I don’t’ know what your experience of opening presents on Christmas morning is, but for our family it tended to happen in one of two ways. Sometimes we’d come downstairs and find everyone’s presents arranged in groups, one for each member of the family. But at other times we’d find lots of presents all piled together and then we’d have to sort through them to find those with our name on them. And of course when that happened we’d be very eager and excited to sort through the presents and to find those with our name on them so we could get on with the important business of opening them. And even if you haven’t been through that experience of Christmas morning yourself, I’m sure you can imagine the excited chaos of the ‘That’s mine, this is yours. Whose is this? It doesn’t say’ scene.
The presents I’m talking about here, of course, are worldly gifts but we’re here, in church at Christmas, to celebrate the giving of an altogether different kind of present. We’re here to celebrate God’s gift to us of his incarnate Word through the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This is, as I said in my sermon on Advent Sunday, a truly awesome thing, the most wonderful and awesome present we have ever been given. And yet how many people have failed and still fail to see that? How many people treat this most awesome gift as though it was a present they’ve picked up on Christmas morning that doesn’t have their name on it, have laid it aside and haven’t even looked to see what it is?
And I do think that many people, have and do treat this most awesome gift from God in just that way, as something for someone else, and not for them. But they couldn’t be more wrong. In one sense this gift from God is for the family, the whole human family. As the angels said to the shepherd’s on that first Christmas Day:
“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.”
So this is a gift for everyone. But it’s also a personal gift. It’s a gift that’s labelled, if you like, with your name, and with my name, and with the name of each and every individual person in the human family.
We know that because we’re told in scripture that God knows each and every one of us intimately, that he knows us by name. As Jesus said,
“Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered…”
We know too that the reason God gave us this awesome gift was that so we might be saved from our sins and have eternal life. But we also know that if we are going to be saved and inherit eternal life, we have to use this gift. Again, as Jesus said,
“…everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”
And if we’re going to acknowledge the Son of Man before our fellow men, we have to get to know him. And we can’t do that by laying this awesome gift from God aside, as though it were a present labelled with someone else’s name. We have to see our name on the gift, then open it, and use it.
There are so many people though who don’t do this. We know that but I think too that we who have recognised this awesome gift from God as a gift for us, can sometimes be guilty of not appreciating it as we should. And I think that comes from over-familiarity with the gift.
I’m sure we’ve all been given books at Christmas at one time or another. We’ve probably been very happy and grateful for that gift, but once we’ve read a book we tend to lay it aside don’t we? We put it on the bookshelf and there it stays, gathering dust. We don’t often use that gift again do we? And why would we? It’s a book and we’ve read it; we know what it’s about, so we don’t need to read it again. I’m sure too that we’ve all been given games at Christmas. Again, we’ve probably been happy and grateful to receive that gift. But how many games have we played incorrectly because we haven’t really read the rules properly? We’ve probably skimmed through the rules when we first got the game so that we can start playing, and we’ve done that because we want to play the game rather than spend time reading about how to play it. But because we didn’t take the trouble to read the rules properly, we don’t actually play the game as it was intended to be played. And we never do because once we can play the game well enough to get through it, we think we know how to play it, so we don’t need to read the rest of the rules.
And that’s ok until we play the game with someone else who’s done exactly the same thing as us, only they’ve read a different bit of the rules to us. And we all know what happens then: we end up spending more time arguing about the rules than actually playing the game. That’s why the Church is so divided. Think about it!
But we can’t treat this awesome gift from God like this. We need to treat it as a book that we have to read over and over again if we’re ever going to understand the story. Or as a game we have to learn the rules to, no matter how long that takes, if we’re ever going to be able to finish the game. Perhaps a good analogy of the way we should treat this gift from God is like the gift in a game of pass the parcel. We all know how to play that game, we pass the parcel round until the music stops, then we take of a wrapping, and as soon as the music starts again, we pass the parcel on. But in some versions, there’s a small gift inside each wrapping and so every time the music stops, we uncover this small gift. And so it goes on until the last person unwraps the big gift inside the final wrapping. And that’s what this awesome gift from God can be like for us if only we take the time and trouble to start to unwrap it. Each time the music of our life stops, perhaps in a time of need or trouble, or just in some quiet time, if we look again at God’s Word, try to unwrap a little more of the awesome gift God gave us at Christmas, we’ll find a small gift, something to lead us through the present time until the music of life starts to play again. And if we can carry on with the game until the music of this life comes to a final end, then we’ll receive the big gift inside the final wrapping; the gift of eternal life which is the very reason God gave us the gift of his Son.
People sometimes ask, where is the peace on earth that was promised on that first Christmas Day. But to ask that is to misunderstand the angel’s message. The angels weren’t speaking about peace between people, but about peace between us and God. To enjoy that peace we have to please God, and Jesus left us in no doubt that what is most pleasing to God is to know and love and obey the Word he sent into the world at Christmas. So let’s try to do just that by seeing this awesome gift from God as one that’s labelled with our name, then opening it and using it every day of our lives so that, when the music of this life does come to an end, we’ll receive that that other great gift that God wants to give us, the gift of eternal life.
Amen.
Propers for the Nativity of the Lord, 24th – 25th December 2024
Entrance Antiphon
Midnight Mass
Let us all rejoice in the Lord, for our Saviour has been born in the world.
Today true peace has come down to us from heaven.
Christmas Day
A child is born for us, and a son is given to us; his sceptre of power rests upon his shoulder,
and his name will be called Messenger of great counsel.
The Collect
Midnight Mass
Eternal God,
who made this most holy night to shine with the brightness of your one true light:
bring us, who have known the revelation of that light on earth,
to see the radiance of your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Christmas Day
Almighty God,
you have given us your only-begotten Son,
to take our nature upon him and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin:
grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace,
may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
The Readings
Midnight Mass
Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm: 96:1-3, 11-13
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14
Christmas Day
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm: 98:1-6
Hebrews 1:1-6
John 1:1-18
Post Communion
Midnight Mass
God our Father,
in this night you have made known to us again the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
confirm our faith and fix our eyes on him until the day dawns
and Christ the Morning Star rises in our hearts.
To him be glory both now and for ever.
Amen.
Christmas Day
God our Father,
whose Word has come among us in the Holy Child of Bethlehem:
may the light of faith illumine our hearts,
and shine in our words and deeds;
through him who is Christ the Lord.
Amen.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 