This sermon was preached by Bishop Ross at Holy Trinity Cathedral at the midnight service on Christmas Eve, and at St George’s Papatoetoe on Christmas Day.
Readings: Titus 2:11-14 and Luke 2:1-20.
We gather in this holy place to celebrate this holy feast of the birth of Christ, the Incarnation of God in the world, the mystery of the divine taking on human form. We gather so that we may gain a fresh sense of the holy touching our lives, the presence of God blessing, renewing and challenging us.
First of all can I call us to be mindful of our brothers and sisters in Christchurch as they endure another series of frightening aftershocks. Anglicans at least will be worshipping outdoors tonight and tomorrow to reduce the risk posed by hundreds of people congregating together inside buildings that may be unstable. It’s fine there tonight, but its only 100 so let’s be aware of them and conscious of their anxiety.
I was taken by what Jim Hopkins wrote in his column in the Herald a couple of days ago. He spoke of Christmas as “a chance to look at the gaps in the map of ourselves, the uncharted bits, the courses not taken and journeys not made, the fears given succour, the opportunities spurned. From time to time . . . . we should check our own moral compass and see where we sit on the spectrum of our expectations.”
Christmas is a time to stop, to relax, to enjoy the company of friends and family as we celebrate together. But it is also an opportunity to take stock, to reflect on the birth of Christ who came among us to bring about the world’s salvation, and to ask ourselves how we are doing. How is this saving love of God found in the Word made flesh being worked out in my life? The magic of this celebration captivates us and speaks to us. How does it change us and launch us as part of the ongoing saving work of God in the world?
The birth narratives of Jesus thus evoke much from us, both by way of reflection and resulting action. We’ve read Luke’s account of that birth tonight, and Matthew tells a similar story. Both those writers are convinced that what has taken place is a divinely inspired set of events. But they are also clearly determined to communicate the very real humanity of the event. Think about the contrasts which they present in the humble nature of the birth of the one who is to be king of the Jews.
• Born to working class folk from a small town, not the royal family.
• Born in a stable among the animals, not in a palace surrounded by midwives and attendants. Simple shepherds are visited by angels from heaven.
• Wise foreign rulers bring expensive gifts for a king and find a baby lying in the straw.
Of course it can all sound very sentimental, and our manger scenes and Christmas card pictures have reinforced our tendency to make it so. But the picture given when the story is read carefully is in fact one of great vulnerability.
• It was a dangerous journey to Bethlehem right at the time that Mary was due to give birth.
• There was little hospitality given to people who were in such great need in the middle of winter.
• These were less than hygienic surroundings for a birth.
• And then after a time, the child’s life is under threat from a king concerned that his throne might be threatened by the news of the birth of this king.
The vulnerability of Christ does not end with his childhood. Jesus does not turn into some superhuman when he becomes an adult and undertakes his public ministry, startling and powerful as it is. He remains one with us, sharing in all our human weakness. St Paul writing to the Philippians described the Incarnation as Christ emptying himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and humbling himself to become obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.
So an important reflection for me this year as I contemplate the vulnerability of the Christ child, is about the vulnerability of children in our society today. We continue to see the sad truth of that in the statistics relating to child abuse in our country, with New Zealand having one of the worst records in the world with 15% of children estimated to be born at risk of abuse. The Ministry of Social Development reports that there are 20 reported cases of abuse each day and police statistics indicate around 10 children a year are killed by a member of their own family. That’s frightening.
Child poverty began to receive more attention during the election campaign. And although I did not see it myself, many people have spoken to me about the impact made on them through a recent TV3 documentary on the subject. I understand it picked up some of the issues that the Child Poverty Action Group have been saying for some time and that are borne out by many of the NGO social service agencies such as the Auckland City Mission of our own diocese.
While there is no agreed objective measure of poverty in New Zealand, one measure would suggest that 230,000 children live in a situation of deprivation through poor health, diet, schooling, housing, and so on. That’s one in five NZ children. It’s easy just to blame parents and families but statistics like that suggest there are more complex systemic issues at play. No wonder that there were queues of people along Hobson St this week as people came to the City Mission for food parcels – 600 were given out in one day earlier this week.
So those are some sobering thoughts stemming from a reflection on the picture of vulnerability which the birth of Jesus offers to us. But as I said, reflection results in action. That is part of our Christian spirituality or worldview. We recognise the hard facts of our context. We recognise the action of God in self-emptying Incarnation, becoming one of us and becoming one with us in all the experiences of human life; being obedient even to the death on a cross which has won our salvation.
And so we ask ourselves, what does it mean to be the bearers of the presence of Christ now; to be the hands and feet and eyes of Christ now? As we read from the letter to Titus, Christ gave himself for us to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. How then will we make ourselves vulnerable and so allow Christ to act through us in saving love towards the most vulnerable in our society?
We might act in accordance with the “It’s not OK” and “Are you OK” campaigns as we seek to combat family violence as a society. We might make ourselves vulnerable by speaking out when we know about such acts of violence, and by asking the right questions of those at risk when we fear that all may not be well. Governments can do so much, but communities must take ownership if there is really going to be a change.
We might be active participants in work being done to reverse the poverty trends in our nation. Certainly the support we might give to local community food banks and the City Mission can offer immediate help to those who need it. But perhaps we might also consider how we could participate in the work which will be done by the Ministerial Committee on Poverty being established as part of a strategy to combat structural poverty. I welcome the decision to establish that group and look forward to its first report in the middle of next year.
We need to be generous, compassionate givers, and exercise genuine hospitality as we respond to those in economic need. But we also need to be ready to ask hard questions of our politicians about it. The Finance Minister has already indicated that there is no more money to invest in welfare, so I hope that some of the deeper structural societal issues are examined by the ministerial committee along with the impact of overall government policy in relation to the most vulnerable in our society.
It’s felt like a long year to me. It is important that we take stock, because I think we have a tough 2012 ahead. Christmas offers us a chance to find great joy in being together with others. The summer holidays that follow offer us a chance to get a break from work and routine and so to be physically and emotionally refreshed ready for a new year.
And somewhere in it all, I pray that you might find time for reflection and a commitment to fresh action. Let’s not be afraid to ask ourselves how we’re doing, and for the measuring stick and the compass as we do so to be Jesus Christ, the vulnerable one, born in the stable at Bethlehem, dying on a cross at Calvary, but risen, alive, full of saving grace, and calling on you and me to be agents of it to others and especially to the most vulnerable among us.
May God bless us all. May God renew us all, and through us transform this world.