P Levy Carol Service 20181216c

What do you make of the child in the manger?

You've sung of him tonight.

You've heard of him in the readings.

What do you make of him?

There have been some extraordinary words sung here tonight.

!

But the words we sing are extraordinary.

Born the king of angels.

I said, do you mean that?

In those words of another.

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.

What on earth does that mean?

Christ, the newborn king.

You've sung that tonight.

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in you tonight.

Let me read to you a sentence from a letter.

It's written by someone who knew nothing of theoretical science.

Who never heard of the internet or I'm a celebrity.

He probably thought the earth was flat if he bothered to think about it.

He knew nothing at all thankfully of Brexit.

And yet, this sentence, the man who wrote it,

understood with remarkable clarity what has so far eluded

some of the most brilliant minds in the world.

It's just one sentence from a short letter.

And I want to suggest to you that in this sentence,

there is more value in this sentence,

more of value and importance in this one sentence

than in anything that's been discovered by human reason.

More of value in this one sentence than you're going to read anywhere else this Christmas.

More of value than anything that's been produced by the most brilliant minds.

There's more importance in this one sentence

that comes from a letter written 2,000 years ago

by a man named Paul to another guy called Titus.

And the sentence runs like this.

It's on the page that you looked at.

You can look at it actually on the front page of the carol service.

It's just written underneath the date there.

And here's the sentence.

For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people.

The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared

bringing salvation for all people.

There it is. There's the truth.

That at the heart of the universe,

it's not a formula,

not a great string of formulas,

and I'll how it completes.

But at the heart of the universe is the grace of God

that brings salvation

that has appeared for all people.

So think with me, just for a few minutes,

about these four things.

First of all, it speaks of, doesn't it, the grace of God.

We don't use that word much,

but that means the generosity of God.

The out of the ordinary kindness of God.

The child in the manger

means that at the heart of the universe

is the kindness and the generosity and the grace of God.

Is that what the birth of Jesus means to you?

Does the coming of Jesus Christ

mean that you know the kindness of God?

As Christmas approaches,

and you give your mind just maybe a little bit perhaps

to this child in the manger,

are you overwhelmed by the fact

that God is good towards you?

Is that what it means?

This is, isn't it, the greatest discovery

that any human being can make.

And it's a discovery that is as discoverable

to a small child

as it is to the world's most brilliant mind.

To discover and to know the kindness,

the grace of God.

Not mind you, the soppy sentimentality of God.

We can mistake it for that.

Sometimes, particularly by the nonsense

of Christmas stories that are told,

there is nothing soppy or sentimental

about the coming of Jesus Christ into the world.

But it is the undeserved goodness

of God to us that He came.

And we'll see the why of that in a moment.

But can you think for a moment

just what a life-changing experience it is

to know not just that God is there,

not just to be able to say tonight,

well, I believe in God,

and not just that God exists,

that you've come to that conclusion.

I'm sure that God is really pleased

that you've come to that conclusion that He exists.

not just that,

but to know that that God

is both kind and generous

and good to you.

Wouldn't life be very different?

For those of us who know that,

isn't life very different?

But even if you don't know the grace of God yet,

can't you see tonight how great it would be

to know that God is good towards you?

But why does the child in the manger mean that?

It's a great story,

as we've got it,

full of human interests and pathos,

charming images of donkeys and oxen

and shepherds and wise men

and stars and so on and so on,

enough to sell millions of Christmas cards.

But how can this story mean

as much as I'm claiming it is?

Or as much as when Paul wrote this letter

to Titus claimed,

how can this story,

when I hear it,

change my life?

Because it brings me to know

the goodness of God to me.

Well actually it can't.

Not just the story of the birth of Jesus,

it can't do that.

And no even tonight,

if you realise who the baby is,

it won't do that.

If you realise that he was no less

than God himself,

that child in the manger.

I will actually only know

the grace of God to me

and the goodness and kindness

and generosity of God

if I know why he came.

And so that's the second thing

in our sentence.

It's really obvious, isn't it?

Do you remember how it went?

The grace of God

that brings salvation.

Jesus came

into the world

not just

to make a visit to planet Earth

like a divine holiday

or a winter break.

He didn't even come

just to make God known.

He came to bring

salvation.

What is salvation?

Well, think about that for a moment.

It means being saved

from something.

And so what do we

human beings

need to be saved from?

