You may wish to light a candle before you begin.
May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.
Collect
Lord Jesus Christ, your birth at Bethlehem draws us to kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth: accept our heartfelt praise as we worship you, our Saviour and our eternal God. Amen.
Confession
Christ the Light of the World has come to dispel the darkness of our hearts. In his light let us examine ourselves and confess our sins.
Christ came in humility to share our lives. When we forget to be humble and grow in pride - Lord, have mercy:
Lord, have mercy.
Christ came with good news for all the world. When we forget to share his word and choose to keep silence - Christ, have mercy:
Christ, have mercy.
Christ came in love to a world of suffering. When we forget our neighbour in need and become self-centred - Lord, have mercy:
Lord, have mercy.
May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
God’s Word - Titus, chapter 2, verses 11 to 14 :-
The grace of God has dawned upon the world with healing for all mankind; and by it we are disciplined to renounce godless ways and worldly desires, and to live a life of temperance, honesty, and godliness in the present age, looking forward to the happy fulfilment of our hope when the splendour of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus will appear. He it is who sacrificed himself for us, to set us free from all wickedness and to make us his own people, pure and eager to do good.
Luke, chapter 2, verses 1 to 20 :-
In those days a decree was issued by the emperor Augustus for a census to be taken throughout the Roman world. This was the first registration of its kind; it took place when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone made his way to his own town to be registered. Joseph went up to Judaea from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to register in the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house of David by descent; and with him went Mary, his betrothed, who was expecting her child. While they were there the time came for her to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.
Now in this same district there were shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch through the night over their flock. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them. They were terrified, but the angel said, ‘Do not be afraid; I bring you good news, news of great joy for the whole nation. Today there has been born to you in the city of David a deliverer—the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.’ All at once there was with the angel a great company of the heavenly host, singing praise to God: ‘Glory to God in highest heaven, and on earth peace to all in whom he delights.’
After the angels had left them and returned to heaven the shepherds said to one another, ‘Come, let us go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’ They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child, they related what they had been told about him; and all who heard were astonished at what the shepherds said. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered over them. The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for what they had heard and seen; it had all happened as they had been told.
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
Reflection on the Readings
Just a few days ago, we were placing this year’s crib figures into the Christmas crib at Holy Trinity Church, Middleton. I say this year’s figures because at Middleton the tradition is that local families make crib figures out of clay, that are then glazed and fired by Owen. So each year’s figures are new, and special, and original. Sometimes very original indeed, but always lovely. And to my untutored eyes, this year’s crib figures were especially fine - each one very new, very different, very personal.
The story is the same every year, located precisely by Luke at a point in history, a census, ordered by the emperor’s representative, requiring people to answer for themselves at their family home town. Jesus is a historical figure. You can go and see the probable place where he was born, albeit now inside a great basilica church in the Manger Square of Bethlehem. That’s where it happened, and that’s when it happened, more than two thousand years ago.
Pope Francis expressed his disapproval of this year’s rather trendy Christmas crib at the Vatican, with figures some of whom looked more like robots than real human beings. Let’s not be trendy just for the sake of it, was his basic message; the idea of the Christmas crib, after all, is to give us a glimpse of that once and for all event, which did happen in that place and at that time. It’s like a Shakespeare play performed in modern dress. Some people may like it. I don’t, not really.
But then again, I suppose you could call “West Side Story” Shakespeare turned into something modern, and that emphatically does work. Our Christmas carols, the real carols that is, songs designed to be danced to, not sung by stately choirs, also brought the birth of Christ up to date - for of course the ordinary folk who first sung those carols sung about Jesus being born where they were, and into their sort of life. What did they know about first century Palestine?
I asked one little boy what he’d made for the crib; “A monster,” he replied. I think we may have counted it as some kind of sheep, but certainly in the past we’ve had chickens and ducks, a Dalek, an old land rover, and maybe a brontosaurus, though on reflection that might have been a very junior attempt at modelling a camel. It doesn’t matter; and maybe some of the figures Pope Francis didn’t like might not have looked too out of place in our crib. For here’s the point. This is something that happened just once, at one time in history, and we mustn’t lose sight of that; but it is also our story, the story of God’s love for everyone, and in every age.
So it involves historical facts, and very real ordinary folk, shepherds doing their job of watching the sheep up there on the hills. But it also includes angels, not normally seen even on those holy hills, and singing the songs of heaven, glory to God. As our collect reminded us, here we have the wonder of heaven touching earth, and it’s revealed first not to theologians, not to kings, not even to the mayor of Bethlehem, but to shepherds, the most ordinary of ordinary folk.
So it’s everybody’s story: God’s love offered to every soul. No-one is excluded, no-one is left out. The Christ-child, born in that one place then, and yet somehow also born in every place, and in every time, and for you, and for me. So Christina Rossetti, whose poem “In the Bleak Midwinter” places the birth in the frozen waste of a very European winter, asks, “What can I give him, poor as I am?” Her answer is simple - for what else can you give, in response to God’s gift of his Son? “Give my heart.”
Statement of faith -
We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayers -
We ask God to grant peace and goodwill to his Church in every place this Christmas, and to enable his Church to offer that peace and goodwill to all around us. We pray especially for the Church in the Holy Land, that it may be blessed. We pray for our Diocese and for Richard our Bishop. We pray for the churches and communities of the Abbeydore Deanery.
We continue to pray for peace, wherever in the world there is conflict or division, and for all that brings healing, blessing and hope to those in need. In this Christmas made difficult by the Covid virus, we pray for all who are having to spend it alone, or far from loved ones. We pray for a calm and measured response to the growth in cases, and for the continued roll-out of vaccines and vaccination.
We pray for all who are ill, and especially for all who will spend Christmas in hospital or in a care home, especially where it’s difficult for them to be visited. We pray for all who will be staffing our hospitals and our health and emergency services over the holiday, and for their safety and protection. And we pray especially for children who are ill, and for their families.
We pray for our families and friends, and for the life of our churches and communities. We pray for all who will find this Christmas to be a sad and difficult time, for whatever reason. And as we draw to the close of a strange and difficult year, may we look forward in hope to brighter days. And may we look out for each other through this testing time, and keep safe ourselves.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Blessing -
May Christ the Son of God gladden your hearts with the good news of his kingdom; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.
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