Luke 2:10,11

Thank you.

We have been at this church since 1981, this building.

So this year we're hoping that we'll redevelop.

So maybe next year this place will be a building site.

Hopefully from then on, same time, same place, two years time.

Let me thank the readers and musicians.

It sounds terrific.

I wonder how you would describe Christmas.

I wonder if I said you put Christmas into ten words, what would it be?

How would you describe Christmas in ten words?

Could you sum it up?

There's a friend of mine who's a minister in a church in central London.

And they've been asking people who work in businesses and offices in the city,

how they would sum up Christmas in under ten words.

Let me give you some of them.

There's one here, a one word answer, which is just the word expensive.

There's another one, which is fun, friends, family, food, fruitcake, fairy lights and festivities.

There's another one, the children seeing the joys on their faces.

Here's another, a more poignant one, memories.

There's one that I won't read actually because the language is a little bit colourful.

But it was to do with presents and booze, you can probably guess what it said.

But for a few moments, and before we sing our final carol,

I want to take you back to the very first Christmas, where it all started.

It's the message from the angels to the shepherds.

Nine words in the middle of Luke 2,

which take us back right to the original meaning of Christmas.

The original message to the shepherds, and so to us this evening.

Let me read you the whole sentence from chapter 2 and verses 10 and 11.

The angels say, do not be afraid,

for I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.

Today in the town of David, a saviour has been born to you.

He is Messiah.

He is Lord.

You might think that's much longer than nine words, isn't it?

Let me give you the nine words.

Good news of great joy for all the people.

Good news of great joy for all the people.

We've got small children.

This Christmas is our daughter Phoebe's first Christmas.

She's 11 months.

And when you're 11 months, thankfully presents are not very important, are they?

And you'll notice with very, very little children,

they are as happy with the wrapping paper or the packaging as they are with the gifts.

So you spend ages selecting the Peppa Pig onesie,

or the Thomas the Tank Engine toy.

But actually when you give them to the little babies, what are they interested in?

They're not really interested in the gifts.

What they care about is the bright, shiny wrapping paper.

And wouldn't it be a tragedy if as adults or as young people we made the same mistake?

That we missed the main gift of Christmas.

For the sake of all the wrapping paper and all the trimmings and all the packaging that goes with it.

So nine words that describe Christmas.

Good news of great joy for all the people.

It's five into three very easily.

The first thing is good news.

It is good news.

Now we are used to, aren't we, hearing an awful lot of bad news on our TV screen, on our internet pages.

We are used to bad news.

In fact, the last couple of months have been probably more tragic than usual, haven't they?

You think back to the bombs in Paris.

You think of the war in Syria.

You think of the shootings in the US.

Stabbings on the tube.

And actually, I think that the shepherds in that passage in Luke 2 that was read to us weren't expecting good news either.

When these huge angels arrived in the sky.

In fact, it says in the verse before, it says they were terrified when they saw them.

But they are told, do not be afraid.

I bring you good news.

I don't know what you think of the message of Christianity.

I don't know what kind of word association would come into your mind when I say the word Christianity.

But Christianity, at its core, is good news.

It's not something to be afraid of.

Wonderful good news tonight in a world of bad news.

Secondly, it's good news of great joy.

And that same tone is carried on right the way through Luke 2.

It's news of great joy.

It's something to celebrate.

It's something, Christianity, which makes you sin.

Why is it such good news of great joy?

Well, the rest of the sentence tells you.

It is good news of great joy for all the people.

Because today, in the town of David, a saviour has been born to you.

The Messiah.

The Lord.

The royal town of David is Bethlehem.

That's what it is.

And this is a king who is born to be Messiah.

He is the long-awaited king.

And we've read from Genesis, and from Isaiah, and from Micah.

500, 800 years.

Even before that, they were looking for this rescuer.

This saviour.

The people have been waiting for centuries.

So he is no ordinary baby.

And as I said earlier, we had a baby born.

I mean, our family in January.

There's been a couple of other babies born in the church.

And all babies bring joy, don't they?

All babies bring joy.

They bring sleepless nights.

They bring nappies.

They bring occasional trips to the hospital.

But lots of joy.

But this is no ordinary baby.

This is a king.

This is the Messiah.

But also, he is a saviour.

Today, in the town of David, our verse says,

A saviour has been born to you.

I wonder what the words come to your mind when you think of saviour.

When you think of rescuer.

When I think of rescue, I think of the AA.

Or the RAC, isn't it?

I'm not very good with mechanics.

But I think to be an RAC man, or an AA man,

it would be the coolest job, wouldn't it?

