The Bishop's Christmas Sermon 2006
On a recent journey, I was listening to the car radio. There was a programme in which listeners were being asked about their Christmas memories from childhood and what happened in their home to signal that Christmas had begun. Listeners were ‘phoning in with their memories. One said when his mother produced a large glass dish with lots of compartments for picked onions, piccalilli, pickled walnuts and pickled cabbage, he knew that Christmas had begun. For others, it was when Dad was sent out on a Saturday morning to buy the Christmas tree, but for many of them it was when the crib was brought down from the attic or from the top of the wardrobe and a space was made to put out the figures that represent the Christmas scene at Bethlehem. A couple of people were asked, ‘Do you have a crib set now?’ and they said, ‘No, but I think I ought to get one’, so perhaps some people are wanting to bring Christ back into Christmas.
The crib was introduced by St Francis of Assisi in the thirteenth century and the figures were full size. St Francis wanted people to go into the stable and be there with Mary and Joseph and the infant Christ – and the cattle. He wanted Christians to feel what it was like, not just to hear about it. The point that St Francis wanted to make was what an extraordinary entry into this world God had chosen for his Son. Today, we would describe it as counter-cultural – you might expect a king to be born in a palace, or a military leader who would free his people to be born surrounded by power, or even a religious leader to be born in a secure and settled home, but no, God entered our world in simplicity and insecurity and then became a refugee.
St Francis himself was counter-cultural. He was born in Italy, the son of a wealthy merchant but gave away his wealth, turned his back on security and ambition and gave his life to preaching the gospel to the poor, ministering to lepers and gathering a group of friars who were to reconvert Europe.
Jesus himself was counter-cultural. He taught us to love our neighbours even to forgive our enemies. He taught that we are blessed when we are poor, and when we are meek, and when we are sorrowful, and when we show mercy and when we are persecuted. He taught us to fight for peace and justice for others, and to be more concerned about our spiritual lives than gaining material possessions, because material things are only temporary but the spiritual will last for ever.
A few months ago, a newspaper became indignant because they interviewed some young Muslims and discovered that they said that they owed a greater allegiance to Islam than to Britain. The newspaper clearly misunderstood the significance of religious faith. I only hope that Christians would say the same – that our first allegiance is to Christianity - to the teachings of Jesus and to the Christian faith.
The church is called to be counter-cultural. There is a saying that those who seek to be married to the spirit of this age will be widows in the next. It is not always easy to be counter-cultural and we may be accused of being out of step with society but that is our calling.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that we should be like those Christians who are sometimes unfortunately labelled as ‘right-wing’, ‘conservative’ and ‘fundamentalists’. Indeed, to be counter-cultural, we may need to be liberal, prophetic and courageous. What I am saying, is that we need to stand out against our culture when it is going in a direction that is contrary to our Christian Faith. Christians have a particular voice when it comes to such issues as abortion, euthanasia, the environment , fair trade, the ethical treatment of animals and penal reform. Sometimes we need the courage to shock other people instead of being shocked ourselves. For example, I recently told someone that I shall be leading a confirmation service at Usk prison next month. I was asked how I could possibly have anything to do with sex offenders yet alone baptise and confirm them – to proclaim that nobody is irredeemable or beyond the love and forgiveness of God is being counter-cultural.
You may have watched the TV programme The X Factor when young people audition as singers to see if they have that extra factor that will make them into stars – pop idols. Each week some are voted out and there are tears and disappointments; for others they will make it to the finals. They are young people who have their hopes and longings. Some will have their hopes dashed and others will have their hopes fulfilled. But hope is at the heart of the Christian gospel. It is God’s gift to the world. At Christmas we recognise in Jesus the source of our hope as we sing, ‘The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight’. The contestants in The X Factor want an opportunity to show that they have that extra factor, that star quality. At Bethlehem, God showed us that our hope is in Jesus because he has that extra factor – he is the son of God born of Mary. He has that star quality – and those who are wise find it.