Sermon for the First Sunday of Christmas – 31st December 2023
Fr Terry Hemming – St Paul’s Athens
If you live in Athens you must be aware of a number of cross cultural marriages. When I ran marriage preparation classes I pointed out nearly all marriages are cross cultural because we bring our differing family traditions and my test used to be to get them to ask each other what they expected at Christmas.
One big difference we know about is the giving of gifts; should it be on December 6th when we remember the generosity of St Nicholas? Should it be on December 25th when we celebrate the birthday of our Lord? Should it be on January 1st when we think of St Basil and his wonderful idea of hiding the treasure/tax in the pie? Should it be on January 6th when we remember the magi arriving with their significant gifts? Should it be on January 7th in keeping with the old calendar? I am sure children would agree with me that the safe thing is to do it on all these occasions!
Did you notice in our Gospel the eagerness of the shepherds? They were in a hurry. They couldn’t wait. Just like children finding their presents.
Christmas is about generosity.
God’s generosity to us.
John 3.16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Gal. 1: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,4who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
God gives, to those who need. In sin, in need of reconciliation, in need of recreation, in need of forgiveness.
God gives to those who do not deserve. In sun, without good works, who have fallen short of the mark.
God gives the greatest thing he has-himself.
God gives out of his love.
God’s generosity shown in the life of Jesus of Nazareth from the first miracle at Canaan. 800 bottles of wine! The feeding of the five and four thousand. The giving of health and life to hundreds he met in daily life.
God’s generosity is echoed by human beings.
The gifts of the magi. Their great respect, bowing down they offered. As an Englishman growing up with Boxing Day where we gifted tradespeople, or where you tipped the worker but not the owner, I had to learn of cultures where you showed respect by giving to people more important than yourself.
The gifts of the early church. Acts 4: With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’). He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
2 Cor 8: We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege* of sharing in this ministry to the saints— and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us.
How about us?
Do we echo the generosity of our God who gives to the just and the unjust. Matt.5: But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
We think we are poor. We are not, in terms of history and geography we are the rich.
We think we cannot trust God. Need to build our own security
We think the other person is not deserving or trustworthy.
We think about ourselves and love our pleasures more than the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
A problem for the church, in the U.K. many who spend more on their daily paper than they give to the church, more who spend more on their alcohol intake than they give to the church. I am not suggesting there is a fixed percentage for it will vary in our lives but we always need to remember God does not have the right to ten per cent of our wealth but one hundred per cent for we are only stewards of what he has entrusted to us.
Perhaps as we start 2024 we need to ask ourselves how are we going to respond to God’s generosity that we celebrate this Christmastide.
No Comments