Well, some of us tonight

we long to be saved

from sickness.

Maybe that's why you're here.

There are many millions

in the world today,

aren't there tonight,

that need to be saved

from poverty

and from salvation.

Many need to be saved

from injustice

and oppression.

And so many of us tonight

need to be saved

from fears

of many different

kinds of things.

And of course

we could go on and on

couldn't we?

We could list the things

that you and I

need to be saved from.

But these things

that I've just listed

and the hundreds

of other things

they are actually

just symptoms.

Symptoms that

not all is right

with the world.

And not all is right

between the world

and God.

And all is not right

tonight

between us and God.

Is it?

Before God

each one of us

is a guilty person.

Before God

each one of us

has got an awful lot

to answer for.

Before God

each of us

has many many reasons

to be scared

out of our minds.

But the child

in the manger

came in order

to become

the man

who died on the cross

in your place

and mine.

He came

into the world

in order to make

possible our forgiveness

before God.

He came

to wipe

clean

slate

our debt

before God.

He came

to bring salvation.

And that's why

the child

in the manger

means the incredible

goodness and kindness

of God

to you and me.

He came

into the world

so that you and I

can get right

with God.

He came

so that we can

stand before God

confident.

He came

so that we can

stand before God

with no fear

and no worry.

And know

that God

himself and I

we are friends.

Now

what I've been saying

you might think

well this is really

nice thoughts

isn't it?

It's the kind of thing

you get used to

hearing at Christmas

time.

But perhaps

like many

you hear these words

and you think

well that's just

what they are.

They're just words

aren't they?

The grace of God

salvation

they're just

words

just religious

words

they're the jargon

of religion

the cliche

of the Christian

but it's not just

words is it?

Because the third

thing in the

sentence

can you see it?

The grace of God

that brings salvation

has appeared

it has appeared

it's not just

religious ideas

to entertain

those who are

religiously inclined

or to comfort

those who are

religious

that sort of thing

no something

has happened

this verse says

something has

happened in history

in real time

and space

at a particular

time

in a particular

place

if you and I

had been there

you and I

could have seen it

the grace of God

that brings salvation

has appeared

and what does it

look like?

Well it looks like

a child in a manger

who became a man

on the cross

it isn't a question

tonight of

do you like

these ideas?

It isn't a question

do I find them

congenial?

Do these words

make sense to me?

No it is

what do I do?

What do I do

with what has

happened?

What does it mean

that the grace of God

that brings salvation

has appeared?

It has happened

and that is what

the child in the

manger and the man

on the cross

are all about

and the question

is this

do you realise

the goodness

and kindness

of God to you?

Do you remember

the last words

of our sentence

the grace of God

that brings salvation

has appeared

and do you remember

how it ends?

It ends from

think on this

for a minute

for all people

it's a historical

fact

that is accessible

to all

I keep people

I'm meeting people

who say to me

when I ask them

do you go to church

they say

I'm just not

the religious type

and maybe

you may be

like the cow

but you're just

not the religious

type you say

but let me just

tell you the kind

of people

that Jesus met

with

and the kind

of people

Jesus dealt

with when he

was on earth

he dealt

with the lepers

the outcasts

the demonised

the woman

everyone wanted

to avoid

the little cheat

Jesus went

out of his

way to meet

with people

that weren't

the religious

type

one of my

friends wrote

this on twitter

last week

he said

oh come

all ye

faithless

joyless

and defeated

oh come

ye

oh come

ye to Bethlehem

Christmas is

for the weary

for the messed

up

and for the

broken

if your life

isn't

instagrammable

Christmas is

for you

and maybe

tonight

you said

well actually

I'm alright

I've got

everything to

gather

and if you

have

I'm really

pleased for

you

but you're

deceiving

yourself

because

whoever you

are tonight

and whatever

you've done

and wherever

you're from

and however

you feel

the grace

of God

that brings

salvation

has appeared

for people

exactly like

you

and wouldn't

it be a great

thing if

this time

Christmas 2018

was the time

that you came

to know

or came to

know afresh

the grace

of God

came to

know and

understand

and came to

experience

what it is

to realise

the great

goodness

of God

towards you

and that

can happen

the grace

of God

that brings

salvation

has appeared

what do you

need to do

when you need

to say thank

you don't

you

to say

thank you

to God

and you need

to receive

his great

kindness

to you

and you need

to stop

rebelling

against that

kindness

and be

willing to

be changed

by it

as I finish

I want to

read you

a news article

that came out

yesterday

it's about

President

George W.H.

