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´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4

CHRISTMAS SERVICE RECORDING

YORK MINSTER

Producer: Philip Billson

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Please note that the script may not be exactly as broadcast and may include mistakes and notes.

 

The Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell is the preacher for the Christmas Service now on Radio 4 and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sounds, which comes from York Minster. The leader is the Succentor Catriona Cumming and worship is introduced by the Dean of |York, Dominic Barrington. The Minster choir begins with a playful setting of one of the most popular of Christmas carols.Ìý

Ding dong, merrily on high (arr Mack Willberg)

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A very happy Christmas and thank you for joining us for this service from York Minster. Wherever you are, you are very welcome as we kneel in adoration before the manger throne of our Lord Jesus Christ. In our carols, in our readings, and in our prayers today we will give thanks for his birth, which for Christians is a reminder of the greatest gift we can ever receive, God’s great gift of self-giving love. And we’ll be asking, as the service progresses, what makes a truly happy Christmas?Ìý

Carol: O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,

We have come together as the family of God, in our Father’s presence, to celebrate the great festival of Christmas. In this service we hear and receive the good news of the birth of Christ and we offer to God our thanksgiving in the joyful singing of carols.

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As we gather together in the name of Christ, we pray for the world he came to save:

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for the Church, that it may be enabled in our generation to surrender anew to God’s holy Wisdom, and bear the good news of God’s love to a needy world;

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for the world, which is already Christ’s, that all its peoples may recognize their responsibility for its future, and may be inspired by the message of Christmas to work together for the establishment of justice, freedom and peace everywhere;

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for all in special need, the sick, the anxious, the lonely, the fearful and the bereaved, that the peace and light of the Christ-child may bring hope and healing to all who sit in darkness.

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Let us join all these prayers together in the words that Jesus gave us.

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(ALL) 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.

One of the enduring images of the Nativity story, found only in Luke’s Gospel, is the coming of the angels to the shepherds tending their flocks by night, to announce the birth of Jesus. This story is beautiful and compelling because it reminds us that although he was revered and feared by magi and kings, his appearing was a joy to everyone, including the humble shepherds living in the fields.Ìý This is Luke Chapter 2

Reading from Luke 2

CHOIR: There is no rose (Robert Sharpe)ÌýÌý

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One of our Choristers, Pixie, read that familiar account just now from the Gospel of Luke. And next we’re going to hearÌý from another member of our choir, Edward: Last year the Minster revived a medieval tradition of nominating a child bishop from the choir. They do a swap with the powers that be – the Dean or the Archbishop – that’s me - for a short while and pretend to be running the place! Edward told me how he came to be chosen…

Recorded interview

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A reading from the Gospel of John, Chapter 1.

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Thanks be to God.

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O Little Town of Bethlehem

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Archbishop: There was no room at the inn. That's one of the first things small children learn about the Christmas story. Many learn very little else; reflecting what many of us, old and young, tend to do when God comes knocking. We turn God away. God – and God’s values of peace and justice, God’s uncomfortable habit of welcoming everyone and of treating everyone the same – are deeply disturbing in a world which loves to build barriers and pass judgment.

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So we draw the curtains. Check the locks. Put the chain across the door. Set the burglar alarm. Make excuses. Say we’re busy. Pretend we’re out. Ask God politely to move along. Imagine we are in charge ourselves, and peek through the net curtains to check God’s gone somewhere else.

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We don't want God on the telly. Well, not too much. We think a happy Christmas can be found in other ways, and any number of adverts sell us dreams of wealth and beauty and the products that will deliver them and the happiness that comes with them. So please don't disturb these aspirations with something that tells us we may have to wait, or make do with what we’ve got, and that, instead of accumulating loads and loads, happiness might actually be found in giving. Especially not at Christmas.

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And we don't want God in politics. Well, not too much. And only if God supports my opinions. That’s what my happiness depends on.

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And we don't want God in our homes. Fairy lights, tinsel, Christmas trees, yuletide logs, reindeers whose red noses glow in the dark, and Father Christmas, yes they are very welcome, these are what makes Christmas happy, and if this disquieting story of a teenage mum and a backstreet birth, a poll-tax summons and a tyrant king, a bloody genocide and a refugee family fleeing for their lives, must intrude on our celebrations, then let it be that cosy, neutral, Disneyland version that sits on the mantelpiece and, bathed in beatific light, won't harm anyone.

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And, saddest of all, we don't seem to want God in our hearts. Why? Because they are too full of the worship of other gods. The gods of celebrity, the gods of pride, the gods of plenty and excess whose festivals of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Panic Tuesday, re-mortgage the house Wednesday and Boxing Day sales we must faithfully observe.

