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大象传媒 Radio 4.听 And now it鈥檚 time for Sunday Worship, which this morning is a seasonal meditation from Emmanuel Church, Didsbury, led by Canon Stephen Shipley.听 He鈥檚 joined by the Quiristers of Winchester College who begin by singing a Christmas plainsong antiphon in procession.

Music: 听1. Procession (Hodie Christus natus est) and
听听2. Wolcom Yole!听听听 (2鈥�35鈥�)

STEPHEN
鈥榃elcome be ye that are here.听 Welcome all and make good cheer.听 Welcome all another year.听 Welcome!鈥�

Those anonymous mediaeval words, sung after the plainsong processional 鈥� (Hodie Christus natus est 鈥� Today Christ is born) - begin one of Benjamin Britten鈥檚 most attractive and delightful works - his Ceremony of Carols.听 He composed it though, in far from delightful circumstances 鈥� on an arduous sea journey that brought him back from the United States to wartime England in 1942.听 But like so much of Britten鈥檚 music for children, there鈥檚 an innocence and joy that is infectious.听 And that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 so appealing to hear it at this time of the year when Christians contemplate the joy and mystery of the Incarnation and the effect of that incarnation on the whole of creation.听 In three days鈥� time it will be Christmas Day in the Eastern Orthodox Church.听 The service of Vespers in their Christmas Liturgy invites us to bring the gift of ourselves before the humble God:

READER
What shall we offer thee, O Christ, who for our sakes hast appeared on earth as man?听
Every creature made by thee offers thee thanks.
The angels offer thee a hymn; the heavens a star;
The magi, gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; the earth, its cave; the wilderness, the manger:
And we offer thee a Virgin Mother.
O God from everlasting, have mercy upon us.

Music: 听3. There is no Rose听 (2鈥�35鈥�)

STEPHEN

鈥楲eave we all this worldly mirth, and follow we this joyful birth.鈥�

I wonder why it was that when St Mark came to write his Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God (as he calls him in the very first line), there鈥檚 no mention whatsoever of that joyful birth.听 Instead Jesus strides straight on to the public stage as the strong and energetic Son of Man.听 Before you know where you are, there he is, preaching, calling people to follow him, healing the sick, exorcising demons.听 Jesus never seems to stop except for prayer, and even that is activity-orientated.听 It鈥檚 as if the Romans, as the addressees of that Gospel, couldn鈥檛 reckon with a helpless Christ.

But St Luke鈥檚 Gospel is different.听 It portrays the Son of God as completely helpless.听 Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.听 The God who created the world lies in the straw of a makeshift cradle utterly dependent on the ministrations of a young woman for food and clothing.听 Yet can that really be so?听 Can God in any form, at any time, in any set of circumstances ever be helpless?听 Can he be dependent entirely on human support?听

Turn then to St Matthew鈥檚 Gospel and read about Joseph, stealing out under cover of darkness, taking with him Mary and the baby Jesus, making for the road down to Egypt.听 I walked the remains of that Roman road a few years ago, and it struck me then that the safety of the Saviour depended solely on the resourcefulness of a carpenter who鈥檇 become a refugee.听 Joseph was saving the child who, before he was born, was designated the Saviour of us all.

All right, you may say, but all this helplessness belonged only to Jesus鈥檚 infancy.听 It was only temporary.听 It wouldn鈥檛 be otherwise if he were God-made-man.听 But was it only a feature of his infancy?听 Remember the accounts of the mocking of Jesus at the end of the Gospels.听 鈥淚f you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!鈥澨� But he couldn鈥檛 come down because he was nailed to the wood.听 For all the world to see, he was the helpless Christ.

So when we peep into the manger and watch Mary cradle the baby Jesus in her arms, we wonder if helplessness is a significant feature of the God who made and sustains the universe.

Music: 听4a. That yonge child and
听听4b. Balulalow听 (3鈥�16鈥�)

STEPHEN

鈥極 my dear heart, young Jesus sweet, prepare thy cradle in my spirit,
And I shall rock thee to my heart, and never more from thee depart.鈥�

That picture of the helplessness of the tiny baby in the manger is of course a familiar one 鈥� and some would say a sentimental one.听 And that can so often detract from the true picture of Christmas - the rough and messy world into which our Lord was born.听 And yet it would be wrong to obliterate all the sentimentality.听 I believe some of it to be essential.听 I believe God wills it because, in his infinite loving kindness and understanding of human nature, he knows that the vast majority of people are touched by the helplessness of a newborn infant.听 They warm to a child as to no other.听 They鈥檙e not afraid of a child 鈥� of his strength or his superior intelligence, for he has neither.听

So God came to Bethlehem as a helpless child so that the good in us would draw us into his presence.听 As an early Church leader, Melito of Sardis, writing about 180 years after the birth of Jesus, pondered:

READER

He was borne by Mary and clothed with God鈥�appearing as a child he did not deny the eternity of his nature鈥�as human himself needing nourishment, yet as God ceaselessly nourishing the world.听 He stood before Pilate and sat by the Father.听 He hung on the cross and supported the universe.

