Christmas Midnight Eucharist
St Mary’s Sherburn 2009
Can We Change ?

One of the pleasures of Christmas is watching the tv. You’ve finished lunch, done the washing-up, and can settle back on the sofa and watch some good tele.

I wonder what you have lined up for your tv watching this Christmas? Are you one of those folk who enjoy watching nature programmes ? Well I want to begin this sermon by sharing with you an important piece of natural history.

Did you know that, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December.   Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, if the traditional pictures of Santa Claus are correct, EVERY single one of Santa's reindeer, from Rudolph to Blitzen, has to be a girl.

We should've known... ONLY women would be able to drag an overweight man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost. I should add that this information was sent to me by a woman so I cannot vouch for its accuracy…

Christmas tv – pure escapism ! And we need it after the year that we have had: the endless drip drip of casualties from Afghanistan (every time I hear that the casualty is from The Rifles I dread the news that it is one of our local lads); the recession, and you will know people as well as I do who have lost their jobs or never got one; and that is before we face the deepest challenge of climate change. As we have said to each other before, if the scientists are right, this is a problem which will make all our other problems shrivel in comparison.

We have a huge problem. Our society has geared itself around consuming more and more. It always was unsustainable. The prophets have been telling us that for generations. But the thing that really frightened me this year was the sense that we can see no alternative to spreading this pattern of mad consumption to the whole world. If you and I don’t keep buying – another pair of shoes, another gadget for the boys – then industry will slow down, profits will collapse, wages will fall, etc etc.. Is the only way to raise the living standards of the developing world to encourage them to waste as much as we do ?

We seem trapped. I heard an amazing statistic on the radio last week. It was Radio 4 so it must be true ! 5/6 million people will go into debt to pay for this Christmas. 3 million are still in debt from last Christmas. 150,000 people will go bankrupt because of their Christmas spending this year. Is it just me, or is this truly mad ? Are we really trapped  by our need to spend ?

As usual this year, I have been to more than my fair share of carol services and nativity plays. All very beautiful and seriously done. But I am constantly struck by the atmosphere at these events. It is more than sentimentality. There are real tears and a sort of profound longing. I have found myself wondering why? Is it that these events touch our longing for hope and innocence. If only the world was like this – full of gentle good will and joy – then perhaps some of our madness would ease ? Perhaps we would have the strength to get free, to change in the way that we know we need to change ?

But of course that’s the point. For Christians, Christmas is real. It takes us to the heart of the universe, to the heart of how God has made us and the world. The Christ child, God’s Son, shows us a God who takes risks to convince people that he loves them. The Christ child shows us that giving works, that being vulnerable, relying on others, can work. The Christ child shows us that simplicity can be rich.

But it is a choice. It is a choice for us individuals. It is also a choice for us a society, as a human race. Do you remember that strange claim that there is “no such thing as society” ? Or the idea that it is the individual thinking their own thoughts on their own who is the only way to truth ? The greatest madness of the last generation has been the slogan, “I did it my way !” “And don’t let anyone else tell me how to live my life…”

But of course unless we recognise that we depend on each other, we are lost. You may reduce your carbon footprint but if I don’t… There really are some things we can only do together; all of us. That is why the risk of trusting, of loving the other, is so vital for our next generation.

But that is hard for us, when we are trained to compete not to collaborate. Again, the Christ child silently speaks to us. “Give up the myth of self-sufficiency.” “Be honest that you are needy too.” “Take a risk, trust me and trust the deep pattern of God’s universe.”

Because this little child, lying in the manger is, Christians believe, God’s Word, God’s mind, God’s wisdom, God’s eternal reality, compressed into a tiny vulnerable life.

‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.’

Grace and truth. That’s what Christmas is about: the truth about the deep pattern of the universe; the grace to help us truly see ourselves; the grace so to know that we are loved that we can take the risk of loving.

No wonder we cry when we see the crib. Because here we see hope.

Amen.