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Oh, poor sinners that we are this Christmas in a country disturbed by unhealthy divisions and divisive slogans in a world engulfed again by war and conflict: never more in need of this fantastic story of love, yet never more distant from its firm and particular embrace.

God is knocking. And God can offer a peace beyond understanding and a happiness as well. That’s what Wendy discovered. Furloughed from her job, she approached her local church in Hull to find out how she could get involved serving her community. In that service, supporting a foodbank network she came to serve many, andÌý discovered the one who is the servant of all, the Christ child we welcome today. She welcomed Jesus into her life, and joy and renewal followed. God can break down barriers, close distances of separation in a moment. Yes, I know we have all put so much insulation round our lives that it is sometimes hard to hear God; I know that we think life is easier or even better without God, but the message of Christmas is that God is among us, and in  the most unlikely and surprising ways, offering the world a different future. God is in the Christ child born of Mary, born as one of us.   

Brothers and sisters, God is knocking at our door. If we open the door, God will come in and eat with us. God will help us see ourselves differently. God will help us see the world differently, for it is God’s peace that the world so urgently needs, a peace we cannot manufacture for ourselves.  Perhaps that’s one of the messages that ancient practice of the child bishop we heard about earlier brings. Edward enjoyed running York Minster for a day, and his essay longed for a better world, a world turned upside down where the powerless become the powerful, and the powerful gladly take on the humility of those at the bottom of the pile. Perhaps that upside-downess is the kind of peace we long for, in our better selves. A true happiness. A joy that will last longer than the Turkey. And with more fizz than Prosecco.

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Wise men and women still look for this peace, still crave this joy. Shepherds and all sorts of unlikely people are always welcome. Angels sang about it then. Their song is still alive today echoed in our carolling. So, invite God in this Christmas. You will be pleasantly surprised, though he may bring a few others with him and they won’t be the people we expect, but they will be the people in whom we’ll find real peace and joy, the very peace and joy that eludes us, that we often look for elsewhere, and without which the whole world flounders. Then that carol we sang in childhood will be real, changing us into children of God –   

Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask thee to stay 

Close by me for ever, and love me, I pray. 

The choir now sing a new setting of that familiar poem, Away in a manger, by the young British composer Lucy Walker.ÌýÌý

Away in a manger (Lucy Walker)

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In peace let us pray to the Lord.

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Father, your Son our Saviour

was born in human flesh.

Renew your Church as the Body of Christ.

There was no room for your Son in the inn.

Protect with your love those who have no home

and all who live in poverty.

Holy God

hear our prayer.

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Mary, in the pain of labour,

brought your Son to birth.

Hold in your hand all who are in pain or distress.

Your Christ came as a light shining in the darkness.

Bring comfort to […and] all who suffer in the sadness of our world.

Holy God

hear our prayer.

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The angels sang, ‘Peace to God’s people on earth.’

Strengthen those who work for peace and justice

in all the world.

Shepherds in the field heard good tidings of joy.

Give us grace to preach the gospel of Christ’s redemption.

Holy God

hear our prayer.

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Strangers found the Holy Family,

and saw the baby lying in the manger.

Bless our homes and all whom we love.

Heaven is come down to earth,

and earth is raised to heaven.

Hold in your hand […and] all those who have passed through death

in the hope of your coming kingdom.

Holy God

hear our prayer.

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Father,

angels and shepherds worshipped at

the manger throne.

Receive the worship we offer in fellowship with Mary,

Joseph and the saints

through him who is your Word made flesh,

our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen.

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CHOIR: All this time this song is best (William Walton)

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God can break down barriers, and close distances of separation in a moment. May that be your experience today as you are in touch with friends and family, across the meal table, across the country or across the world. I wish you the happiest of Christmases! And so,

May the joy of the angels,

the eagerness of the shepherds,

the perseverance of the wise men,

the obedience of Joseph and Mary,

and the peace of the Christ-child

be yours this Christmas;

and the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

be among you and remain with you always.

Amen.

CAROL: Hark! the herald angels sing glory to the new-born King,

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In dulci Jubilo BWV 608

[Bach’s Chorale Prelude on In Dulci Jubilo]. The Christmas Service was recorded at York Minster where the preacher was the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell. The Director of Music was Robert Sharpe and the organ was played by the Assistant Director of Music Benjamin Morris. The producer was Philip Billson. Later this evening at a quarter past midnight the Christmas Meditation is a reflection on the meaning of Christmas with the Reverend Angela Berners-Wilson - the first female Church of England priest ordained in 1994.