Christmas Day
25/12/25
Isaiah 62:6-end
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:1-20
God our Father,
whose Word has come among us
in the Holy Child of Bethlehem:
may the light of faith illumine our hearts
and shine in our words and deeds;
through him who is Christ the Lord.
One of the many things that I love about this season is how the story of the first Christmas comes alive. We see it in the pictures on Christmas cards; we hear it in the words of Christmas carols; we see the drama played out in Christingle and Crib services. Even in the commercialisation and secularisation of our society, the story of that first Christmas does get told. Not always in words but in the symbols and pictures; seen if we pay attention to the world around us.
This morning we come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The baby laid in a manger. We need to not only look at the manger but in the manger. In the simple manger, in the smallness of a baby, we get a glimpse of the greatness of God.
Luke very deliberately mentions the manger and the child lying in it in three separate verses. Yes of course he was lying in the manger; no crib for his bed and all that.
Mary laid her firstborn son in a manger.
The angels tell the shepherds about the child lying in a manger.
The shepherds went with haste and found the child lying in the manger.
The manger was the sign to the shepherds. It told them which baby they were looking for. It showed them that the angel knew what they were talking about. It was important to give the shepherds their news and their instructions.
Why does this matter? It was the shepherds who were told who this child is. This child – the Saviour, the Messiah, the Lord.
Yet the manger isn’t important in and of itself. The manger is a signpost, a pointing finger to the identity of the baby boy who’s lying in it.
The shepherds’ arrival may have helped Mary and Joseph to confirm what had been their own secret up to now. What would it have been like for Mary and Joseph as the shepherds arrived? The secret is now out! I am not sure if you have had the experience of a secret being let out!
It can be quite shocking and uncertain. What happens next?! Who knows!? Maybe it was a relief after all that they had been through that God was faithful to his word. God is faithful to his word. Always. What a relief that is. In this uncertain world and in uncertain times we can look to the manger and know that God is faithful.
We also need to look in the manger, not just at it. Many people, Christians too, come to see the manger but they never look in it. For some Jesus remains the baby forever. A baby that is easily contained in the manger that gets brought out once a year, looked at, and then put away again.
When my nephew Riley was 5 years old, he and my sister had a bedtime conversation that went like this:
Riley: ‘Mom, how old are Great Grandma and Great Grandpa?’
Sister: ‘they are both 90’
Riley: ‘Mom, when will they go to heaven?’
Sister: ‘I am not sure but Jesus will be waiting to greet them when they go.’
Riley: ‘Mom – how old is Jesus?’
Sister: ‘Well he was born 2000 years ago but Jesus doesn’t age and has always been around.’
Riley: (with all the exasperation of a 5 year old) ‘Mom – Jesus is a baby!’
It is quite easy to take this view whether we are 5 years old or not. Jesus was never meant to be contained to the manger. Nor did Jesus just appear one night in Bethlehem as if out of nowhere. Jesus has always been around; part of God and the Trinity. He is more than a Baby!
The name of Jesus will go on forever.
Jesus. The very name at which one day every knee will bow.
Jesus. The very name at which every tongue will confess.
Jesus. A name with no parallel in any vocabulary.
Jesus. A name with power like no other name?
The angel Gabriel tells Mary, ‘he will be great’. Oh yes he is.
As we celebrate today, let’s spend a little more time at the manger worshipping the baby born to us. The baby who becomes the Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
I love these names. I can identify with each of them as titles for the Child that has been born to us. He is my Counsellor when I struggle; Mighty when I am weak; Everlasting when unwanted changes come my way; the bringer of Peace when I am distressed.
I hope that you will know and experience the great love God has for you this Christmas. Not just at Christmas but at every moment of every day of your life; when things are calm and happy but more so when you are stirred up throughout.
I hope that you will know the Lord’s favour upon you.
I hope the name of Jesus falls sweetly on your ears and off your tongue.
The Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace lead you and guide you always.
