This was today’s Christmas Day service at Todmorden.
We welcome you all here today to celebrate Christ’s birth. At the end of this service we will depart to tell others of Jesus’ story.
Lord Jesus Christ, your birth at Bethlehem draws us to kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth: accept our heartfelt praise as we worship you, our Saviour and your eternal loving God.
For many people the Nativity Set might well be full at this time. We might compress the whole story so that Christmas is ‘done’ by today.
We might well say “Get Christmas Done!”…
Luke Chapter 2:1-7 NRSV
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Two people chatting
A: Have you seen the time?
B: Yes ….it’s 70 AD
A: Times moving on… Can you remember those days when we just went to the Synagogue and heard one person talk and talk?
B: Then Jesus came and changed everything. He made our life real, gave it purpose all because he came back to life after being killed.
A: How did it all start I wonder?
B: My Grandad told me that Jesus’s Mum and Dad (although I’m not sure he was the Dad) were in a house in Bethlehem and when she had had the baby, who was supposed to be called Immanuel, but they called him Jesus, they then were visited by wise men, who were very rich, from the East, and then they became refugees as they sought refuge in Egypt. Eventually they got back to Nazareth.
A: No, that’s not what my Grandma was told. They journeyed from Nazareth to Bethlehem, because of some Census. Mary had the baby there and was visited by Shepherds, the lowest of the low. They stayed there some time before going back to Nazareth.
B: Were these grandparents actually present at the time of his birth? It would appear that we have two different stories.
A: Ah I have not got time now, let’s chat about this next week…It’s time for those with crackers to pull them and follow the instructions (which tell them when to come forward and remove certain characters from the Nativity scene). [There were five crackers (C1-C5): one for the Shepherds, Kings, Joseph, Mary and Jesus]
Hymn In the bleak midwinter
(Remove the Shepherds (C1) and the Kings (C2))
They have removed the Shepherds and the Kings
We have purposefully given the two different accounts of the Nativity: one from Matthew’s Gospel, and one from Luke’s Gospel. Why? Because they are different. They were written by different communities, at different times, in and around 70AD, that’s 70+ years after the birth of Jesus. Why? Because why would you write it down at the time? The prophecies were only really seen after the event, the miracles of Jesus were only evident after he had healed, restored, after the crucifixion and the resurrection. It was only after these times did the followers truly understand what had happened.
The Nativity sets which are here, shop windows or at your home may display the conflated story but that mixes up the beauty of the incarnation, God with us. Jesus came for the powerful, those rich wise men who would not listen to the cruel King Herod of that time, but also for the powerless, those Shepherds who were alienated.
If Mary and Joseph were to walk through the door here in 2019, would we say “There’s no room here for you”.
So where might Joseph and Mary go? They didn’t go to the lights and buzz of Jerusalem but to Bethlehem. Would they now go to the back streets of our town, to those areas where we might not go?
Would they have to travel so far to find refuge in another country, perhaps and arrive into a detention centre?
Where might this be in our world?
Can those with Crackers 3 and 4 come forward now.
They have removed Mary and Joseph (C3, C4) . It’s time for prayers
Prayers for others….
Let’s close our eyes and reflect on the story of the birth of Jesus. Think of our dearly loved memories from childhood- our wonder at the magic and the mystery of the story. Now as an adult, a new thought enters and a different way of looking it from today.
Let us draw near to God.
Reflect on the contrasts between the two stories: the story told from the point of view of the powerless in Luke’s gospel- the older man, his barren wife, Elizabeth; her young cousin, just coming of age; the shepherds who lived rough, on the edge of society; the place of birth, a shed; and the trough for the animals, became a bed. And then St Mathew’s gospel where the story is told by the powerful in society, the male point of view, the rich and scientific men visiting from far away; the powerful leader, who could only see the threat and loss to his own power. He was not to be trusted.
We are all a mixture too, of the meek and the proud, the powerful and the powerless, selfish and unselfish…sometimes are we not to be trusted…?
Let us reflect on this before God.
Let us pray for those who feel on the edge, due to poverty, lost opportunities, sickness; disabilities; mental health issues; addictions; looking different; thinking differently; being different. Those who are isolated, stigmatized, not accepted for whatever reason.
Let us pray for ourselves. Think about the parts of ourselves we don’t accept.
Jesus coming into the world as a tiny baby assures us that our three in one God loves us in our imperfect perfection. Knowing and receiving God’s love can make us whole.
Amen
This year the story could be retold.
A: Once again we remember that first Christmastime
No sign of a tree, or of turkey or wine
In fact it is, well, a bit of a mess
No midwife, no towels, a farmyard at best
But Jesus was born, this is no ancient fable
B: In an unstable world… he entered a stable.
C: A messy old world, it was way back then
That theme comes around, again and again
The chaos around us – please hear my suggestion –
Repeats worse than Christmas Day indigestion!
The future’s uncertain, we try but aren’t able
B: In this unstable world, to find any ‘stable’
A: Today we are living in worrying times
Expletives, whilst tempting, don’t enter these rhymes
This last year, for some, we’re glad now to exit…
Is anyone else just so fed up of… Brexit?
For those feeling fragile, come, sit at my table
B: In this unstable world, I offer you ‘stable’.
C: Well, not me with the offer to be perfectly honest
The peace that you seek, I really can’t promise
But I’ll draw your attention to look at the One
Who came to our chaos, God’s only Son
If it’s peace that you’re after then look in his cradle
B: In this unstable world, please, enter his stable
A: Please don’t get me wrong, don’t misunderstand
The offer he brings is so much more grand
Peace, yes, but also hope and a plan
For a future amazing, held in his hands
Life in its fullness he said he’d enable
B: If you follow the Christ-child, out of the stable…
C: Out of the stable and on to our streets
His love to extend to all whom we meet
Light in the darkness, we’re now called to be
Giving ourselves completely
A: Will this be the Christmas? Will this be the time?
When you act on the words in this cute little rhyme
In the midst of the mess, in a world so unstable
Will you follow Jesus and let him enable you
to find peace and a purpose in life
And a friend who’ll be with you in all of life’s strife
And amidst all the seasonal cheer, as you are able
B:To worship the King who was born in a stable…
Who is coming to remove Jesus?
(C5) Remove Jesus
So will this Christmas be one where we celebrate with Turkey, crackers and presents but then leave it all behind tomorrow. Will we allow our lives to remain unstable, fluctuating with the wind; or seek being stable. But Jesus isn’t in this stable any more: Will we go:
Out of the stable and onto the streets
His love to extend to all whom we meet
Light in the darkness, we’re now called to be
Will we follow Jesus, and let him enable
and bring seasonal cheer to all whom we are able. That is up to us
We sing…O come all ye faithful
Blessing: Christ, who is ‘God with Us’, fill us with his joy and peace so that we may share that with others; and the blessing of God be amongst us and all whom we pray for.
Would those with the Nativity characters lead us out of the Chapel, and then we can all follow, so that we can all tell the Christmas Story to our friends and neighbours!
The poem, from the South West Baptist Association, is beautifully read here: