Christmas Day
Jared’s Blog – Christmas Day 2011
Good morning everyone. We give you a warm welcome to Priestfield Church on this most special of Days when we celebrate together the birth of Christ. However you are marking this day, may you know the presence of the One in whose coming we are rejoicing.
An odd sort of king
Tom Wright, in his new book Simply Jesus, entitles the first chapter, ‘An odd sort of king.’ Indeed he is correct – from the beginning of his life to his death and resurrection, we find biblical writers using ‘King’ language about Jesus, but when we look at what he did and listen to what he said, he was a very odd sort of king.
But the more we examine the language of Luke in the birth stories, the more we can see that Luke was seeking to convey that the little baby who was laid in a manger wrapped in strips of cloth is actually a kingly character sent from God. The question is, how are we going to respond to him?
Are we going to become citizens of his kingdom, or are we going to consign him to the scrapheap of history?
Each Christmas, the culture that we have created in the West challenges the kingship of Jesus. Each year, Jesus challenges back: the manger-babe, sign of a very odd king indeed, opens our eyes to the needs of the world and the hope that he gives to it. This is a hope that does not end with, ‘The King is dead; long live the King.’ Rather it is a hope that both transcends and fulfils history as he makes us part of his New Creation, his
Kingdom of God.
It is this odd king that the world needs to hear about and Luke invites us to take our cue from his first citizens – lowly shepherds whose excitement could not be contained and who told everyone who would listen about the King in the manger.
Minuit, chrétiens, c’est l’heure solennelle
Où l’Homme-Dieu descendit jusqu’à nous,
Pour effacer la tache originelle,
Et de son Père arrêter le courroux.
Le monde entier tressaille d’espérance,
À cette nuit qui lui donne un Sauveur.
Peuple, à genoux, attends ta délivrance
Noël! Noël! Voici le Rédempteur!
Noël! Noël! Voici le Rédempteur!
De notre foi que la lumière ardente
Nous guide tous au berceau de l’Enfant,
Comme autrefois une étoile brillante
Y conduisit les chefs de l’Orient.
Le Roi des rois naît dans une humble crèche;
Puissants du jour, fiers de votre grandeur,
À votre orgueil, c’est de là que Dieu prêche.
Courbez vos fronts devant le Rédempteur!
Courbez vos fronts devant le Rédempteur!
Le Rédempteur a brisé toute entrave,
La Terre est libre et le Ciel est ouvert.
Il voit un frère où n’était qu’un esclave,
L’amour unit ceux qu’enchaînait le fer.
Qui lui dira notre reconnaissance?
C’est pour nous tous qu’il naît, qu’il souffre et meurt.
Peuple, debout! Chante ta délivrance.
Noël! Noël! Chantons le Rédempteur!
Noël! Noël! Chantons le Rédempteur!
Words: Placide Cappeau
Music: Adolphe Adam
This, in its original, has been for me the most moving of carols this year. If you want to explore ‘the real meaning of Christmas’ then explore this. Now, stand up and sing about the Redeemer! Perhaps not with the voice of Roberto Alagna in the YouTube version attached, but give it what you’ve got.
Have a good week celebrating!
Jared.
Questions for thinking about last week’s message:
How open are we to God doing something new and exciting?
How open are we to God using us to bring it to pass?
Do we see ourselves first and foremost at God’s disposal?
Are we willing to give ourselves to God’s purposes?
Priestfield Church,
Dalkeith Road
2 Marchhall Place
Edinburgh
EH16 5HW
Rev Dr Jared Hay
13 Lady Road
Edinburgh
EH16 5PA
0131 468 1254
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- 10.30am Worship (including all-age Godspace)