This talk followed a selection of Christmas bible readings alongside some poems and videos…
Tonight, as we have gathered to celebrate, we have considered some serious things. We have remembered Shane Mc Gowan and Benjamin Zephaniah, and maybe as we did so, you remembered other people who won’t be here this Christmas. And as we recall a story set in the town of Bethlehem, we could not help but think of the Holy Land today, torn apart by bloodshed, fear, violence and death.
How do we celebrate Christmas with these painful realities never far from our consciousness? Perhaps we shouldn’t be celebrating this year?
But, if we do so, the darkness and despair win. Tonight, I invite you to a revolution of joy! Joy is not something which denies the suffering of the world, nor is it over-indulgence which tries to drown the difficult things out. But joy is resistance. To have joy is to say that even in the darkness of the world, the light cannot be defeated; even in the heartache of death, life will continue; even in humanity divided, there is a love which is stronger still.
Jesus did not come to a perfect world. He came to a world that needed him. He shared it’s darkness, death and division, so his light, his life and his love might begin that work of healing and salvation which is good news to all creation. And so we HAVE to celebrate, because there is hope. There is hope, and we – as follower of Jesus this Christmas – are called to be that hope wherever we can and wherever God has put us. Jesus came to us as a baby – with tiny hands and wrinkly feet and a little mouth that quavered a newborn cry. Now as St Theresa of Avila says, we are his hands, his feet, his mouthpiece. How will we use our lives to bring light, to bring life and to bring love.
Because every time we try – Jesus will be in our midst again.
So celebrate! Not because there aren’t dark and difficult things in our world, but because they will not win. They cannot win. Because of the baby in the manger. Join the revolution of joy this year, be part of a holy resistance and celebrate the birth of Jesus. In Jesus name – AMEN!
Sermons at St Paul's 