STEPHEN

鈥楬e hung on the cross and supported the universe.鈥櫶� Such a testimony, such a mystery couldn鈥檛 be deduced from the birth of a baby.听 Yet that鈥檚 exactly what we鈥檙e met with at Christmas: a baby, but far more than a baby.听 In the Incarnation 鈥� the birth of God in human form 鈥� the risk of all risks taken 鈥� the unknowable becomes known.听 We鈥檙e drawn into salvation by the helpless Christ.听 It鈥檚 an extraordinary truth.听 But then God鈥檚 truth is extraordinary.听 It鈥檚 very deep and it鈥檚 very puzzling - and it鈥檚 also shockingly simple.听 Don鈥檛 lose the simplicity because of the puzzle.听 Don鈥檛 lose the depth because of the simplicity.听 But above all else come to the manger as you are and see the little baby being cradled by the one who was to become known as the Mother of God.

Music: 听5. I sing of a maiden and听
听听6. This little Babe听 (2鈥�31鈥�)

STEPHEN

鈥楳y soul with Christ join thou in fight;
Stick to the tents that he hath pight.
Within his crib is surest ward; this little Babe will be thy guard.鈥�

If we think we鈥檙e in danger of wallowing in too much sentiment while contemplating the Nativity story then Robert Southwell鈥檚 verse soon pulls us to our senses.听 Here in vivid imagery is a reminder that he鈥檚 grown, that baby - not that, it seems, a lot of people have noticed.听 To them he still looks the same, lying there in the straw with animals and shepherds looking on; safe, locked in that moment where time met eternity.听 Reality is different, because he grew up, astonishing people with his insight and disturbing them with ideas that challenged their complacency:

鈥楾his little Babe so few days old, is come to rifle Satan鈥檚 fold;
All hell doth at his presence quake, though he himself for cold do shake;
For in this weak unarm-ed wise the gates of hell he will surprise.鈥�

And surprise he did, and continues to do.听 Of course Jesus was an historical figure and therefore to some extent culturally conditioned.听 But he鈥檚 also strikingly contemporary.听 He was nothing if not arresting in speech, action and no doubt in personal presence.听 He had charisma - but he was and is elusive.听 And not only that 鈥� he was disconcerting, and yet with it all, compassionate and very strong.听 For centuries he鈥檚 never failed to intrigue an extraordinary diversity of people who鈥檝e been prepared to try to articulate the mystery of the Incarnate Christ 鈥� like a former Bishop of Durham, David Jenkins:

READER

Christmas confronts us with a baby as the glory of God.听 The real wonder did not, and does not, lie with angels and shepherds or a guiding star from the east.听 All these are derived wonders, pointing to the true wonder, symbolising the faith and reflecting the glory.听 The real glory, the lasting glory and the undeniable glory is the baby who grew up as Jesus of Nazareth to be 鈥榗rucified, dead and buried.鈥櫶� But this was the beginning rather than the end: for the God whom he named with particular intimacy as his Father and whom he served with particular passion, raised Jesus up.听 So Jesus was known to be Christ the Lord, the power of God鈥檚 kingdom, the means of God鈥檚 judgement and the promise of God鈥檚 future.听 Thus when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, we are confronted with a baby as the glory of God.

Music: 听7. Interlude听 (3鈥�51鈥�)

STEPHEN

鈥榃e are confronted with a baby as the glory of God.鈥�

Yet in the event itself, in the life and style of Jesus the presence of God was not obviously incarnate.听 Looking into the manger at Bethlehem, people didn鈥檛 stagger back at the glory confronting them.听 All they saw was an ordinary-looking baby, in so far as any baby is ordinary.听 The inhabitants of Nazareth didn鈥檛 hesitate to take their broken tools to Jesus the carpenter to be mended because he looked divine.听 Although the twelve apostles, chosen by Jesus to be with him, certainly regarded him with awe, conscious that he was different 鈥� so different that only on one occasion did one of them, Peter, dare to offer him advice and was rebuked for doing so in the most terrible terms.听 Jesus was a puzzle.听 He was like other people, and yet most unlike other people.听 As time went on however, some of his followers began to perceive what St John in his gospel called his glory:

