This sermon was delivered to St Oswald’s in Maybole,
Ayrshire, Scotland on the 26th December 2010 by Gordon McCulloch
(a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
Welcome
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today is known as Low Sunday because, it is all over and done with, Christmas has come and gone ... but we are still in the festive season, so why not waste it. Today we will exercise a little bit of relaxation instead of a heavy sermon, and have a trivia quiz to test you knowledge of the Nativity scene. Yes I am aware you know it all, but we will see. be prepared for some surprises.
But more on that Later; for now we will start with the peace.
We meet in Christ's name. Let us share his peace.
The Gospel Reading.
Hear the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to John Chapter 1 verses 1 to 18. Glory to Christ our Saviour.
John 1:1-18
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
Give thanks to the Lord for his Glorious gospel. Praise to Christ our Lord.
“Please be seated, and join me in a short prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord. Amen. (Ps. 19:14)
Introduction
Usually for every service we have a clear theme throughout, For example my last sermon was on “Joy”; the sermon before that was on “Christ the Kings” and I can’t remember the sermon before that, nor what was in it, but I know it had a common theme all the way through it.
Today’s service however is more complex, as the revised common lectionary simply calls it the “first Sunday after Christmas”. This year it just so happens to be boxing day as well: so this Sunday is referred to by some as Low Sunday. After all, the best day of the year is over, all the presents have been given out, we have all stuffed our faces and all the hard work has been done. All the Christmas festivities are coming to an end, and we now have to really shake ourselves to get ready to return to life normality.
To some this is good news, but to many, like me; they like to let Christmas linger on that wee bit, after all it is a special time of the year where we can let things “go” a little in celebration of our Lords birth.
Today I thought we could exercise a little bit of that relaxation and have a Bible trivia quiz as a test of your basic general knowledge of the nativity; keeping your answers and scores to yourselves of course, and let us see where that takes us regarding a sermon.
The first question is simple; whose birthday are we celebrating?
Jesus of course. I wonder, is there anyone here who shares Jesus birthday? …
Second, (they get harder) what day was Jesus born ?
Christmas Day of course. No.
Do you know, we are not exactly sure when Jesus was born? It might have been in April for all we know. It might have been on your birthday. We just do not know. I personally think it was around October, and there is evidence to support this but it was decided many years ago that December 25th would be best.
Next question, why the 25th of December?
Well it tied in nicely with the other pagan Gods at that time that had winter celebrations, especially around the winter solstice time.
When was the winter solstice this year?
Tuesday was the shortest day.
Was it just our British pagan Gods that were considered?
No other more European Gods like Zeus, or Crom or Cerunnos (KERR UN US) were also considered.
Now here is a question which I have never heard asked.
Name the birthday of another God? No. Good question: God became man in the person of Christ Jesus who walked this earth. No other God that I know has claimed to exist in human flesh with all our weaknesses, so no other God has a birthday.
I like that question and here is another one.
Name another religion that allows their followers to binge, and stuff their faces, and generally overindulge in almost anything that is good in the name of their God? No, I do not know of another religion that has a build up to overeating. Yes we have celebration meal after lent, and other religions have similar, but only we Christians prepare for feasting to excess. Given the choice, I like Christmas.
How long does Christmas last?
Officially it is 12 days long starting from Christmas day.
That is a twelve day party by the way, ending on what day?
The 6th of January which is called? Epiphany.
The next obvious question to ask is,
What does epiphany mean?
The word Epiphany comes from ancient Greek word “epiphaneia” (Epifan ee a) meaning "appearance" or "manifestation" The appearance of God the Father, manifesting Himself in His son; a human being by the name of Jesus Christ. I hope you understand? It means Jesus is God with Us; the incarnation? No. Ok,
What does the incarnation mean?
The scientific literal meaning of incarnation is “something” embodied in flesh or taking on a fleshly form. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature, a creature capable of responding emotionally, who is the material manifestation of an entity such as a god or force whose original nature is immaterial. Basically it means something became flesh and in our case that something is the descendant of a divine being in human form, on our Earth; our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Gospel reading this morning, John said, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us”.
On the 6th of January, Epiphany, who does the church celebrate the arrival off?
The three Kings; or the three Wise Men; or the three Magi. Sometimes they get called the "Three Kings', but the bible doesn't say they are kings. It doesn't even say they were Wise Men; the bible says they are Magi, or magicians. It is thought that they come from an older but larger religion called Zoroastrianism; whose doctrine like ours, is based on a Divine being and the battle between both good and evil. Many Zoroastrianism later became Christians.
In Christian Legend, what are the names of the three Magi?
Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar. This is actually important as later on in scripture we see the Magi as representing the whole world coming to Jesus. Melchior represents Europe; Balthazar represents the African continent and Caspar has distinctive Asian features. Subsequently people from all over the world have come to follow Jesus.
What gifts did these men bring?
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
There are many different theories, meanings, and symbolisms, of these gifts. While the meaning of gold is obvious, frankincense, and particularly myrrh, are much more obscure.
The theories generally break down into three groups:
1. All three gifts are ordinary, basic, natural offerings and gifts given to a king. Myrrh being commonly used as anointing oil, frankincense as a perfume, and gold is …well gold.
2. The second group suggest the three gifts had a spiritual meaning: gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense, (which is an incense), as a symbol of priesthood, and myrrh, (an embalming oil), as a symbol of death.
3. The third group suggests more emotive soulish meanings: in that gold symbolizes virtue, frankincense symbolizing prayer, and myrrh symbolizing suffering. You could say here mind, will and emotions, remember that from before, Spirit, Soul and Body.