They ride around in these great kind of orange vans,

or luminous motorbikes.

They seem to have these great kind of outfits that they arrive in,

which are slightly spacey.

It would be a wonderful job, wouldn't it?

So let's just imagine.

Let's imagine you're driving home for Christmas.

It is freezing.

Unlike this December.

We'll throw in some snow as well, just for good measure.

But suddenly you have a problem with your car.

You're driving in the fast lane,

but you notice that you can't accelerate.

So you move into the middle lane.

You think, oh, it must be just the hill.

But as you put your foot on the accelerator again,

nothing happens.

And suddenly you find yourself at 60 mile per hour,

50 mile per hour,

40 mile per hour,

and you're in the slow lane.

It's at 20 mile per hour with your kids in the back,

shouting, are we there yet?

For the 15th time,

when you realise there's something really wrong with the car.

It's one of those Belgian lorries

with huge great floodlights seemingly right on your tail.

And you feel like you're going backwards.

People are flashing their lights at you

because you're going so slow.

And so you indicate with all your family there,

and you pull over to the hard shoulder.

You know what it's like when you're on the side of the motorway.

You know you can't stay in the car.

So you get the kids,

wife, husband, or the boyfriend, or the girlfriend,

out of the car.

And it is chucking it down with snow.

It is windy.

And you are there,

perched on the embankment.

It's absolutely freezing.

You've run the RAC,

but it feels like you've been there for four hours.

Nobody is glad to be on the side of the motorway.

And then suddenly,

in the distance,

you see them.

The orange van

with the flashing lights.

And they arrive,

and he steps out,

like this kind of a donet swearing,

a leather onesie,

and a shiny helmet.

And he comes over,

he fiddles with your car for a bit,

and he fixes it.

He gives you even a cup of hot chocolate from his flask.

He is a rescuer,

isn't he?

And you say,

you've rescued me.

You've saved Christmas.

You can't beat the AA.

The AA is all about rescue.

And that's what Christmas is all about.

It's all about rescue.

It's easy to miss the significance of Christmas,

isn't it?

All the festivities,

the fun,

the friends,

the fruitcake,

the family,

all the food.

And it's easy to miss the big point of Christmas,

that Jesus came to be a saviour.

He came to be a saviour.

Not from the hard shoulder,

not from the embankment on the side of a motorway,

but a saviour from sin.

Who are sinners?

If you live where I live,

you've got the people who fly tip.

They're the sinners,

isn't they?

They're the really awful people that you can never catch.

Fly tippers.

Or you think,

people who steal,

I read this this week,

in 2013,

the Centre for Retail Research

estimated that

£978 million of business

was lost to shoplifting

and employee theft

during the six weeks

running up to Christmas.

It's astonishing, isn't it?

£978 million.

Lost the fever.

But before I start pointing the finger at others,

I notice that there are three fingers

pointing back at me on there.

And I notice too,

as I understand something of the Bible's message,

that actually I am a thief as well.

I've not stolen from M&S.

I don't fly tip,

I promise.

But actually,

each one of us steals

on a daily basis.

We steal God's place.

God is the one who made this world.

God is the one who made you.

And God is the one who sits on the throne

and we try to steal his place

as if we should be in charge

of our lives.

As if we should run our life

without any reference to him.

So we ignore him.

And the Bible calls that sin.

Living as if we are in charge

in a world that belongs to God.

But the wonderful good news

of this message

of the first Christmas

is that there is another F.

That it's not just

festivity and family

and food and fruitcake

and fairy lights.

We'll all be enjoying

all those things this Christmas.

But it's possible for you

to enjoy an even more wonderful F

this season.

It's the F, forgiveness.

Jesus is the Saviour and the King.

And then the final thing

in these words

there is good news

of great joy

for all the people.

The Saviour King

has come for

all kinds of people.

I think that's the point

of the shepherds.

You might not have asked that question.

Why the shepherds?

Why are they included in the story?

Well when Princess Charlotte

of Cambridge was born

wasn't she?

In May.

When she was born in that hospital

she was surrounded by

the top surgeons of the country.

on royalties.

She was born in one of the best hospitals.

And it was announced

wasn't it

on a framed piece of paper

on a golden easel

outside of Buckingham Palace.

When our little baby figure is born

and seemingly when every other baby

is born isn't it?

We announce it

don't we?

By text.

You get one of those texts.

We're delighted

to announce.

We're overjoyed

to tell you.

Or you get an email

attached with loads of photos

of a slightly bedraggled man

holding a baby.

