Christmas all year

Anyone opened any presents yet?

Want to tell me?

I have something here. It is toilet paper.

You may be wondering why I have toilet paper with me at church on Christmas morning….

The toilet paper is from ‘who gives a crap’, meaning who cares?

The company was started by 3 people in 2012, when three young Australians learnt that 2.3 billion, or 40% of the world’s population, did not have access to a toilet, and almost 800 children were dying each day because of poor water and sanitation; they decided to do something about it.

They started making toilet paper and they donate 50% of the profits to help build toilets and improve sanitation in the developing world.

I have a roll for each family, my gift to you this Christmas.

[The Incarnation from Cloth for the Cradle WGWG]

Christmas all year long [Luke 2:1-20]

Christmas morning, and we have heard the story from the Gospel of Luke about the birth of Jesus and the Angels singing to Shepherds. 

I looked back in my files and I have preached on this passage every Christmas Day since I arrived three years ago, and more years before that.

Each year we hear the story, sing the carols and celebrate.

I wonder what part of this story do you love the most?

•      Is it the story - of an angel appearing to a young woman, asking her to bear the Christ Child?

•      Is it the story - of a couple, about to become first time parents travelling to his ancestral town?

•      Is it the story - of angels spreading good news but starting with Fear Not!

•      Is it the story - of shepherds hearing angels and good news in the midst of their everyday?

what do you need this Christmas?

• Do you need to hear that Jesus was born out of God’s love for you?
• Do you need to hear that the Good News first went to people who were outsiders in the society?
• Do you need to hear the angel message of Fear Not, because God is present?
• Do you need to hear that Immanuel - God with us, is born for you?

I wonder what Christmas means for the

• 25 million people in the world who are refugees[i]
• 116,000 people in Australia who are homeless[ii]
• just over 3 million people (13.2%) living below the poverty line in Australia[iii]
• to the 815 million people worldwide who are undernourished.[iv]

Does anyone care?

In 1984 there was a song: Do they know it's Christmas?[v]

I wonder how do we know it is Christmas?

Is it because it is time for turkey and ham, or prawns and pavlova?

Is it because of Christmas trees and carols?

How do we know it is Christmas?

If Christmas is about not being afraid, accepting the that you are loved by God and God is present with us, always; maybe we can show that love to others.

To people who are as imperfect as we are.

To people whose hopes and dreams are fragile

To people who live in poverty, or are fleeing danger

In Jesus, God says: I Give a crap, I care,

What does our life say:

Does it say we care for all people, or just for ourselves?

Does it say we are aware of how some have more than is needed while others have not enough to live with dignity

Do our words and actions, shopping choices and the way we use our time, tell of Love and Hope, or greed and self-centredness?

Christmas is God saying, I love you, with all I am; and I want to be with you always.

May you live all year, with the love of Christmas. 

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[i] https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2018/12/24/resonating-with-christmas-a-story-of-restless-travel-and-seeking-refuge/?fbclid=IwAR2rVxRAAJbDdCVwhqNK8k9ZyUnrphAextiIKuO7NKSWHf80xTOyfknCg0U

[ii] https://www.ahuri.edu.au/policy/ahuri-briefs/how-homelessness-changed-between-2011-2016?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItfrFody33wIVhTUrCh2Kag2NEAAYASAAEgIaGvD_BwE

[iii] https://www.acoss.org.au/poverty/

[iv] https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg2

[v] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_They_Know_It%27s_Christmas%3F

Christmas 2017

Luke tells of the birth of Jesus to a young woman,

a baby laid in a bed of straw, because they couldn’t find anywhere else to stay

a baby visited by shepherds, who lived with their flocks.

This is a story about the God who comes beside us,

The God who appears first to the outsiders and the unimportant.

The God who comes to live with humanity.

The Old Testament is a series of stories that tell us about how God reached out to people, and people said yes,

Then…

They forgot,

or turned away to other gods and idols,

And then God sends messengers to remind the people,

These messengers speak of judgement,

and of hope.

God continued to reach out to people, even when they rebelled, or walked away.

And I wonder why.

Why come at all.

And why as a baby

The video we will see know is made by a church in New Zealand, so you may have to listen carefully.

Video: Unexpected Christmas

When we wonder if we are enough

When we wonder who we are

When we wonder about life

When we are scared or angry or just plain tired

We hear the message of love

We hear the message of the God who came to earth as Jesus, born as a baby, in dubious circumstances

We hear the message that “God thought we were worth coming to earth for.”[i]

Isn’t that totally awesome?!! God thought we were worth coming to earth for.

God chose to communicate with us, talking to us, cajoling and encouraging us, and finally becoming human just like us.

God could have demanded we be obedient, but that isn’t love;

God could have forced his way into our lives, but that isn’t grace;

God could have left us in our despair, but that isn’t compassion.

God chose to become human to show us what love looks like,

to remind us that we are loved,

even when we aren’t expecting that.

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[i] https://revgalblogpals.org/2017/12/22/11th-hour-preacher-party-the-incarnation/

So this is Christmas

The song that is in my head the past week or so is:

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun[i]

I look back over the past year and wonder if anything has changed. There are still people in the world who live in fear, who live amongst war and violence. There are still people in our community who struggle to pay the bills and put food on the table.

Next weekend we will celebrate New Year’s Eve, and maybe make some resolutions. If you are anything like me, they don’t last long.

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

Fear, that is something we know about. Fear is easy. We fear change, we fear strangers. Each time an angel appears they say: Don't be afraid! Yet, fear is one of the easiest responses for us.

The song goes on to mention that it is Christmas for old and young, rich and poor, weak and strong, black and white.

I wonder what Christmas is like for those who rely on Mary Mac’s or the Salvos for Christmas.
I wonder what Christmas is like for people seeking asylum.
I wonder what Christmas is like in Aleppo, and Palestine.

Our Bible reading tonight started with ‘At that time’. At that time the Emperor called a census. At that time the people of Israel were under foreign occupation, the Romans ruled over the people of the middle east. Society was divided by income and status.

Into this less than perfect setting a child was born.

In some ways the world has changed a lot since that first Christmas morning – we now have electricity
and transport that gets us places faster than a donkey or on foot. We can send letters and emails, and get almost instant responses.

But in other ways, life hasn’t changed much.
We still live in fear, fear of death, fear of failure, fear of the unknown and the new.
We are still living with divisions, based on wealth and power, status, culture and faith.
and we still need to know that we are precious and that we are loved.

At that time, God came into our life and our world in a new way
Jesus was born a baby, to show us love
Jesus was born in a manger to show all creation mattered
Jesus was born that we might live to the full, being ourselves without shame.

At this time, God comes into our life and world
to show love
to be light and hope
to bring peace.

A Christmas wish:

This Christmas
I wish for you
light
to crumple up the darkness

This Christmas
I wish for you
love
to pull us closer to one another

This Christmas
I wish for you
peace
the same the angels sang

This Christmas
I wish for you
starlight
to follow on your way home

This Christmas
I wish for you
promise
to keep hope alive for you

This Christmas
I wish for you
God
newly born and in the flesh

This Christmas
I wish for you
Jesus Christ
born this night
light of the world

~ written by Roddy Hamilton, and posted on Listening to the Stones.http://newkilpatrickblog.typepad.com/nk-blogging/mucky-paws/

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[i] http://www.metrolyrics.com/so-this-is-christmas-lyrics-john-lennon.html

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.