MIDNIGHT MASS SERMON 2007
Thirty-five years or so ago, I was in much the same position as some of you tonight - I wasn't a regular churchgoer, but I thought I would go to a nearby church for the Midnight Mass. It was a large church, larger even than this, and packed out. And the vicar got into the pulpit to preach, and he went on for forty-five minutes. I was subsequently told that he took the view that as most of those who came to that Service only came to church once a year, he felt, to put it charitably, that he should give them their money's worth. But I know I went away from that Service feeling more than a little irritated, and when I did get the churchgoing habit, when I did come home to the church, it wasn't to that church. I promise you that you won't get forty-five minutes from me tonight, and I hope that maybe that might persuade you if you are a bit on the fringe to come back soon, but nevertheless there are just one or two things that must be said before we continue with our celebration. The first of those is welcome - it really is good to see so many of you here tonight in your church. You have probably come here for all manner of different reasons - that's OK - people have been coming to this church now for at least twelve hundred Christmases, - an awesome thought - and in every century they've come with all sorts of reasons, and all sorts of people have come too - the good, the bad, the ugly, rich and poor alike have come, and hopefully they have left feeling in some way or other refreshed and renewed. So your reasons for coming are less important than the fact that you are here. A few years ago I read a newspaper article bemoaning the fact that the true meaning of Christmas was being lost, and, do you know, the writer of that article managed to write about what she thought the true meaning of Christmas was without mentioning Jesus Christ once. Since that article appeared the situation has got much worse, as you all know, though at least it was possible this year to buy Christmas stamps with a Christian theme.
But the true meaning of Christmas is simply this: God loves you, each one of you, whether you are good, bad, ugly, rich or poor, and he loves you so much that he sent his Son to share your life God became human, so that we might become divine. If you can really accept that, then your life will never be the same again. God being born, just as you and I were born, God learning to walk and talk, and yes do all the other things that you and I had to learn to do as babies. God sharing the life of a human family, God learning how to earn his living, God working as a skilled craftsman, God showing us how to live, God teaching, God healing, God dying for you and for me in deepest pain and agony, to show that evil will not win, and that love must conquer all, God rising in glory to show that we too will live for ever in glory in the presence of God and his holy angels, and God still with us twenty- four hours a day seven days a week through his Spirit. God with us now and for ever, that's the message of Christmas. But, that is all about what God has done for you, is doing for you, and will continue to do for you for ever. What is asked of you in return? A Sussex Saint, Richard of Chichester, wrote a prayer which sums it up beautifully - to know thee more clearly, to love thee more dearly and to follow thee more nearly day by day. To follow Jesus, God become man, more nearly means, as we all know in our hearts, more than the occasional nod in his direction, it means getting just as close to Jesus and his way of living as we possibly can. Much of that is purely personal - prayer and the like, and of course you don't need to go to church even once a year for that, but God in his goodness has given us one supreme way of being not just near to Jesus, but united with him, one with him even in this life - it's so good, so simple, and totally genuine, because it comes from God himself - I'm talking of course of this Service Communion, Eucharist, the Mass whatever title seems best to you - Jesus is really there, and as we receive the bread and the wine, it is Jesus himself who comes to us and is united with us. So when people say that you don't have to go to church to be a Christian, of course there is some truth in what they say, because so much of following Jesus is a personal thing, but without communion, the heart is missing. If you'll forgive the analogy, it's like a doughnut without the jam. So, again, it's lovely to have you with us tonight, and of course it's good that you have felt moved to come here on this holy night. You are standing on the threshold, and Jesus invites you to come in, to be closer to him: don't leave it too long I promise you, no forty-five minute sermons here - it's so simple and it's being offered to you - union with Jesus, heaven on earth, no less. So why not make 2008 the year when you put the jam in the doughnut?
MIDNIGHT MASS 2006
Roses are reddish, violets are bluish, if it weren't for Christmas we'd all be Jewish. We must all be indebted to the late Benny Hill for that particular insight. And before the letters of complaint start pouring in, let us say that, though Benny Hill was notoriously politically incorrect, that particular quip is very far from being anti-Jewish; it's actually quite complimentary.
Of course, though it is witty, at least as far as this country is concerned, unless you subscribe to the way-out theories of the British Israelites that we are actually one of the lost tribes of Israel, it's not correct. If it weren't for Christmas, we'd all be pagan, which is what our remote ancestors were before the Christian missionaries started arriving.
Since long before the birth of Christ, pagans in many parts of the world celebrated a midwinter festival, and the church craftily took it over, though some age old habits such as mistletoe remain, which, because of its pagan associations, you will not find in church.
Now you may get people on your doorstep saying Christ wasn't born on 25 December, so it's wrong to celebrate on that day. I don't know about you, but I totally disagree with that. I've no idea on what day he was born you've got, according to my reckoning, 365 to choose from though it is quite commonly held that it was sometime in March or perhaps October the important thing is not the exact day, but the fact that he was born at all. Of course even that apparently innocuous statement has not gone unchallenged and the last year has seen a particularly virulent and unpleasant series of attacks on the truth of the Christian faith. The unlamented Winterval, dreamt up by Birmingham Council a few years ago on the spurious grounds that the word Christmas was offensive to other faiths, which they vehemently denied, incidentally, Winterval has gone, no more to be seen, I trust, but the attempts to drive us to the margins and beyond continue unabated. I don't know whether you've noticed, but it gets harder and harder to find religious Christmas cards, a sad sign of the times.
So let us get some things straight. This is a time of goodwill, and it is no part of our function tonight to knock the other major world faiths, but this country has a wonderful Christian heritage, seen not just in historic churches like this, but in the impact the church has had on medicine, education, the law, the quest for justice for all, the transforming power of the gospel seen at work in individual lives, and I am sure you could add to that list, and I see no reason why we should be ashamed of that. On the contrary, we should be ready to stand up for our Christian faith, and the good news is that if the past year is anything to go by, we may be standing up to be counted a good deal sooner than you might have imagined a few years ago. When duty calls or danger be never wanting there, as the hymn puts it. But the other thing is this: we shouldn't have to say it, but because certain people in our country are happy to claim that our faith is a vain thing fondly imagined, let's be quite clear that we are talking about historical facts here. Of course we can argue about the details, of course the theologians can argue about the fine print, but the important facts are surely beyond reasonable doubt: the birth of Christ, his ministry of love and healing, his unbelievably cruel death brought about by powerful men who felt threatened by the love that poured from him, and his mighty resurrection. All that is true: if it were not so, we would not be here today, and Christian history as we know it would not have happened.
On the way in you were given a copy of an article that recently appeared in a religious journal, written by the courageous Anglican priest who is working in Baghdad. Please take it home and read it. It is a reminder to us that for many Christians today, their allegiance to Christ is literally a matter of life or death, and it puts so many of us to shame with our half hearted approach, our take it our leave it attitudes to Christ, his church, his teaching. I found that article inspirational, and I hope you will as well, but it raises a number of questions, which I leave with you: first, the author, Canon Andrew White, is in the forefront of working for peace and reconciliation, not just in that devastated land of Iraq, but also in Israel and Palestine: should you be actively supporting such vital Christian work? And beyond that, where in your life do you need to make peace, where do you need to make positive steps for reconciliation? Second, are we, you and I, ready to pay the price of being different, which following Christ means? And third, when those Christians risk so much, are you ready to be more active in following the Lord? To misquote, all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for Christians to do nothing. I started with one quip; here's another to end with: if you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Happy Christmas.
Fr Edward 2006