C 06 Xmas Day

YEAR C: CHRISTMAS DAY

Luke 2: 1-20. (Sermon 2: “Space for the Unwashed’)

Tittups 3: 1-7.

Isaiah 62: 6-12.

Psalm 97

or—

John 1:1-14. (Sermon 1: “Not a Sermon”)

Hebrews 1:1-4.

Isaiah 52: 7-10.

Psalm 98

GREETING AND PREPARATION

Merry Christmas!

The irrepressible joy Christ’s birth be with you all!

And also with you!

The nations now see God’s saving justice,

all kings shall look upon God’s beauty.

You are given us a new name to treasure,

spoken from the very mouth of God.

As bride and bridegroom rejoice together,

so God rejoices with us this day.

OR —

Unto you is born this day a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.

Break out into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem

for the Lord has comforted and redeemed his people

You shall find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths

and lying in a manger.

The hand of the Lord God is now uncovered

before the eyes of all the nations,

and all the ends of the earth

shall see the salvation of our God.

PRAYER

Little Child of God, laid in a manger, we adore your coming! Now God is of our image, God is of our flesh and blood. Now there is no difference at all between your body and ours. You are our Saviour and our brother lying in a cot. You join our human frailty, share our needs, and assure us of utter glory. Halleluiah!

AMEN! (From Martin Luther)

CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE

Let us affirm Christ as our Saviour, Let us pray.

Most Loving God, because you knew how twisted and subject to evil our humanity had become, you sent us your Holy Son —

We name him Jesus, our Saviour, for he has saved his sisters and brothers from their sins.

Because you have stood in our shoes and understand how difficult it is to live by the rule of love in an often cold, unfeeling, and ruthless world —

We name him Jesus, our Saviour, for he is this very day saving us from all our sins.

Because you have given us a gracious spirit, forgiving those who sin against us, and you call us to a ministry of reconciliation in a fractured world —

We proclaim him Jesus, our Saviour, for he will save our world from its many sins

God of Christmas, God of unspeakable grace, please forgive and renew us all, that our lives may declare the wonders of that Holy Love that has called us out of darkness into glorious light.

Amen!

FORGIVENESS

My friends in Christ, Christ did not come to rub our noses in our sins, but to liberate us from guilt and despair. Be cheerful, lift up your hearts, for you are a remarkably loved and forgiven people! You are set free to forgive one another and to be agents of peace and joy!

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all people of goodwill..

PRAYER FOR CHILDREN

Let Everything Be Happy!

Today, God I want everything to be happy!

Let the kangaroos leap,

the kookaburras laugh,

the platypus turn somersaults

and the brolgas dance!

Today I want

the gum tress to wave their arms,

the flowers to give big smiles,

the mountains to kiss the clouds,

and the sea to sing and roar with joy!

Have a happy birthday Jesus!

Amen!

Ó B D Prewer & Open Book Publishers

PSALM 98

Come, sing a new song to our God,

who does amazing things!

Now a human hand holds God’s strength,

authority rests in a Baby’s arm.

The gentle power of God is openly displayed,

gracious justice is shown to the nations.

Jewish people are not forgotten,

they witness God’s faithfulness.

Every place on the face of the earth

now sees God’s indomitable love.

Join the celebrations, everyone,

break out into joyful applause!

Praise God with guitar and keyboard,

with flute, fiddle and organ.

Join in with trumpet and drums,

to acclaim the Presence of Christ.

Let all the seas and oceans roar,

the land and living thing on it.

Come on rivers, clap your hands,

and mountains shout together for joy,

as God comes to govern our planet

with a justice that heals the nations.

© B.D. Prewer 2000

(Another version, see: Australian Psalms p 33)

BUSH CHRISTMAS?

(In the style of “I saw three ships”)

I saw three drovers* riding by,

come riding by,

come riding by.

I saw the hope-light in each eye,

on Christmas Day

in the morning.

They left their cattle by the creek,

down by the creek,

down by the creek.

They rode but not a word did speak,

on Christmas Day

in the morning.

They drew rein at a bushman’s tent,

a bushman’s tent,

a bushman’s tent.

Stooping down, inside they went,

on Christmas Day

in the morning.

They knelt beside an old camp bed,

an old camp bed,

an old camp bed.

Each one bowed down his dusty head,

on Christmas Day

in the morning.

The knew the blessing of the meek,

of all the meek,

of all the meek.

They rode full-filled back to the creek,

on Christmas Day

in the morning.

* drover= Aus. for cattle herdsmen.

adapted from “More Australian Psalms”

© B Prewer & Open Book Publishers:Ó Open Book Publishers

COLLECT

Most Holy Friend, today you have given us a Child who is like all human children, yet at the same time unlike all others. Born of Mary, he is the hope of the earth and the joy of heaven. As we celebrate this day with carols and prayers, gifts and feasting, may we open our hearts to receive your Christ. Come Incarnate Love, and rejuvenate us in body, mind and spirit, until Christmas optimism spills over into every thought, action and prayer. To your praise and glory!

Amen!

NOT A SERMON

John 1: 14

“The word became flesh and lived among us.”

