Jesus, whose mother Mary gave him an earthly family: we pray for our loved ones near and far. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.
Jesus, whose parents had nowhere to stay, and who was laid in a manger:
we pray for all who are homeless, lonely, the rejected, the refugees. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.
Jesus, sharing the stable with the animals: we pray for the goodness of all your creation. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.
Jesus, worshipped by every race and class, from shepherds to magi: we pray for ever nation and people. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.
Jesus, whose birth was announced by angels singing praises: we pray for all who glorify your name. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.
Jesus, our Emmanuel, our God-With-Us: we pray for everyone who needs to feel you with them today. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.
Jesus, you bring Joy to the World: we pray for everyone to know joy this Christmas, and for us who have joy to share it. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.
This Holy Night, when silence is sacred, we raise our prayers of heart and mind to the creator of the universe, whose majesty and power was revealed to us in the vulnerability of a newborn child. As we have recognised our vulnerability this year, so too do we celebrate the strength of faith which has sustained us and brought us here tonight.
And so we pray to God with joy and peace:
By the good news of our salvation brought to Mary by the angel; By the mystery of the Word made flesh; By the birth in time of the timeless Son of God; By the manifestation of the King of glory to the shepherds and magi; By the submission of the maker of the world to Mary and Joseph of Nazareth.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, our eternal Father and David’s king. You have made our gladness greater and increased our joy by sending to dwell among us the Wonderful Counsellor, the Prince of Peace. Born of Mary, proclaimed to the shepherds, and acknowledged to the ends of the earth, your unconquered Sun of righteousness destroys our darkness and establishes us in freedom. All glory in the highest be to you, through Christ, the Son of your favour, in the anointing love of his Spirit, this night and forever. Amen.
Tonight we've just heard Luke's story about how Jesus was born. For some of us for the hundredth time, for some of us it may be the first time.
It's one story of MANY that we hear - especially at Christmastime, there seem to be a lot of stories out there.
Some of them we think are great, some maybe we don't like as much.
But these stories - they give us a LOT of information - but they don't give us ALL the information.
They give us the words, and then invite us to use our imaginations to fill in the gaps. We make it our own - we imagine how tall someone was, or what colour dress they were wearing, or what the something smelled like or how warm the room was. When someone says "a dog walked across the street" my brain will go to a Shepherd, who likes to sit and bark in a rectory window… and someone else might think of a tiny little white beagle.
And this is part of what makes a story a GOOD story - because it invites people to make it their own, reflecting their own interests and experiences. When a story activates out imaginations, we want to make it even better.
That's why some stories get really complicated. The more characters there are, the more likely we'll relate to at least one of them. The more descriptions of the setting, the more we can feel what's happening. The more action, the more we can visualise the events unfolding.
And sometimes, the more we get into the story, the more it grows bigger and bigger, every time we tell it. Sometimes with many people there, we might interject more and more details. Think about family stories - those good, funny, tell-it-every-year stories. Every time they're told, they get a bit funnier, a bit more descriptive, a bit more fascinating. They get more fun as more and more people get involved in the telling and hearing and re-telling.
Well, our Christmas story tonight does this for us too. For some 2000 years we have been hearing it, imagining it, and telling it. No matter what is going on in the world around us – wars, plagues, famines – we tell the story.
And WOW do we tell it! We - Christians - always have done. Because this is the greatest story of all time.
Not because of the words on the page - let's be honest, those words aren't the greatest themselves; I can't imagine any English teacher being happy with the little information that we get as words on the page.
The whole birth is ONE VERSE. One sentence. No special effects, no exclamation mark - just that Mary gave birth, wrapped the child in cloth, and laid him in a manger.
BUT! The impact is HUGE. We know that every child is a miracle; we celebrate every birth. And THIS birth - despite its few written words – this birth changes the world. Jesus's birth is where the story begins.
Immediately the story starts to grow. Even before Mary and Joseph can get word to their relatives that the child has arrived safely, the angels come and tell it to the shepherds.
Then the shepherds go and verify it - we know it's always best to tell a true story, to make sure it's not just rumour. And this story seems so fantastical to them that they want to make sure they've got it right!
And then the shepherds tell it - as much as they can.
And then the people who hear it tell it.
And then those people also tell it.
So each time it gets bigger and bigger, more people hear it, more people imagine what it was like (what colour were the bands of cloth Mary used? Where was the manger she laid him in? Who else was there to help with the birth?)
And over the years - the 2000 years - this has also become our shared story. We've embellished it with a stable, and animals, and a flowy angel at the birth scene, and all other sorts of imagery.
And now - NOW - tonight - we celebrate this as OUR story. It's the story of a baby, small and vulnerable, who would grow into a great teacher and leader. Someone who would preach love and forgiveness and peace and joy. Someone who would remind the world to find ways to be kind to one another, to look for ways to get along, to always seek out the light. Someone who promised us that the light is ALWAYS there.
And, divinely, someone who offers to us the gift of forgiveness of sins, redemption and salvation for our souls, and the hope of eternal life with all we love and have loved.
THIS is our story. This is the story that we have been told.
This is the story that we have been invited to connect with.
This is the story that we have been challenged to relate to.
A story that has been trusted to us, given to us, gifted to us. A story for us to tell - to everyone we encounter. Using our words, using our prayers, using our actions.
This is a story of love - the perfect unconditional love that comes from God. That warms our hearts. That reminds us of the Good News that never fades.
So this Christmas, I thank God that we are come together to live the story of love, to continue the story of love, to go out into the world proclaiming the story of love.
As the Good News has been told to us, may we delight in the privilege of telling the story.
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