MIDNIGHT MASS OF CHRISTMAS 2009

Sermon preached by the Rev. Suzanne Mayes at St. Andrews, Romford

So a Securicor van pulled up outside the house and a large heavy box addressed to my husband was delivered to my door…and my mind raced between it being Christmas…. Securicor…expensive….”oh maybe my Christmas present” I said to the delivery man as I signed for this large box….my expectations rose then I caught sight of RSPB(Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) sticker on the side of the box…..and realised very quickly that it was a delivery of nuts and seeds for the birds. I complained to the driver that my husband thinks more of the birds than he does of me and the kids! Of course at this grim time of year with so much snow and ice it's commendable that my husband's thoughts are for the wildlife in the garden. And I am sure that he has bought me the handbag that I wanted for Christmas…if he hasn't he may find some wildlife in the kitchen on Christmas morning…!

But we are here this evening to remind ourselves of the true meaning of Christmas and to be renewed by it. We are here in Church to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the incarnation, God becoming man. Perfect love being born into the world in the baby Jesus. We celebrate the mystery of God appearing among us.

To believe that God is above is one thing. But to believe that God is not only almighty that he is not only all-sufficient but that he is “God with us.” God the near, God the understanding and the intimate – that is best of all. The eternal God , the infinite entering into our world at a particular point in time, is simply amazing. .

You would think that the world would naturally have expected such a mighty and important event to have been highlighted by some mighty cosmic display , some shaking of the earth and the skies, some focussing of the whole world's attention upon this event which swiftly should dominate its age. But instead God who is the source and meaning of all life, reveals himself in the little child to be born in the stable of an insignificant town. It's as though God said “I will not let you think that in some grand and wealthy place of privilege life will achieve its infinite fulfilment- no but here in this lowly place, here among ordinary people I came todwell with you.”

This event changed the life of the world. It is such an amazing story of perfect love coming into the world.

A line from a Beatles song came to me and it's a question to each one of you.. ”How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?” a line from the Beatles - “Baby you're a rich man.”

I'm not sure how beautiful we all feel….but it's certainly the way that God sees us. And I'm not sure that any of us feels particularly rich at the moment having I guess probably spent more than we intended to in order to celebrate Christmas. But we are rich in the love of God. Each one of us here is beautiful and worth a great deal to God. And the reason that God in Jesus came into the world was to make that very point, to make the point that we are beautiful in God's eyes and rich in His love. . Of course…we know we all do things that we think are not so very beautiful. Sometimes we feel unworthy to be loved so much by Him. But Jesus came into the world…to meet us where we, and as we are…knowing that we are not perfect…knowing that we all make mistakes, knowing that we get it wrong so often …but that does not affect how much we matter to God and how much he cares about us.

“How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people? What would you like to be?” And my guess that most of the answers would be “to be loved.” It's the one thing we all crave, to be loved by someone, to matter to someone. How awful is the thought that no one loves us or cares about us.

Last week I had a conversation with a prisoner on that very subject. As you know I spend time behind bars working in prison as a prison chaplain. And last week at a Carol service in Chelmsford prison I had a chat with a prisoner who was telling me that his background was such that he didn't really know love and that he finds now that it badly affects his relationship with his girlfriends. He was telling me that he becomes quite obsessive about love, really wanting to be loved and to love someone but finds he is too intense and is trying to learn to take a step back because his intensity keeps driving his girlfriends away. And again and again he is left feeling unloved….

At that same carol service – some Christian visitors, from a more fundamental tradition, gave out leaflets. On the front of the leaflet in big bold letters was written a question “Heaven or hell?” and this leaflet was, I suppose, meant to promote the Christian faith. But what it does, in my opinion, is promote a faith based on fear. Some of the prisoners are vulnerable and at the end of their tether, some are already weighed down and preoccupied with guilt over their crimes, and the destruction it has caused victims and their families. So to give them the added burden of declaring they are going to hell, unless they become a Christian is just awful.

The Christian faith is not built on fear, fear of what might happen if we do not believe. The Christian faith is built on the love of God for all people and how we show that love. The Christian faith does not mean those who believe are beyond reproach and without sin…we are not - but we try. The Christian faith does not mean that life will be made easy for us and that those who believe will be immune to suffering and pain – we are not - but we have in Jesus someone who knows what it is to suffer.

But our Christian faith does give meaning to our lives and enriches our lives. Without our faith our lives would feel empty and meaningless. It would be like celebrating Christmas without Jesus. As someone said “Take Christ out of Christmas and all you are left with is M & S.” Empty, meaningless. What's the point? As Christians we do not know all the answers, but we believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God, born in a stable in Bethlehem who came into the world for everyone of us even prisoners. And prisoners are religious in their own way. As I've said before they often ask me for rosemary beads…or talk to me about prayer as they tell me that I am not praying hard enough because West Ham are rubbish!! Or a favourite prayer is Holy Mary mother of God send us down a couple of bob!.” And for obvious reasons prisoners are marginalised and to a certain extent, outcasts, much like the shepherds in Jesus day. Shepherds were not at the centre of the social life in Palestine but viewed with suspicion so it's even more remarkable that they should be chosen as among the first to hear of the birth of Jesus.

The angels announced the good news to the shepherds…and as some young children were heard to sing recently “Hark the hairy angels sing..”

Jesus is not preoccupied with what we've had done or not done. He is working with us through the Holy Spirit to show the world something of the perfect love of God -

•  that love which is shown by the people of Wootton Bassett who consistently line the roads when the coffins of our service men and women killed in action come home.

•  love shown by those who cleared ice and snow from the pathways of the elderly who live alone.

•  love shown by those owners of the four wheel drives who came to the rescue of a stranded bride and took her and her guests to the church in time for her wedding.

In all that we do we know that God is able to make wonderful things from the fragments of our endeavours to do our best.

We matter to God, we are chosen by Him. We are rich in His love.

Tonight we celebrate that perfect love coming into the world for all people. Not the select few. For all of us. I hope and pray that each one of you will catch a glimpse of that perfect love this Christmas time and beyond. I wish you a very happy Christmas!.

Spoken to you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

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