On the subject of Christmas I am almost tongue tied.

I cannot speak about it with an adequacy rate of even 1%.

In fact, framing words can seem like a contradiction.

Isn’t Christmas about God’s Word becoming flesh?

How can I then try to turn the Sacred Flesh back into words?

If God could have communicated the essence of Christmas in words, surely it would have been done long before Christ Jesus.

But what God had to say could only be said by actions. God among us, as one of us; now that communicates!

Embodied, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, the incarnate God with loving deeds that will stand as long as the earth endures.

As I see (and feel it!) this morning, if people cannot get the message from the coming of God in the beautiful life and death of Jesus, then no amount of words will achieve it.

HOWEVER......

Yet words may have some validity. Words at their best and purest can celebrate and adorn the happening.

Let us then continue to celebrate.

Let us feast with joy,

exchange presents with delight,

let us sing our carols and lift up our prayers.

And by all means adorn it to the best of human ability.

Let those who can dance, dance it.

Let those who can paint, paint it.

Let those who are playwrights create drama around it.

Let all with love in their hearts, share that love freely

in honour of the God of Christmas.

This is no time for long sermons. It is time for love and adoration..

SERMON 2: SPACE FOR THE UNWASHED.

Luke 2: 16

The shepherds came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, lying in a manger.

The birth of Christ was for everyone,

especially for those whom respectable people shun, or make jokes about, or despise. Even today, people still makes jokes about shepherds; some of these jokes are, to say the least, uncouth.

Yet shepherds are the first recorded visitors to the new born Christ.

I’m not sure if those same shepherds visited us this morning, and sat beside you in the pew, that you would be at ease. I’m also not certain you would eagerly invite them to share your Christmas dinner. Our fastidious, well laundered noses might complain mightily.

Shepherds were not renowned for their personal hygiene.

Lets face it, by day and night they lived with their sheep and smelt like their sheep. It was a basic kind of existence. It was a harsh life, week after week in wind and rain, hot sunshine or winter frost.

On one hand these sheep herders have been romanticised in poetry and folk stories. Even God was called the good Shepherd, and King David was idealised as the Shepherd King.

On the other hand they were despised by some legalistic rabbis as no hopers; their job not only prevented them from attending the worship in the synagogue, they were on duty 24/7 and thereby broke the holy Sabbath law.

They were just the kind of “the great unwashed” for whom Christ Jesus came.

Luke glories in this inclusive Gospel. He makes sure the story of the shepherds is not left out of his account of the birth of Jesus. In fact, the shepherds get pride of place, there at the very front, adoring the infant Christ.

I’m glad. Delighted in fact. It makes the Gospel wide open to the likes of you and me. I’m not suggesting that your personal hygiene is at fault, and I hope you think mine is okay! Perhaps in our case it is not our bodiliness but our personal godliness that is smelly? Blessedly, that does not put God off at all! We are embraced. One of the joys that we are celebrating on this wonderful day is that we too are among the “great unwashed” are welcomed by the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

We are not here today celebrating because we are cleaner than others, nor smarter than other, nor holier than others, nor better prayer-ers than others, nor better at good works than others. We are here because of the unmerited, free grace of God in Jesus Christ. We celebrate the birth of that saving initiative in human form.

We come like the shepherds rapt in wonder at this new thing God has done.

Wonder! Joyful, mouth-agape wonder!

If any should have no room left for wonder, then God have mercy on our benighted souls!

THANKS AND PRAISE

Yours is the glory:

Light in the word

Word in the silence

Warmth in the cold

Life in the cell

Love at the threshold.

Yours is the glory

Beginning and end.

Yours is the glory:

Light over Bethlehem

Mother in labour

A baby’s first cry

Shepherds at the door

God in the straw.

Yours is the glory

Beginning and end.

an excerpt from ‘Australian Prayers’

© B Prewer & Open Book Publishers

INTERCESSIONS

We who have so much to enjoy this day, turn now to God with prayers for those who have much less. Let us pray¾

For those who will spend this holy day in hospital, and especially for any who know it will be their last Christmas on this earth.

For children who will spend this day hungry or in poverty, and for parents who experience the pain of not being able to provide.

For those who must work today while we relax; police and ambulance officers, nurses and doctors, chefs and waiters, members of fire brigades, and those who maintain public transport.

For those who once believed in Christ, and who knew the meaning of Christmas joy, but who have now edged away into cynicism and darkness.

For those who have never believed, but who on this day are finding their hearts stirred by the Holy Spirit and challenged to take the leap of faith.

For any among our family or friends who are facing personal crisis, or trying to deal with a tragedy, at this Christmas season.

Lord of the universe,

through your true Child

born of a young woman

you came to share our humanity.

Renew us by your holy coming

and make us children of love

that we may embody your Word

and be agents of mercy and peace.

(From Brief Prayers Vol 3)

© B D Prewer & Open Book Publishers

SENDING OUT

Merry Christmas, my friends!

God has spoken his most joyful word of grace, mercy and peace.

Mary gave birth to her first-born son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger.

Go out into this day delighting in your kinship with God’s Son..

Glory to God in the highest, and earth peace and goodwill.

The grace of............