joy is - - I experience joy when I am aware that in a given moment I am doing exactly what God wants me to be doing. With that definition it removes any (necessary) tie to happiness, glee, etc. [i]

- I experience joy when I am aware that in a given moment I am doing exactly what God wants me to be doing.

So joy isn’t singing I’ve got that joy, joy, joy down in heart …

Or Joy is the flag flown high form the castle of my heart. Joy isn’t always bright, noisy or exuberant. Joy can be a quiet knowing that we are in the right place, in the place that God has put us.

Mary lived in a time when her life was laid out for her from birth; helping her mother, with cleaning, with younger siblings, with fetching water and preparing food. and marrying at the appropriate time, to a suitable man, having children, and caring for the man, and his elderly relatives.

Now she is approached by an angel, and told she will bear a child, a special child, by the Holy Spirit - That wasn’t in the young woman’s guide to living.

Here is a song that relates to our gospel reading today

Solo/group TiS 287 No wind at the window

Our Deepest Fear

by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”[ii]

Notice the greeting of the angel to Mary: “You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you.”

Maybe that is joy – you are truly blessed, the Lord is with you.

And from joy we can respond:  “I am the Lord’s servant! Let it happen as you have said.”

Mary, sees herself as of little consequence, just as her culture has taught her; and then the Lord asks something of her, and she wonders why me? In a few short verses, Luke tells us of the change in Mary, from a ‘ peasant girl to a prophet’ her story can move us from ‘ observant believer to active discipleship’[iii]

 

If we “experience joy when I am aware that in a given moment I am doing exactly what God wants me to be doing.”

 Where are you living out of joy?

Each of you has a small bell, think of a place or way in which you live out your joy, your discipleship, and come and place it in the manger.

 

[while this is happening a PP of images form Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral Christmas Light show]

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41WgxC8dZEQ&feature=youtu.be  ST Mary’s cathedral light show

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[i] Stephanie Anthony/She Rev

[ii] by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

[iii] Karoline Lewis; working preacher.com

peace

 “We'll live in your light and be guided in peace.”  Do we, are we?  Do we live in God’s light, are we guided in peace?

Last Sunday we heard of the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Zechariah, announcing that Elizabeth and Zechariah were to have a child.  Zechariah was unable to speak, but now after the birth, he we have this spoken song, this canticle recorded by Luke.

The canticle tells of the place of God in the history of Israel;

of God speaking through the prophets;

of the covenant with Abraham;

and then Zechariah moves into the future, and speaks of this child, John, as the one who will prepare the way for the Lord.

For Luke salvation or liberation is not primarily about political freedom.   John’s role in preparing the way for the coming one is about forgiveness of sins, not gathering an army to overthrow the Roman occupiers. In the same way, the Messiah leads people on the path of peace, not violent revolution.  Salvation means “We'll live in your light and be guided in peace.”

Serving God without fear, and living as the forgiven and freed people that we are; our whole life dedicated to living as God’s people, as followers of Christ with his passion for justice.   [Texts for Preaching, CD-ROM Edition] and [Sacra Pagina – Luke by Luke Timothy Johnson]

One of my favourite subjects at school was science, and I am now going to show you something from physics.

[slide of stable and unstable equilibrium from Wikipedia]

The first picture shows unstable equilibrium, that is if the ball is moved even a small amount, the ball won’t go back to the same place. The second picture shows stable equilibrium, that is, if the ball is moved it will go back to where it was.

In thinking about peace, there are times when it is like holding our breath, we know it isn’t going to last, it is in unstable equilibrium. A stalemate more than peace.

We see it in our families, as well as in world conflicts. I can remember times when my father and I weren’t arguing, but it wasn’t peace, it was a lull before the next round. My grandmother talked of being able to cut the air with a knife. Those of you who have lived with teenage girls may know what I mean.

What would it look like if we did live in the light of Christ, walking the way of peace? A song we sometimes hear at this time of year is “my grown up Christmas Wish” the chorus goes

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal our hearts
Everyone would have a friend
That right would always win
And love would never end.

