Here we are on Christmas morning – 4 weeks of watching and waiting over – and it’s wonderful to be here gathered together as church family on this very special of days.

Did anyone wake up this morning and find a bulging stocking at the end of their bed? Or some brightly wrapped gifts under the tree? I’ve brought my stocking with me!

When I got in from school on Wednesday evening, I was faced with a pile of gifts I’d bought for friends and family – and every single one needed wrapping up! It seemed an insurmountable job amongst all of the others that needed doing and I half wondered if a gift bag might just do – hmm, just pop it in, write on the tag…

Then I realised just how much I love ripping off the wrapping, tearing it to shreds to discover the surprise inside. There’s probably nothing more exciting that something you can’t see – the anticipation – the excitement as you give it a squeeze and a sniff, wondering what might be inside!

Look! I’ve got a gift here – what do you think might be inside? Who wants to give it a squish?

It’s always very special to receive a gift – but on that first Christmas morning were there any gifts in that stable – if indeed it was a stable – where that very special baby was born?

Yes of course there was! The greatest gift of all – a baby, that came wrapped in his mother’s womb, placed there by God, nurtured loved and born of a very special mother – [OPENS GIFT: the gift is Mary] – in our reading we heard the words – ‘But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.’ Quiet and unassuming Mary, who did exactly as God asked. Not an easy task – but she was obedient and diligent and carried, wrapped inside of her, the greatest gift to all of us!

Let’s look if there’s something else in the stocking… [OPENS GIFT: the gift is baby Jesus]

Look, here we have baby Jesus – that most precious of babies. Jesus was born human – God wrapped up in a tiny baby, ‘accomplished by the zeal of the Lord Almighty’. Today as we marvel at the birth of Jesus all those years ago, we need to think about what the birth of that tiny baby means for us in our lives now, how might it change our lives?

What Jesus means to each of us and what difference he might make is unique to each of us – how can we be guided by what we heard in our gospel?

We read that ‘Mary treasured the words she heard, and pondered them in her heart’ – she stopped, she listened and she was obedient. How often do we ring fence time to stop and to listen to God?

Let’s see if there is anything else in our stocking… [OPENS GIFTS: the gifts are shepherds and sheep]

We hear that the shepherds stopped what they were doing and went ‘with haste’ – to visit Jesus. When God speaks to us, or puts things on our heart do we act quickly and diligently – or do we wait to hear again and again before even thinking about it?

The shepherds then returned home, telling everyone what they had seen and been told – they spread the good news – and our reading tells us: ‘all who heard it were amazed’– can we today make people amazed by sharing our faith? Can we find time and ways to share the amazing news of God wrapped up in a little baby, a baby that grew up and went on to be crucified for each of us?

How do we live out our faith in our day to day lives? ‘The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God’ – imagine coming across them on their way home, what a sight! They lived in the fields so were probably pretty unkempt, possibly wrapped in sheepskin for warmth – but praising and worshiping and sharing their faith! That sight would certainly make me wonder what on earth was going on, and want to find out more. Can you imagine what life would be like if we lived out our faith like that? It would be infectious – others would certainly come to know of God.

Many questions for us to ponder in our hearts as we go home from here on this glorious Christmas day – a day set apart for us to focus on the reason for the season.

And if you unwrap any gifts today, spend just a moment thinking of the most precious gift of all; God wrapped up in that tiny baby.

Amen.

Service: Reverend Rebecca Yates – 25th December 2022 – Christmas Day service at St Luke’s, Mayor’s Walk

Referenced Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7 / Luke 2:1-20