Bush

H.W.

Bush

he was the

president

about 30

years ago

let me read

it to you

it's a bit

long but

you'll be

alright

it's the

last thing

I'm going

to say

nearly 20

years ago

former

President

George H.W.

Bush

wanted to

sponsor

a Filipino

boy

named

Timothy

through

Colorado

Springs

non-profit

Compassion

International

but first

he needed

a pseudonym

he's passed

away now

so it's

probably not

classified

anymore

it was

George

Walker

said

Wes

Stafford

Compassion

President

Emeritus

that's the

same name

that President

Bush

used

apparently

whenever

he checked

into a

hospital

and they

needed to

have it

unknown

that he

was there

Bush's

security

team

was worried

about

Timothy's

safety

said

Stafford

if word

had gotten

out that

the child

was communicating

with a

former US

president

he could

have been

in danger

through

Compassion

International

sponsor

writes a

letter to

a child

in addition

to providing

financial

support

Bush's

letters

were intentionally

vague

to mask

his identity

and all

communication

between the

two of

them went

through

Stafford

who was

then

President

of

Compassion

the first

time he

started

breaking

our little

security

rules

was when

he sent

a picture

of his

dog

Millie

and he

added

this is

Millie

she's

met

lots

of

famous

people

Stafford

said

laughing

and I

thought

okay

that's

cute

but boy

that's

starting

to slip

into

some

little

secrets

in there

then years

later

he wrote

we're going

to have

Christmas

this year

with my

son

at his

house

and then

he adds

oh

and he

lives in

a big

white

house

and I'm

like

come on

Mr.

President

you're

really

pushing

the

envelope

here

Bush's

sponsorship

began

around the

year 2000

in Washington

DC

when he was

at a

Christmas

concert

featuring

a line

up of

Christian

musicians

during

his

admission

the

performers

asked

if

anyone

wanted

information

about

sponsoring

a

child

to everyone's

surprise

all of a sudden

George

Sr.

raised his

hand in

the middle

of his

security

entourage

and said

I want

one

the packet

was passed

down to

him

and all

these

security

people

were like

has

anybody

screened

to

Timothy

Stafford

said

he

hand

wrote

the

letters

and

even

drew

pictures

to the

boy

he

really

threw

himself

into it

he

would write

to little

Timothy

and Timothy

would write

to him

and anything

that Timothy

said that was

interesting

President Bush

would write

back with a

comment on it

thank you for the

picture of that

beautiful rainbow

we had a

rainbow like that

right outside our

house last week

he was everything

that we wish

of all our

sponsors would be

he was engaged

in this little

child's life

he told Timothy

that he loved

baseball and

golf

that he was

pretty good

at throwing

a frisbee

he was looking

for common

ground

and after

learning that

the boy

liked art

Bush sent

a package

of coloured

pencils

crayons

paint

sketch

pads

with a

compassion

international

staff

member

travelling

to the

Philippines

Bush was a

man without

fanfare

he did

excellent things

very quietly

always giving

the credit

away to other

people

I just loved

that about him

years later

as Bush's

schedule became

busier and his

health began to

decline

Stafford's

executive assistant

Angie

Laughlock took

over his

sponsorship

then in 2010

when Timothy

was Sandin

Laughlock and her

husband Larry

flew to the

Philippines to

meet him

but Laughlock said

Timothy is a very

quiet shy and

sweet spirited guy

with a very tender

spirit

Stafford said

he played the

guitar in his

church worship team

Angie is the

one who told him

your former sponsor

is someone that I

know pretty well

and he was the

president of the

United States

Stafford said

and Timothy

was defounded

he was speechless

and he said

here's what I

want you to

know

well I knew

that he was

kind and

encouraging and

a wonderful man

but I had no

idea

and I thought

you know to a

child in poverty

it's amazing

enough that anyone

would care about

them

but it was

beyond his

wildest imagination

and even his

ability to

comprehend

that the

president of the

United States

knew his name

the truth is

there is a

God in

heaven's night

who knows

your name

and he's not

written to you

a letter

he's not going

to be your

pen pal

but the grace

of God

has appeared

bringing salvation

to people like

you

and people like

me

and so

won't you

trust him

I want you

to receive him

I want you

to thank God

for him

let's pray