Has anybody here noticed that they represent gifts from the Father Son and Holy Spirit? Watch out for this in the bible, it happens much more than you think.
Another piece of trivia for you is that these interpretations are alluded to in the verses of the popular carol "We Three Kings".
Next question, Where was Jesus born? {Bethlehem}
I was born in Kilwinning in Scotland. Many people in this world have never heard of Kilwinning, neither of Scotland, and of those who do, will say there has not been much good to come out of Kilwinning. It was like this with Jesus, he was born in an obscure place called Bethlehem where many had never heard of it. Quote, “nothing good ever comes from Bethlehem”. If people knew their bible stories real well, they might know that God had promised good things from Bethlehem, as it is with God; good comes from the most unlikely places; from the smallest of places; and within them, small people.
What is the other name for Bethlehem? {The City of David}.
What does Bethlehem means? {The House of Bread}.
Who was Jesus mum? {Mary} and Mary is short for … Miriam.
And this is a trick question; who was Jesus dad? Yes you knew it, the Holy Spirit. Joseph was his step-dad who after marrying Mary, adopted Jesus as his son. Christians believe that Jesus was God's son. "When you meet Jesus you meet God." "If you want to know what God is like, listen to what Jesus is like. To know Jesus is to know God." In the old formula of "Jesus is Lord" is another way of saying; "Jesus is God."
Christianity at its foundation is a simple religion. We believers followed Jesus, his ways and his teachings. And in following Him we find he is someone fully alive and fully human. In his living and especially in his dying, we discovered that he was more than just a prophet, or teacher, or a good person, (an expression which I absolutely hate). We discovered that in meeting Jesus, we meet the Creator of the Universe; the Divine Light; the Wisdom of the Ages; the Prince of Peace; Love itself, becoming a human being. Jesus said it himself; the Father and I are One.
The prologue we read in this morning’s Gospel, St John invites us to look at the Incarnation; and not just a preface to the Gospel itself; because the remainder of John’s Gospel is in a sense, an elaboration on Verse 18: which said “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.”
John’s gospel has no nativity story, no animals in the barn; no shepherds and no angels; but it presents us with a love song to Christ. A love song full of increasing light, celebrating the relationship between God the Father and God the son; and then extending that intimate relationship to embrace all humankind throughout the world.
These are powerful words that speak to us about the one who came to us, in power: to make all things new for us; us the exiles and the inhabitants of darkness.
We therefore need to “see” Christmas in ways that move beyond the sentimental and saccharin and not the familiar Christmas card idea that has a neat and tidy picture of the nativity on it. If you can only see a baby lying in the manger, then you are missing the much larger picture. You do not celebrate Advent by pretending that Christ did not come; so we do not celebrate Christmas by pretending we don’t know what happened to this child.
Christmas does not stand alone; it cannot be celebrated in isolation from the whole story of Jesus. To separate the story of Jesus’ birth from the harsh reality of the crucifixion is to engage in denial. The whole story reminds us that we must also see Jesus as the man who was not received, the man who was rejected by the very people who hoped and prayed for his arrival.
These people failed to recognize Jesus and subsequently rejected him because he was not what they had hoped for. Instead of a knight in shinning armour riding a large white stallion, God came to us in the form a weak and vulnerable baby, whose life ended as a criminal hanging on the cross. Did we see a large white stallion, no just a little donkey; but a donkey with more power than all the horses of the world put together.
Jesus like wise, the weak, flesh and bone human had real power. In the world’s eyes, it was not the world’s power, not their power, not the power to control large human armies. The power of Christ continues to be rejected by the world today because it appears to be the wrong kind of power, power that appears to be weak and ineffective.
How wrong the world can be; Jesus’ power is to let us be who we are created to be, the very children of God as we read in Galatians this morning:
“God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. What a powerful statement.
By embracing the very weakness of Jesus, our lives are transformed, and we are empowered. Jesus death of poverty makes us rich, Jesus death of shame makes us accepted, Jesus death basically gives us life for the future. Life which we do not deserve; but life because of his grace; life to do his will.
Amen
Let us pray,
Father we thank you for sending us your son Jesus.
We thank you for His unselfish death on that cross 2000 years ago; a death which still sets many people free today.
We know that we are unworthy to be heirs of your magnificent kingdom, but through the death of Jesus on that cross for us, taking our sins with him; we thank you that we can call you Abba father; and that you are our Father indeed.
Father we ask today that this knowledge be engrained in our hearts, that we not only believe it, but we use it to your power and glory, in a manner totally accepted and practiced by you.
We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.
Note to the reader:
If you have been blessed by this sermon, or any of my sermons, I would be greatly honoured to receive an e-mail from you saying so; I like so many others need encouragement.
I often feel that to deliver a sermon one time to my congregation is such a waste; where as many more could be blessed by its message, after all, it is not for my glory but for his. I would therefore like my sermons to bless more people, preferably internationally and not only in a small part, of a small country called Scotland.
Simply let me know where you are in the world … and any other information you may want to share or be prayed for. I would also take it as a compliment for you to use my sermons in order to bless others in his almighty name. I do not even need acknowledged, but he does, and I will receive a blessing directly from him.
Thank you for taking the time to read, and I wish you "all the best" as we say in Scotland … and I pray that your endeavours in the Lord are equally blessed. Yours in Christ, Gordon McCulloch, Scotland.
Compiled By: Gordon McCulloch (Worship Leader),
St Oswalds Episcopal Church,
Maybole. Ayrshire.
Scotland. UK
KA19 8KF
E-Mail: through Sermon Central
