Have you ever heard anyone say “O I am having a Traditional Christmas”
And when you ask them what that means,
It is very different from what you think of as a traditional Christmas!
What are your Christmas traditions?
I got caught this year.
Let me begin with a confession,
In many ways I am a bit of a bloke!
By that I mean I don’t always observe the little details,
The way that my wife does,
Or the way that she expects me too
My wife will see to all the details
Whereas me,
Well I try to turn up on time and dressed correctly,
And that’s about as best you can hope for!
Anyway as we were putting up the decorations this year,
I was happily slapping tinsel here there and everywhere.
When my wife said,
“What are you doing?”
“I’m decorating dear,” was my reply,
“But that goes there””
“Does it?” I replied
“That were we had it last year”
“Was it? Ok.”
What are you Christmas traditions?
The things that make it Christmas for you?
For those things are precious.
They are the familiar things that remind us that this is Christmas
They are the customs which remind us of Christmases past
I know tonight that there are people here who are having to deal with changes to their traditions,
Those who spend a first Christmas without a loved one,
Those having to created new traditions the other side of a broken relationship
Those whose loved ones are far way.
But the shadow side of our beloved Christmas traditions
is that we risk making them more important than the message they represent.
The danger of the Christmas story is that it IS so familiar
that we can lose the amazing impact of its glorious message in the frenzy that surrounds the Christmas event
The challenge we face is to find ways to capture the wonder - preserve the power –
to "be like children" hearing it all again for the first time.
Can you remember the first time your heard the Christmas story?
I can’t,
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know about the manger and the angels and the shepherds and the wise men.
What would it be like to ask, "What is Christmas all about." and not already know the answer?
Well, about four years ago,
two church ministers were invited by the Russian Department of Education
to teach morals and ethics from the Bible in an orphanage
And when you ask them what that means,
It is very different from what you think of as a traditional Christmas!
What are your Christmas traditions?
I got caught this year.
Let me begin with a confession,
In many ways I am a bit of a bloke!
By that I mean I don’t always observe the little details,
The way that my wife does,
Or the way that she expects me too
My wife will see to all the details
Whereas me,
Well I try to turn up on time and dressed correctly,
And that’s about as best you can hope for!
Anyway as we were putting up the decorations this year,
I was happily slapping tinsel here there and everywhere.
When my wife said,
“What are you doing?”
“I’m decorating dear,” was my reply,
“But that goes there””
“Does it?” I replied
“That were we had it last year”
“Was it? Ok.”
What are you Christmas traditions?
The things that make it Christmas for you?
For those things are precious.
They are the familiar things that remind us that this is Christmas
They are the customs which remind us of Christmases past
I know tonight that there are people here who are having to deal with changes to their traditions,
Those who spend a first Christmas without a loved one,
Those having to created new traditions the other side of a broken relationship
Those whose loved ones are far way.
But the shadow side of our beloved Christmas traditions
is that we risk making them more important than the message they represent.
The danger of the Christmas story is that it IS so familiar
that we can lose the amazing impact of its glorious message in the frenzy that surrounds the Christmas event
The challenge we face is to find ways to capture the wonder -
Can you remember the first time your heard the Christmas story?
I can’t,
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know about the manger and the angels and the shepherds and the wise men.
What would it be like to ask, "What is Christmas all about." and not already know the answer?
Well, about four years ago,
two church ministers were invited by the Russian Department of Education
to teach morals and ethics from the Bible in an orphanage
where there were over 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned or abused.
It was nearing Christmas and they told the story of Joseph and Mary and Jesus the Angels and the Shepherds and the Wise Men -
The children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened.
After they finished the story,
the children were given simple materials
so that each child could make his or her own nativity scene.
They used small pieces of cardboard to make a manger.
Yellow napkins were shredded to make the straw.
Flannel became swaddling cloth and a baby was cut from felt.
As the children were busy making their nativity scenes, one of the teachers walked among them to see if they needed any help.
Misha sat at one table - a 6 year old with his completed nativity set proudly in front of him.
As the teacher looked at the little boy's manger,
she was startled to see not one but two babies in the manger.
Calling for the translator, she asked Misha why there were two babies.
Misha crossed his arms in front of him and began to repeat the Christmas story.
The teacher was amazed for such a young child who had only heard the story once,
Misha told it with great care and detail:
until he came to the part where Mary put the baby in the manger.
Misha said,
"And when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him I have no mama and no papa, so I don't have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn't, because I didn't have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, "If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?" And Jesus told me; "If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me."
So I got into the manger and then Jesus looked and me and he told me that I could stay with him for always."
In a single telling of the Christmas story, Misha found Jesus and claimed him as his own: the orphan yearning for a home found one in the cradle of a King. For always.
And that is the promise of Christmas:
the promise we claim tonight and celebrate with our beloved traditions.
The promise that we are enfolded in the arms of Christ
The promised that we are loved by God
The promise that wherever we are this Christmas Eve, we are home.
Merry Christmas. Amen
It was nearing Christmas and they told the story of Joseph and Mary and Jesus the Angels and the Shepherds and the Wise Men -
The children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened.
After they finished the story,
the children were given simple materials
so that each child could make his or her own nativity scene.
They used small pieces of cardboard to make a manger.
Yellow napkins were shredded to make the straw.
Flannel became swaddling cloth and a baby was cut from felt.
As the children were busy making their nativity scenes, one of the teachers walked among them to see if they needed any help.
Misha sat at one table -
she was startled to see not one but two babies in the manger.
Calling for the translator, she asked Misha why there were two babies.
Misha crossed his arms in front of him and began to repeat the Christmas story.
The teacher was amazed for such a young child who had only heard the story once,
Misha told it with great care and detail:
until he came to the part where Mary put the baby in the manger.
Misha said,
"And when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him I have no mama and no papa, so I don't have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn't, because I didn't have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, "If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?" And Jesus told me; "If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me."
So I got into the manger and then Jesus looked and me and he told me that I could stay with him for always."
In a single telling of the Christmas story, Misha found Jesus and claimed him as his own: the orphan yearning for a home found one in the cradle of a King. For always.
And that is the promise of Christmas:
the promise we claim tonight and celebrate with our beloved traditions.
The promise that we are enfolded in the arms of Christ
The promised that we are loved by God
The promise that wherever we are this Christmas Eve, we are home.
Merry Christmas. Amen