Saint Swithun's Blog

Luke 2.1-20

Do you remember a little while ago we received a form through the post for a national census?

I left mine to the last minute since it did not seem important enough in the grand scheme of things!  Then very closeto the deadline, I said to my son, Deane: O I can’t be bothered with this – one form won’t make any difference!

And my son Deane informed me that it was an offence not to complete the form and I would be fined or imprisoned or both – scary!  So I completed the form.

Two thousand years ago a decree went out that the whole world should be registered.

A massive census was taken of the whole world.  Well of course all the world was the Roman world – the rest of the world were the enemy or the unconquered.  The spread of the Roman Empire was vast.

Why did the Roman Emperor want a census of all the people in the world?

Well one reason was TAX and the other was WAR!   The Roman Emperor needed to know how much money was coming in to the coffers and how many able bodied men of fighting age were available for protecting Rome’s borders and conquering the rest of the world.

In our society now we only had to complete the form and a huge computer system will sift and sort the data.

In those times the people had to return to their homelands – the place of their tribe – to register.

In one sense having to record information about myself and my life makes me important.  In a much more real sense it makes me a statistic.  In Roman times and now the census is not particularly interested in me as a person.  It is interested in me as a statistic – how many of this group and that group make up our society.

There has always been cynicism and self interest in the world.

With the economic problems that the developed world faces at the moment – the Government has been desperate for us to spend money this Christmas.  This is not so we have a happier Christmas it is to buy our way out  of trouble.  But you and I know that it will take more than 3 for one deals to redress the balance of the financial markets.

But the point is that the world has always been like this.  There are people in power and there are people living their ordinary lives whatever the people in power are doing.

Sometimes the big decisions of the world have no relevance at all to our day to day lives. Sometimes the effect of them is catastrophic.

And it is into this world that God is born.

God is born into our lives to live our life and show us another way.

Why was God not born into royalty or power?

Because those things change: The Roman Empire collapsed., governments change, economies rise and fall.

What does not change is humanity.  What does not change is what makes us whole and real and fulfilled.

God sent his son to show us that.

And it is not in the great drama, pomp and ceremony or in the palaces and boardrooms.

It is in the relationship between a mother and her baby: a husband and his wife, friends, lovers, families, neighbours.

God is in the little things. 

So you and I can change what is important by changing the little things.

At some time today – say thank you, say I love you, smile at a stranger – these are the things that count and these are the things that make the angels sing.

And that is what the baby Jesus tells us from his feeding trough in the animal shelter.

Amen

John 1.1-14

In the words of one of my favourite carols – O Holy Night – there is a line that speaks to me of Christmas: A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

We talk of the real message of Christmas – bring Christ in to Christmas – the reason for the season and so on.  But what is the real message of Christmas.  I believe it is in the words of that song: a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.

In the darkness of winter there is a festival of light and joy and goodwill that suggests to us what life could be like. 

If we make it too big we miss it.   If we fill the space with noise, even of celebration, we drown out the sound of the angels singing.  If we are too grand we cannot enter the stable.

We drift into living loudly and selfishly all too easily.  I lived in South Africa in the 80’s in a state of ignorance and blindness:  A 20something year old newly qualified accountant with more money than I had ever earned and few responsibilities.  My life was occupied with parties and clothes but empty of meaning!

Last week on the radio I was listening to an interview with a female entrepreneur – I didn’t catch the name coming in half way through the programme.  What she was talking about was being very rich.  She said that being very rich gradually created an artificial existence where all your friends were in a similar position and the only thing to do was to become even richer.  Then at some point there is a change in attitude from amazement at one’s wealth to a sense that I am worth this – somehow I must be better or superior to others to have amassed this level of wealth.

It is a very seductive place to be – the world of very rich reinforcing the sense of belonging to this group and the mutual sense of deserving to be there.

And, in South Africa and to some extent here, being rich is quite dangerous and isolating.  A lady at Betty’s funeral this week was telling me that some bankers had moved into her road and put up fortresses of security.  This is common in South Africa but getting more common around the world as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Desmond Tutu said that until there is universal justice and fairness there will never be peace.  If I am stronger than you, I will grab what I want.

This Christmas there will be enough food thrown away in the rich parts of the world to feed the rest of the world for months.

But what happens is that at some point, some people wake up and realise that this is not reality.  Or at least it is not reality for the vast majority of human beings.  And it is not very satisfying either.

We realise that we are weary of this relentless pursuit of personal fulfilment and individual achievement.

What we begin to notice when we wake up is that the meaning of life is very small, understated and quiet.

Real living is made up of little acts of kindness.  Humanity is built up by small gestures of goodwill and charity – in the old fashioned sense of that word – selfless love.

And of course that is what God came to tell us. 

The baby at Christmas reminds us of our universal humanity.  If God can come and be born in a cave – then that is what is important. 

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us – as a baby, a child, a teenager, an adult.  There is no reason to suppose that Jesus’ life was much different to ours – we know very little of it before he starts his ministry.

But what we do know is that Christmas is ordinary, small and quiet.

As we enter the mystery of the stable we are stripped of pretensions and illusions of status by the child in the feeding trough.

We remember the act of kindness of the innkeeper who allowed the pregnant traveller to rest in his animal shelter.  Not much of a gesture but all he could do.  And he did all he could do.

Do you know that Captain Nigel Byrnes at the Salvation Army in Lewisham has had many phone calls this year by people asking if they can help to celebrate Christmas with the disadvantaged.  There are not enough events for people to help at!!

But that is not important.  What is important is the thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices.  We are tired of greed and hypocrisy.  We want to get back to the stable.

The star shows us the way.  So let’s wake up to a new and glorious morn.  We do not have to do something very grand.  Say thank you to God for his gift and cherish those we meet on Christmas day.

It is enough – and enough is all we can do – and it is everything.

 Amen