READER

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.听 And we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

STEPHEN

Even then though, that glory was veiled 鈥� partly revealed but also partly hidden.听 That is how it was with the glory of the incarnate Christ.听 Sometimes what Jesus did appeared as clear signs of the real presence of God.听 At other times the limitations of his humanity stood out.听 At his crucifixion, were there any who could see God there dying on that wooden cross?听 It wasn鈥檛 until the Resurrection that Jesus鈥檚 followers came to realise that the glory they had seen in him was in fact the glory of God, the Word made flesh.听 It was then - not before - that they had a gospel to proclaim.

So what does this mean for you and me?听 It means we shall not really see God unless we make an effort to see Jesus, the incarnate Christ.听 Yes, we may sense the presence of God as we gaze in rapture at the glory of some scene of natural beauty or feel deeply moved by a piece of literature or music.听 To be human is to know these feelings, but God will not be fully experienced until we turn and look at the incarnate Christ, God made visible.听 As the Apostle Paul wrote to his friends in Colossae:

READER

In him we knew a fullness never known before,
in him we saw a man fully living.
听
In him we see the God who can鈥檛 be seen;
in him all things that will be or have been
have roots and take their being.

The universe, and all its millions teemng,
seen and unseen, in him find their meaning,
their reason and their value.

He lives in those who, breathing with his breath,
source of their life, and conqueror of their death,
together form his body.

Music:听 听8. In freezing winter night听 (3鈥�34鈥�)

STEPHEN

鈥榃ith joy approach, O Christian wight, do homage to thy King.
And highly praise his humble pomp, which he from heaven doth bring.鈥�

In three days鈥� time, in the Western Church, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, the time traditionally when the Wise Men found Jesus in Bethlehem and did homage to their King.听 The poet W H Auden imagines them on their journey.听 One says: 鈥楾o discover how to be truthful now is the reason I follow this star.鈥櫶� Another says:听 鈥楾o discover how to be loving now is the reason I follow this star鈥�, and the third: 鈥楾o discover how to be living now is the reason I follow this star鈥�.听 Then they all say together: 鈥楾o discover how to be human now is the reason we follow this star.鈥�

In the life of Jesus we have a glimpse of what being truly human means.听 By his loving and by his living he revealed the abundant life he wants us all to share.听 Our prayer is that as we travel through life, we will have the star to guide us as we look for God and the will of God in everything around us.听 For, as Cardinal Basil Hume wrote so memorably in his final months:

READER

We might just have seen the child in the manger and missed the point 鈥� that he is also God.听 Equally, we can go through life meeting people, loving people, and also miss the point.听 We can see only with our physical eyes, so we have to let that little light which is faith lead us to God who is, in some wonderful manner, within all things.听 If we look for him every day in our present situation in this life then we will most certainly find him.听 All the time our eyes are being trained to see him in the full glare of vision.听 That is our ultimate expectation.

Music:听 9. Spring Carol听 (1鈥�09鈥�)

STEPHEN

Father, as we rejoice in the incarnation of your Son Jesus, we acknowledge also his suffering for our salvation.听 Give us grace to proclaim both the joy and the great price of your love.听 May the message of this holy time be heard in a world where mistrust and cruelty still bring about the abuse of power.听

We bring before you the innocent who suffer by human sin.听 We pray for all caught up in war and conflict, for victims of terrorism and crime, for children abused: protect them with your power of love.听 We remember those who have died in childhood and youth.听 As they find fulfilment in the life eternal, comfort those who remain and mourn for them.听 Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.听 Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is heaven.听 Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.听 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.听 For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.听 Amen.

As Jesus brought peace, turn us into peacemakers.听 As Jesus brought hope, make us messengers of hope.听 As Jesus brought love, rekindle love in us so that the birth of the baby in Bethlehem may be a beginning and not an end.听

Music:听 听10.听 Deo Gratias听 (1鈥�09鈥�)

STEPHEN

鈥楧eo Gracias 鈥� thanks be to God.鈥�

O God, you have been with us from the beginning, but in the life of Jesus, you have revealed yourself for all time.听 Draw us to him so that we may come to know you more and more, and bring us to that heaven where his light shines for ever and ever.听 Amen.听听

Music:听 听11.听 Recession听 (1鈥�30鈥�)