Sermon preached by the Rev’d Neil Fernyhough Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, 2007
Readings: Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-12; John 1:1-14
Christmas is easy to understand. It’s about a child named Jesus, born and raised in a small rural village. It’s about a woman who became pregnant outside of marriage, and the man who loved and married her, Joseph. They would go on to have other children, and Joseph supported them as a carpenter. But their eldest child would go on to become the most famous person in history. In his name, great things would be done. Legions of his followers would go forth to feed the poor, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and bring good news to those held captive by despair and oppression. In his name, great empires would be founded and grow; great art, architecture, literature, and music would be produced. And yes, we must acknowledge that in his name also wicked people would pervert his message for power and gain, and well-intentioned people would unintentionally bring great harm and hardship to others. This man, Jesus, son of Joseph and Mary, through his life and through his message, would change the world forever.
But his birth is occasion for joy not only because of what Jesus would go on to preach and do. It is also because this baby is a manifestation of God, not only fully human, but fully divine. That is the true miracle of his birth! While God is revealed in all Creation, in this event, God has in fact become embodied – and has done so in the most vulnerable and dependent way we can understand: as a baby, indeed as a baby born in a barn to rural peasants. He was born in an ancient world, in a land steeped in history, among a people chosen by God, labouring under the yoke of foreign domination. He was born to bring God’s new dispensation to the whole world, to open the gate of salvation in lands, among cultures, and in times which the human Jesus would never see, but which the divine Christ had and has written on his heart.
We like it when we glimpse this full humanity of Jesus. We can recognize ourselves there, or people that we know. And, of course, we all know babies. We delight as they learn new skills, as they grow into an awareness of their world, and of themselves. Jesus’ growth into self-awareness must have involved a great deal of soul searching. Why this mission? Why this destiny? Why this awesome, awful responsibility? Jesus wrestles with these questions, and we get glimpses of this, too, from his biography. But to be the One, who as John described it, is the mediator of Creation and Redemption…this is the face of Jesus in which we cannot recognize ourselves. But it is, ultimately, what is so crucial about this celebration today.
John writes, “In him was life; and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Every feast of our Lord is a commemoration of the incarnation of God in Jesus of Nazareth. They all concentrate on different aspects of this, but the essential message is always there: God came into the world to redeem it, and that stunning event resounds through the ages, as we in our generation are enlivened by the Spirit he sent to continue his ministry of reconciliation. No more loudly does that message resound than at Christmas. Don’t let the distractions of the secular festival, also called Christmas, distract you. If we want to keep its true meaning, and if we want to protect and promote it amidst the noise and rush of this season, it is up to us. We must get the message out amidst the cacophony of advertising slogans. We must insist on being heard over them, if only within the circles of those with whom we work, and those with whom we live.
And what is that message we are asked to proclaim? “The Lord has comforted his people…and the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” The new authority spoken of by the prophets is about removing burdens, freeing from oppression, destroying instruments of war. This time of year, we are particularly conscious of the relevance of this message. At Christmas, we are aware of the isolation so many experience. We are reminded of the privileges of food and shelter in a world where so many are homeless and hungry. We are exposed to the conflicts and tensions between family members, a microcosm of the violence visited upon so many, especially children.
The new authority realized in Jesus Christ is release from the bondage of loneliness and isolation. It is the removal of the burdens on our hearts and minds that we can fill a spiritual void with material things. And it is the eradication of words and actions we use to wound one another. The authority of Jesus is righteousness, justice, and peace – and it casts the meaning of Christmas in a new light. It calls us to realise that joy and fulfillment is found only in building the kingdom of God. To be with the lonely, to help feed and clothe the poor, to heal divisions – all these actions are a living proclamation of what the incarnation of God in Jesus of Nazareth is all about. And that is why you and I are here sharing in this celebration. We celebrate what God has done, and continues to do for us; and what we can do for the world to the glory of God.
Christmas is a reminder of the angels’ tidings of comfort and joy to all people, in their darkness and in their light. It is a reminder that the rod of oppression, earthly and demonic, has been broken. For those who have not yet heard and received the good news, it is an invitation to join in transforming themselves and the world in accordance with God’s will for righteousness, justice, and peace. And for those who have received the good news, it is a reminder of the covenant we have and the mission we share. You and I have the privilege of being able to proclaim the liberating and inclusive love of Jesus Christ in what we think and say, and in the way we live our lives. And that chance is no more alive than now, when the attention of people everywhere is turned, however fleetingly, to that remarkable event, when God came to us as a newborn child.
It all started with a baby, crying in a barn, brought into the world by human hands, brought into the world by the Spirit of God. It all started with the Word, the Word made flesh, the Word which gathers us together to be adopted as children of God. May we in this Christmas season be alive to the miracle of that event. May we in our lives and our journey with God, feel no shame in taking him by the hand, to be strengthened by his meekness and gentleness. Amen.
© Richard Neil Fernyhough, 2008