What is on your Christmas list this year?

It is fine to ask for peace from war, but what about peace in our families, actual peace not ceasefires. What about peace in our hearts?

Sound all too idealistic, but if peace doesn’t start within us, we can’t live in peace with our neighbours.

Last week we thought about hope, and the ways in which we might be able to bring hope into the world. Today I have some stars, and you are invited to write down one way in which you are a prophet for peace or one way that you would like your life to show the peace of Christ.

These will also go in and around the manger.

group singing : You bring peace but not as the world gives,

Advent is a time of waiting, of watchful preparation for the coming of the one who is the prince of peace, the one who enters our lives, bringing peace. Peace from fear and anxiety, peace that is life affirming and transforming.  Peace that is durable.

 “Dream. Dream. Dream. Be idealistic. Dream the world can be a better place." -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Maybe then we will live in God’s light and be guided in peace.”  

Let us take a moment to reflect on what God is saying to us today.

hope

Jeremiah 33:14-16
This week a Baptism and Communion,  so a shorter sermon than usual.

 

“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made …” Each year we sing of hope and peace and joy; each year we hear these advent readings about the coming of the kingdom of righteousness, peace, justice; Sometimes we hear about the lion laying down with the lamb – which must be the ultimate in reconciliation of the whole creation. Some years we hear about swords turning into ploughshares, weapons into implements to grow food. We hear of the coming fulfilment of the promises of God.

“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made …”

The people Jeremiah was speaking to were in exile – Israel and Judah had already split from each other, and now both were in exile, the people taken to a foreign country, the Temple destroyed, the people had to answer to a foreign power. Jeremiah, speaks God word to them - “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made …”

Imagine what it would have been like for the people in exile, hearing these words from Jeremiah. Hearing that once again there would be a King, a righteous king. Not a foreign king, but a King from their own people, a king from the line of David.

It was  a long wait for the people, many generations passed before the birth of Jesus, and then he was not what people were expecting the king to be like.

We wait this advent time, we wait each year for the coming of the righteous branch of David, we wait for the one who will come and make all things new, the one who will be the fulfilment of God’s promise of justice and peace and reconciliation and redemption. We wait.

We wait to celebrate the coming that happened 2000 years ago, to retell the story of the baby in a stable, the baby that some saw and the one Jeremiah had referred to as the fulfilment of the promise, the righteous branch of Israel.

But we also wait for another coming. One writer talks of the comings of Jesus: the birth, the resurrection, the coming in the Holy Spirit. I would add the coming of Jesus into our lives. And Jesus will come again, and again, and again. Into our lives, into this community.

What will mean it mean for Jesus to come again into our lives and into this world?

In the Church year, this is the beginning of a new year, Advent is the start of the lectionary, and today we began our reading of the Gospel of Luke.

As we begin another year, we look ahead, we reflect on what has been, and plan for a different future – that basically is what New Year’s resolutions are.

During worship this week and for the next 4 weeks, we will think about the theme for the day, this Sunday it is Hope.  

 When are we aware of being hopeful, hopeful rather than despairing about the future, and the present.

 Think about a time when you were full of hope.

What would help you be hopeful more often in your life?

When we look at the word around us, there are plenty of stories of anguish and desperation.  I wonder what we can do to increase hope in the world?

2 minute video on the start of the Christmas Bowl. http://www.actforpeace.org.au/Ways_To_Give/The_Christmas_Bowl/Christmas_Bowl_2012/Video__the_Christmas_Bowl.aspx

There are ways we can bring more hope into the world, we can give to the Christmas Bowl, we can buy Gifts that give a future to people, we can shop fair trade. What else might you be able to do,

Each of you will receive a piece of paper, on it I want you to write, or draw, one thing you will do this year that will grow hope in the world, in your life, or in another’s life.

When you have done that, please come and place it around the manger.