“They made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.”
What do you imagine the shepherds told them? Did they tell them about standing in a light of divine presence? Did they admit they were terrified? Did they tell them about the angel’s announcement of “good news of great joy for all the people?” Maybe they said that they had heard a choir of angels praising God. I wonder if they looked at the child lying in a manger and said, “The angel told us about him. That’s the one we’ve been waiting for.”
I don’t know exactly what the shepherds told them I only know that whatever it was it left those who heard were filled with awe and wonder. They were amazed.
What is so amazing about this story that two thousand years later we are still telling it?
What is so amazing that we come back year after year to hear a story we’ve already heard and probably know by heart? What about this story amazes you today?
I’m not asking about your amazement at what happened to the shepherds, Mary, or Joseph. I want us to push through the sentimentality of the story to its power and meaning for our lives as we make our covenant together.. I’m asking today about how this story is amazing for you, in your life and circumstances today and for this church.. I don’t want you to tell their amazing story. I want you to tell your amazing story.
Is it a story about recovering hope when you thought all was lost, finding freedom and forgiveness of past guilt and regret, or facing and moving through your fear?
Maybe it’s a story of discovering light, meaning, and direction for your life when you were walking in darkness, or getting your life turned around and going in a new direction. Last night in the watchnight service in the cathedral the Bishop of Leeds said in his sermon he hoped the New Year would be better than this last one, and the year before, and the year before that. We need a new story.
Maybe your amazing story is about experiencing peace in a time of turmoil or getting through another day when you didn’t think you could even get out of bed that morning.
It might be a story about how your life was put back together when you weren’t sure if you even had all the pieces. Maybe it’s a story about love and intimacy, abundance and gratitude, healing and wholeness.
Maybe it’s a story about feeling a presence greater than and from beyond yourself. Maybe it’s a story about looking in the face of the child lying in a manger and recognising yourself.
All the promises of God coming to be with us begin with the child lying in a manger. We come on the first Sunday of a New Year to once again receive that child into the manger of our own lives.
It doesn’t matter who you are, why you are here, or what has and has not happened in your life in the past year, the angel’s announcement of “good news of great joy for all the people” is a promise that all of us are given and have an amazing story. And sometimes the most amazing thing about that story is that it is happening even when we don’t see it or can’t yet believe it.
Today, January 1, is the 250th anniversary of the first singing of the hymn Amazing Grace. It was written by Rev John Newton, the vicar in Olney Buckinghamshire, once a slave trader and not a very pleasant man. But God found him, this “wretch” and saved him…
The amazing thing of this story is the outpouring of the amazing grace of God. Shepherds received it, Newton received it, and you know what? So can we - 2023 might be our time of revival and renewal.
What is the story you would make known about the child? How has that story grown in you? Is it still growing in you? If not, why not? In what ways does it continue to change and challenge you?
The amazing story began with the shepherds but it can only continue with us. It is now your story and my story. And in whatever ways it penetrates our hearts, our minds, our emotions, all that we love and hold as dear, it will always be a story that is simply amazing.
The Christmas story, that amazing story of God with us, does not end with the birth of Jesus. That’s when it begins. And it’s not simply a story to tell, it’s a story to live. And it’s a story that can make a difference to others who might just encounter it through us.
Last night in Ripon the service was followed by a procession to the market square to greet midnight. It was so windy and soggy last night my candle went out five times. But what was lovely was every time I was without light someone came and lit my candle again. Maybe that’s how we share Christmas.
Michael Ramsey writing to his clergy many years ago said “ Through the year people will thank God for you. And let the reason for their thankfulness be not just that you were a person whom they liked or loved but because you made God real to them.” Well let’s say we can all do that - let’s try and make God real for people.
Let’s vow this first day of 2023, this day we renew our covenant, to live the story to its fullest, to open ourselves to the world and word of the shepherds, and to allow our lives, words, and actions to become the story. Don’t you want to be amazed and amazing?
The grace of God has dawned upon the world with healing for all humankind…
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