Christmas Eve/Day
Thursday 24th and Friday 25th December 2020
There was no “Midnight Mass” this year but there was a service of Holy Communion at 9 pm on Christmas Eve. There was also a service of Holy Communion at 10 on Christmas Day. The congregation was smaller than usual and socially distanced. This sermon was preached at both services.
Christmas Eve/Day
Hebrews1.1-14
John 1.1-14
Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs
What do you want for Christmas?
It is a question worth asking more than ever this year I think?
I am old enough to remember Alvin and the Chipmunks singing “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!” And then Dora Bryan’s version – changed to “All I want for Christmas is a Beetle” (for those of you of tender years, that referred to a member of the pop group…. not a plea for an unusual sort of pet!)
More recently of course, we have had Mariah Carey singing “All I want for Christmas is you”
Well this year, probably all any of us really wants is a hug and kiss from our nearest and dearest – and unless we are already living with them, that is likely to be denied us. Nevermind, we must just look forward to next Summer, when hopefully most of us will have received the vaccination and we are able to travel a little more widely
I wonder what God wants for Christmas? Have you ever thought that? We are so used to thinking about what we want from him… we seldom think of what he might like from us. There is the Christina Rosetti line about what can I give him, poor as I am? To which the only answer seems to be give our hearts – and yes, I am sure that would be very pleasing – if every heart were turned towards God, I think it would make a very big difference to our world – pandemic or no.
St John’s Gospel is all about the WORD. On one level it uses quite simple straightforward language, but the concepts being transmitted are really very complex and deep.
The first purpose of words is to communicate. So this passage tells us that God wants to communicate with us. Religion is not so much the story of our search for God, rather of God’s search for us! He tells us of his love for us, first through the words of scripture, but also – and more importantly – through the person of Jesus, who comes to us as a baby that demands and calls forth our response of love and makes it easier for us to understand. Words are used to explain too.
Word in Greek – logos – can also be translated as logic or reason. So God creates the world by reason (In the beginning was the Word).
In the Hebrew Scriptures we also hear quite a lot about Wisdom as part of the attributes or qualities of God. And Jesus came to be associated with this idea of God’s Wisdom. A Wisdom that reveals to us the truth about God’s nature. He is not some remote and stern tyrant , but a close and loving friend and parent.
And Jesus is therefore God’s means of communication, his means of creation – of the universe and a society of loving people. Jesus is God’s logic, the reasoning through which he explains his promises… for when you want to make a promise to someone and reassure them that it is true, you give them your word, don’t you?
So “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
Only by God becoming incarnate; occupying human form, can we form a really close relationship with God. And even though so many reject him, God is still willing to make his home among and in us who do love him. And through that he gave us the power to become children of God – living with him in eternity. That is the true meaning of Christmas – God gives you his Word.
And I hope that God gets some good presents too this Christmas. That he communicates with us; reasons with us; has his promise believed by us and feels the strength of our love being reflected to him
So what do you want this Christmas?
I hope you all get at least some of what you desire this holiday time and through the year to come. And my prayer for you all is that you stay safe and continue to look after each other.
Amen.