Not many more
shopping days to go
My hope for you all
is that you have an amazing Christmas filled with love and joy and peace That
you will experience The Good will towards human beings on whom Gods favour
rests
My prayer too is
that blessed as we may be we will Be given grace to
remember the hungry ,the lonely ,the sad,the bereaved the suffering the
prisoner this Christmas
Our world appears
to be on the edge of a cliff Ebola ,ISIS, famine war disease and disaster fill
our news papers and dominate our news bulletins this very week people have been
murdered in a coffee shop in Sydney and The Taliban have massacred
innocents in a school in Pakistan
For people not
least in the middle east and in the lands Jesus walked in his time on earth
there is constant bloodshed and violence
With austerity
still biting hard and all the lonely people we do not remain untouched by
sadness in The UK
Yes there is much
to be thankful for here in Monkmoor the work of good local schools ,the passion
of Monkmoor friends the scouts and many other people of goodwill
Christian and otherwise who long to build a great community here
Of course there are
profound problems but there are some great people who have been blessed
with the gift of tears which they shed with those who are hurting and
hearts and hands with which they bless others
What has all this
got to do with Christmas ? A time of light and peace joy and if your lucky
great parties
The answer is more
than we may think
Travel back with me
to that first Christmas God sent His Son into the world God is a lavish Giver !
He gave His best for us and it was not easy
Yes there were
angels and stars there were Shepherds and wise men
there was also
genocide ,mass murder on theorders of a tyrant King Herod a man who would kill
his wives his children,his friends had no qualms at all at killing little
babies
It is into this
dark and dangerous world that Jesus is born Instead of making himself great He
makes himself vulnerable He empties himself BECOMES
DOWNWARDLY MOBILE
As one translation
puts it he set aside the privileges of God ,took on the status of a slave
became human and moved into the community
As Herod begins his
killing spree Jesus and his family become refugees in Egypt yes there
were angels and stars Shepherds and wise man that first Christmas but also
suffering and pain and death
Suffering pain and
death marked the arrival of a vulnerable baby the prince of peace born into a world of pain
Pain is still a
reality for many people and many people here this evening too and that sense of
pain is magnified at Christmas time
So Christmas tells
us that God understands our suffering
For the baby born in the middle of mass murder
Hunted down so he
has to flee to Egypt
grows up to be a
man who is persecuted mercilessly by religiouscpeople more interested in form
and structure and ritual and power than faith ands truth and love and at 33 years old having been betrayed by a
follower and denied by a friend he is put to death on a cross for
challenging the status quo
He understands your
suffering your sadness your pain your loneliness considerJesus as each of these things – vulnerable,
poor and on-the-run – speaks to me of a God who desperately wanted to
experience the very worst of what this world has to offer.
A God who desires more than anything to be able to relate
to us in our own poverty, brokenness and times of despair.
A God who is not distant but desires to be near. To walk
amongst us as one who has been through everything, that we might go to Him with
anything, so that He might be our counsellor, comforter, saviour and friend.
God who is not only with us but for us
The second thing
Christmas tells us is that you are loved
Many of us feel
unloveable perhaps we feel unworthy ,unwanted alone
But the Christian
message is this that God is love God is love God is Love
Jesus is the image
of the invisible God if you want to know what God is like look at Jesus
Christina Rosetti
wrote
Love came down at
Christmas love all lovely love divine love was born at Christmas
And so he was Jesus
values people he cared for those no one else cared for
He accepted those
society rejected
He welcomed those
the religious leaders despised the poor the vulnerable the rejected the
bereaved ,the ill ,those with special needs and yes He loves you you are
loved you are so so loved
Christmas shows
that love wins
The bible says the
light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not put it out
This Christmas the
light is shining in the darkness
Things are not
hopeless one day good will overcome evil life will overcome death
Indeed I see hope
now
Hope in the
people the communities that open their hearts to the weak and the rejected
those who refuse to
surrender to hate and violence hope will one day crush despair light shines
in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it
Good Friday is
followed by Easter Sunday
Life overcomes
death
The baby born in
the manger died for us on a cross but is Risen and Is
alive today
The winter makes me
sad I ts not dramatic but I have a few down days every year at this time
bit one thing that helps me is that in the winter I feed the birds so I head
across in the autumn to the cheapest place i know to stock up on bird
seed hint ?
I bring it back and
fill the feeders when I get a spare moment I sit amd watch
the birds coming to the table all are welcome all come and feed there is
room at the table for them all they didn't buy the food they just have to eat
it to receive it it is a gift
To all who received
Him by faith Jesus we are told gives he right to become chidden of
God you don't have to earn this recieve it just to accept Jesus into your
heart
Have a blessed
Christmas have fun remember the vulnerable and remember the baby born in a
stable is The Saviour
of the whole world ! Amen