When Princess Charlotte was born

surrounded by top surgeons

and royalty

announced

on a framed piece of paper

on a golden easel.

But when Jesus Christ was born

he was royalty.

He was royalty.

The royal family of God

God's son

was born in a cow shed.

Surrounded by animals.

Yes wise men

came from the east

bringing gold and frankincense

and myrrh.

But the first people

to know about the arrival

of this baby

were the shepherds.

And I don't need to remind you

the kind of people

that shepherds work with.

They worked with dumb

smelly animals.

Back then

the shepherds

were often

the poorest of society.

They were really

on the margins.

They were outcasts.

The angels

could have announced

couldn't they

the birth

of the child

came to politicians

to media outlets

to famous celebrities.

But they announced

the good news

of that first Christmas

to shepherds

with pretty

anti-social

working hours.

And some of you

can relate to that.

You say

well actually

I'm not a church goer.

I don't do

this religious stuff.

But could this message

of Christmas

be for me?

I work in a hospital.

I work in an office.

I work in a school.

I sell the big issue.

These words tell us

that it is good news

of great joy

for all people.

No one is too bad

for Jesus.

It's possible

to be too good

but no one is too bad.

Good news

of great joy

for all the people.

How do we respond?

Let me give you

three things

really briefly

as I finish.

How do you respond?

First of all

stop.

Stop.

Maybe we shouldn't

just launch

into another Christmas

on autopilot.

I know nothing

about Star Wars.

I've never been to

see any of the films.

I think I might have

been to see one

but I've forgotten it.

But I know nothing

about it.

I can't really tell

the difference between

Star Trek and Star Wars.

It just has passed me by.

I never had the models

as children.

And so this week

has been this incredible

bombardment

from every angle

of you must be

into Star Wars.

What do I have to do

if I want to get into it?

I've got to stop.

I've got to look

who Darth Vader is

and who Luke Skywalker is

and CP30

or whoever these people are.

Harrison Ford is in it

I think.

I need to stop

and look

and I need to go

to the cinema

and see it.

And maybe with Christmas

actually you need to stop

and not just go through

it on autopilot.

Grab one of the books

that will be there

as you go out.

Stop.

And think about

Jesus Christ

because if he is

who he says he is

there's nothing

more relevant for you.

Stop.

Second thing is ask.

Ask those questions.

If you're a visitor tonight

probably I've raised

more questions to you

than I've talked once

tonight.

The virgin birthed

angels

a speaking God

who becomes one of us.

And it does raise

lots of questions

doesn't it?

Maybe this seems like

fairy stories to you.

But actually the claim

of the Bible is

this is history.

Verifiable history

that you can build

your life upon.

So why not

go to the person

who brought you

or the person

who gave you the flower

and ask them

those questions.

Or a friend

come back on a Sunday

morning or an evening.

Say to one of the people

here

let's go to the pub

and talk about it.

Stop.

Ask.

And then lastly

give.

If you're a visitor

to the church tonight

you might be thinking

well I knew

we'd get to this.

I knew we'd.

Churches are always

wanting your money

aren't they?

That's what they're after.

Give.

Let me explain

what I mean by that.

I don't want your money

and neither does God.

We're not taking

a collection this evening.

The mince pies

are free.

In fact you can take

loads of them all.

And of course

I'm saying

give presents away.

Be generous

this Christmas.

But the giving

that the Bible

demands of you

is that you

give yourself.

what God

wants from you

tonight

is not that you

suddenly change

and become

a better person.

That you stop

overeating

at Christmas.

But what God

wants from you

is he wants you

to give yourself.

What the Bible

asks of you

is that you

hand over

control of your

life to

the Lord Jesus.

That you

acknowledge

that he is

good news

of great joy

because he is

saviour

and Lord.

He is boss.

And actually

it's a frightening

thing to do

isn't it?

But Christmas

demands that you

give of yourself

and come under

his control

and live with

God in his

rightful place.

Because God

has so loved

the world

that he's given

his one and only

son.

That whoever

believes in him

shall not

perish

but have

eternal life.

Stop.

Ask.

Give.

Let's bow our

heads in prayer.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father

we thank you

that the

Bible teaches

us a message

of good news

of great joy

of a saviour

who is born

who is Lord

of all.

And I pray

for each one

of us

wherever we

are at

in this

journey

whether we've

never heard

anything like

this before

whether we've

heard it many

times

whether we are

full of more

questions than

answers

that your

Holy Spirit

would take

these truths

and apply them

deeply in our

lives

and not let us

go through

another Christmas

on autopilot

for we pray

this in Jesus

name.

Amen.