Scroll down for our minister's Christmas sermon

Christmas Eve Sermon 2009
(preached at Porth United Reformed Church)

John 1.1-14 (read from the King James Version and from The Message)

As we meet in the dark tonight, we hear in The Message of "life-light"

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."

   What came into existence was Life,
 and the Life was Light to live by.
   The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
 the darkness couldn't put it out.

In various translations - the darkness couldn't understand, couldn't overcome, couldn't quench, couldn't master it. In Jesus, a light came to the world that could never be put out.

Of course, there's plenty of darkness around.

• The effective failure of Copenhagen summit, which means the lights may go out literally in some parts of the world as we run out of fuel to power them
• The credit crunch and recession have been gloomy for many, and we ain't seen nothing yet – as 12% budget cuts across government departments are going to hit the poorest and the most vulnerable (although, funnily enough, the bankers will go on getting their bonuses and the senior civil servants their index-linked pensions – funny that).
• Some of us are very gloomy about the future of this church community

There is plenty of darkness around. But the darkness hasn't yet overcome the light, or comprehended it, or mastered it.

Why? Because the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us

The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighbourhood.

I just love that. God Himself is going to move into OUR neighbourhood.
So are we glad to welcome our new neighbour? At this Christmas time are we eagerly waiting for Him?

Well, just remember how the Christmas story tells of God coming into our world:

• Do you want a family of vagrants camping out in the back yard of the pub across the road? Because that's how God comes into our neighbourhood.
• Do you want a teenage mother giving birth on your street? Because that's how God comes into our neighbourhood.
• Do you want lots of smelly shepherds visiting the back yard and bringing livestock with them, supposedly as gifts? Because that's how God comes into our neighbourhood.
• Do you want a bunch of strange star-gazers from a distant land - probably asylum seekers or illegal immigrants or travellers or something – turning up? Because that's how God comes into our neighbourhood.
• Do you want gold, frankincense and myrrh to be stockpiled in the open air – an invitation to thieves and a real problem for the neighbourhood watch?

Do you REALLY want the Word of God moving into your neighbourhood?

IF NOT, the Residents' Action Committee has already drawn up a petition for you to sign saying "While we have very sympathy with the plight of vagrants, teenage mothers, shepherds, asylum seekers, immigrants etc etc, this is not an appropriate place for such people. We believe they should be accommodated in a more suitable location. Have you tried Aberdare?" [Apologies to Aberdare!]

And if you're still willing to give this bizarre family the benefit of the doubt, just remember where this will all lead:

• when this baby born in bizarre circumstances grows up he'll be healing lepers and people with infectious diseases who will soon be coming to this neighbourhood endangering our children's health
• he'll be eating and drinking with tax-gatherers and prostitutes and sinners – lowering the tone of the neighbourhood no end
• he'll be welcoming children – against the advice even of his own disciples – and saying that they can all come to him, so we'll have dozens of the ragamuffins hanging around and probably up to no good
• he'll be criticising the well-off and the comfortable, telling them that a camel has more chance of going through the eye of a needle than they have of getting to heaven
• he'll be criticising religious people, saying that they've misunderstood the Sabbath and the law and the temple and the other central things of our faith

Is this really the kind of thing you want in your neighbourhood? Prostitutes, sinners, ne'er-do-wells, the blind, the sick and the lame? Are these the people you want to find sitting by the door of the chapel on a Sunday morning waiting for it to open?

No, I thought not. So perhaps you had better sign the Residents' Committee petition, and soon. And then we can put out this life-light once and for all and get back to the works of darkness. Perhaps that's what Judas thought when he made his pact with the authorities and took his 30 pieces of silver. Perhaps that's what the bankers thought as they sold us down the river and took their bonuses. Perhaps that's what we thought when we decided to buy ourselves another Christmas gift and forget about the shoebox for this year.

And that's what's happened for two thousand years. God has moved into the neighbourhood – and people have moved out. But even the most rigorous residents' association – even Judas himself - has never managed finally to put out the light. Somehow, it has gone on shining.

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God

   He came to his own people,
 but they didn't want him.
   But whoever did want him,
 who believed he was who he claimed
 and would do what he said,
   He made to be their true selves,
 their child-of-God selves. 
In every neighbourhood, in every generation, just a few people really did welcome him. And it changed them. For the better. They became the children of God.

For them – the waiting was over. For them – the waiting is over.
In communion, we remember, even as we celebrate Jesus's birth, how 33 years later he gave his life for us, was betrayed, died on a cross, the world plunged for one final time into total darkness – and the third day he rose again – kindling that flame that will never never go out.

So for 2000 years, for the world, the waiting goes on. By candlelight.

For we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

   We saw the glory with our own eyes,
 the one-of-a-kind glory,
 like Father, like Son,
   Generous inside and out,
 true from start to finish.

true from manger to cross to Easter morning.

And so as we come to the communion table we can light the Christ candle and shed more light on ourselves - because when we add Easter to Christmas, when we add the suffering of Good Friday and the victory of Easter morning to the wonder of the Nativity, more light comes into our world. The waiting is nearly over. God's gift is about to be revealed.

 

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