Readings:
Sermon:
The shepherds are the first to hear of Jesus birth, keeping watch over their flocks by night.
It’s a picture we’ve seen a thousand times on Christmas cards. It’s a scene children with tea towel headdresses have acted out in countless nativity plays.
But those first shepherds. What was it really like for them?
They didn’t know it was Christmas night. For them it was just the coldest, bleakest time of the year. Outside on a hillside, maybe huddled round a fire for warmth. Shepherds were rough, hard men hired to protect sheep from wolves and mountain lions. They slept with the flock. They smelt of the sheep. Their life was tough.
Life is still tough for so many. Refugees in war torn Sudan, girls in Afghanistan, families in bombed out Ukraine. Homeless people on our streets, families unable to heat their homes, people worrying how to pay the bills and make ends meet. Right now, people ill in hospital or locked up in jail. English people with black or brown skin being abused and told to go home, when they have no home but England.
Its all happening today. Our world can be cruel and cold, then and now.
But into that world came the Lord of Life. The maker of the stars and sky. The source of life and love itself: Jesus Christ: Born in a cattle shed, not a palace. Born in poverty not in wealth. Jesus, the child of Joseph and Mary. Our Child of Hope.
In the darkest night God kindles a flame that will never fade or die. The rich and powerful of Jesus day are dead and buried. Long forgotten. But Jesus is alive, and with us now. In him we live and move and have our being. In Him is our hope and our salvation. He gives us the strength to live, and the determination to make a difference. To bring his love, and kindness to whoever we meet. To work for justice and freedom for all. To make this world a better place.
The shepherds could have been cynical. Could have thought ‘this isn’t for me.’ But on that cold hillside as the angels sang they chose believe, they chose to trust and to follow and found themselves in the animal warmth of that Bethlehem manger. Smelling of sheep was not a problem in that place, as they gazed in wonder at the Christ child. And on that cold dark night their hearts grew warm as Jesus looked at them with love. ‘Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth.’
We need that peace and love today. We need the light that only Christ can bring. Even in the darkest of times Christians have held on to that light, and lived in that hope. The first disciples took that light around the world and groups of Christians have kept that faith alive ever since. Through the darkness of decadence and corruption, persecution and famine, the light of Christ has still sone through. And here and now still, in the city streets and villages of Dudley and Worcestershire. We believe in light even in darkness. We believe in love even in the midst of hate.
Because we believe in God who first believed in us. The God who came to share our life in Jesus and shares it still. Who in the coldest, darkest Bethlehem night kindled a flame that will never ever die.
Let us pray. We breathe slowly, soften our shoulders and rest in the presence of Jesus Christ…
Look into his eyes.
Feel his love.
Hear his words to you, now.
Amen