Celebrating the Saviour

Christmas is a time of great joy.

Last Christmas it was a time of great joy in the Luton Magistrates court. Hector Graham, a magistrate, was just about to pass sentence when all of a sudden the strains of "Santa Claus is coming to Town" were heard. The clerk of the court thought it was a mobile phone. But the magistrate opened his jacket to reveal a musical Father Christmas tie - an early present from his wife. He confessed he did not know how to turn it off.

"He was extremely embarrassed," it was reported, "especially because after that, it went into two more christmassy songs, finishing with 'We wish you a merry Christmas'. The court was in stitches."

It is right that Christmas should be a time of joy. That is why we sing Carols as we are doing tonight. Carols have been sung in churches since Christmas 1223 when Francis of Assisi introduced them.

But for many people this year it is not a time of joy. The murders in the United States on the 11th of September, the fighting in Afghanistan, Israel and Palestine, and the persecution of Christians in Indonesia and the Sudan will mean sadness for millions.

It was similar when Jesus was born 2000 years ago. Herod the Great could easily out match Osama bin Laden for cruelty and ruthlessness. The Bible says he ordered the massacre of "all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under". So people lived in fear. Yet it was at such a time that the angel said, as we heard in our 6th reading:

Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

That is the "good news" of Christmas. If you trust Christ, he brings freedom from fear.

What are you afraid of? Like those shepherds, do you fear the reality of God - "the glory of the Lord"? Christ offers you peace with God. Do you fear the problems of life at home or at work? Do you fear that you cause some of those problems? Christ says:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" - and that includes "rest for your souls".

Do you fear death? Through his Cross and Resurrection Jesus Christ has conquered death and hell. He says:

Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living one; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!

Christmas celebrates the birth of the one who can free you from fear.

No one is exactly sure of the precise date of Christ's birth. We in the West celebrate it on the 25th of December. Christians in the East celebrate it on the 6th of January. One Biblical Scholar, Frank Klassen, even believes Christ was born on the 1st of April. He says, "that accounts for 'April Fools Day'. Those who remembered Christ's real birthday were derided as 'April Fools'." The Bible is silent, however. No one can be exactly sure.

But the Bible is exactly sure why Christ came. The angel said:

Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you: he is Christ the Lord.

First, he came to be the Saviour. He did not come to defeat Herod or his successors. Nor did he come to fight the Roman overlords. The root problem as the choir has just sung is that this is a "world of sin". That is why Christ came. And that is why at Christmas time we read from Genesis chapter 3 - the account of how Adam and Eve went their way and not God's; and lived as though God did not matter. For that is the story of everyone. That is sin.

C.S.Lewis was a famous Christian writer. His books, including his Narnia children's books, are still best-sellers. The last piece he wrote before he died in 1963 was for the Christmas edition of The Saturday Evening Post. It was entitled, "We have no 'Right to Happiness'." And it dealt with sin. Because we think we have a right to happiness, we do anything to achieve it - right or wrong.

Sin is to put myself at the centre of the Universe and not God. Jesus came that first Christmas, again as the choir has just sung, to "cast out our sin". He did that on the cross. He was born to die. He is ...

... our heavenly Lord, that hath made heaven and earth, and with his blood mankind hath bought."

He died in your place and mine bearing our sin.

Secondly, the Angel's message is that he is not only the Saviour, but "Christ the Lord".

Christmas was no ordinary event. It was a miracle. It was predicted centuries before. Inspired prophets predicted what was to happen in the most amazing detail. You heard Isaiah's prophecy tonight:

to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Does history sometimes seem to you to be out of control? The message of Christmas is that God is in control. The word "Christ" means "anointed one" - the Messiah God had promised and who would come. And he did come, at the right place and in the right time. No doubt it did not seem to Mary and Joseph that God was in control when there was no room in the Inn. But he was.

It is like those "magic-eye" books you have in your Christmas stocking. At first you only see muddled or random colours - in time you see a remarkable "3 D" picture. One day when Christ returns "our eyes at last shall see him" and we will, indeed, see how God has been working according to plan.

Do you believe that God has a plan for your life? God plans for you and cares for you. The Bible says:

even the very hairs of you head are all numbered."

And God loves you. God loves the world so much ...

... that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

That verse, said Martin Luther, is the "good news" in miniature. But there is a serious choice - to believe in Christ and have eternal life; or not to believe in Christ and to perish.

You say, "why should I believe in Christ?" Answer: because the baby born is Christ "the Lord." "Lord" means "God". He, Jesus, is "our Emmanuel" (as we shall sing) - "God with us". It may be hard to imagine, but it is certainly believable. Supremely Christ's Resurrection from the dead proves that claim.

It also sets Jesus apart from every other religious leader. Mohammed's tomb is in Medina; the Buddha's tomb is in India. But in Jerusalem there is the empty tomb. It was Jesus who was "in the beginning ... with God" - no one else.

Sometime ago in another country a well-to-do woman was hoping to adopt a young boy. On a visit to where he was staying the conversation went something like this:

"Do you have a bicycle?" asked the woman.

"No!" was the boy's answer.

"Well, we'll give you one ... And have you roller skates?"

"Some old ones," he replied.

"We'll buy you a new pair ... "

And the questioning went on, with more being promised. Then there was silence until the boy said this - and this is true:

"please, if that's all you're going to give me, I'd rather stay here."

Christmas is a time for giving and receiving gifts. It has been so since the Wise Men brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. But at Christmas you need to hear Christ say: "is that all you're going to give?"

Yes, enjoy Christmas. But remember that verse of the Carol:

What can I give him, poor as I am?If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.If I were a wise man, I would do my part;Yet what I can I give him - give my heart.

At Christmas God wants you to receive his great gift - Christ himself. And you do that by giving him not material things but your trust and your love. That is the right response to the words of the angel:

Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.