This third Sunday of Advent is traditionally one where we remember John the Baptist as the modern prophet who came to testify about who Jesus was. John’s part in God’s stroy was to come and be a witness. He invited people to come and be ready to receive the truth about Jesus in their lives, and to believe in him.
In our carol service this morning we’ve heard about many journeys happening, we have the wisemen, he travelled from the east, we had Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem from Nazareth. Jesus the son of God gave up his God-ness and became a human baby, and the shepherds came down from the hills to find the baby that the angels are talking about. They were invited to come and see this thing that had been done for them and for all mankind, there in a manger they would find a baby that would be the saviour of the world.
We’re going to be thinking about that invitation that the shepherds received, an invitation that is offered to us every Christmas and every day to go on that journey of exploring and finding out about who Jesus is.
I have a suitcase with me this morning, we’re going to unpack the suitcase and as we do it, unpack the importance of the Christmas story, why that invite was the best invite the shepherds were ever going to receive and why the invite to find out about Jesus for ourselves is the best invite we could ever receive so let’s unpack this suitcase.
We have a nice little party frock here but Jesus didn’t come in party clothes, Jesus came as a baby. In Philippians 2 :7, it talks about how Jesus made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant and was made in human likeness. Jesus came to earth in human flesh not in kingly robes, he was born as a baby to live among us which is an incredible thing.
What else is in our case?
We have a box of luxury mince pies, maybe it’s to add to the Christmas feast, I don’t know about you but when I go and visit friends at Christmas they might sort the main meal but we might bring extra bits and pieces along and say this might be part of the feast so I think we’re going to have some mince pies afterwards. When Jesus came to earth there was no big celebration, he was born in poverty in a room where animals had been kept and where his bed was an animal feeding trough, so the shepherds weren’t invited to come and see a king in luxury but a baby, flesh and blood and in poverty.
What else do we have. I’ve got a pair of comfy slippers here, it looks like the persons come to relax to put their feet up and enjoy somebody else serving them for a few days. I have to admit when I go and stay with people I quite enjoy being looked after for a bit, I help out but it’s nice isn’t it to be served. Nice for a parent sometimes when we go out for dinner because they don’t have to cook or wash up afterwards. Jesus didn’t come expecting us to serve him he came to serve us as it says in Matthews gospel: the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
And then finally we have gifts this persons bought, some gifts to give to the people that they come to be with, When Jesus came, he came with a special gift for each one of us. Jesus made an incredible journey Gods son made from the glory of heaven and came to this dark Earth, he came to be with us as a baby, he came to be with us in poverty, he came to be with us to serve and he came to give us a special gift.
Why did he come? Well because God the father loves us, each one of us is deeply precious to God, he loves us with an unconditional love, love that’s not dependent on what we do and don’t do and because God loves us so much he sent Jesus as a precious gift, he sent Jesus to say that we wouldn’t die but have eternal life, he gave Jesus that we could have a restored relationship with God now and for all eternity.
God’s son has come close to us, making the big journey from heaven to earth so that we can come close to him, we are invited to become members of his family and enjoy a life giving and satisfying relationship with him that begins now and goes on for eternity. It might be a little hard to get your head around that God loves you so much he wants you to be close to him, so close that you become his child but it’s the truth and why we celebrate Christmas.
Jesus came to share God’s love with all people: because of his love he gave up his God-ness and became a baby to give us a choice to accept the invite to learn about who Jesus is. The reading from John that we heard says ‘yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God, and children born not of natural descent nor of human decision or a husbands will, but born of God.’
When Jesus came and became a man he served us in the most amazing way. Too make it possible for us to become children of God, he willingly gave up his life, being nailed to a cross for crimes that he hadn’t committed, rising from the dead three days later. Jesus did this because it was the only way that simple people could come close to a holy God. Jesus willingly came to give you and me a gift that we cannot earn ourselves, the gift of becoming a child of God. Because God loves us and came close to us we can come close to him, what an amazing gift and what an invitation to come and see Jesus.
That’s what the shepherds did that first Christmas, they were chosen to go and see Jesus for themselves and we are invited to come and see Jesus from ourselves and to receive the gift that he’s come to bring us, we won’t find Jesus laying as a baby in a manger, he’s now living with the father God in heaven but his presence is with us now and if we turn to him by faith and put our trust in him we will receive the gift of becoming a child of God whose life will be transformed. I will invite us to come near to God and he will come near to you. (James 4:6)
So this Christmas may we remember Gods story that led up to that first Christmas, when Jesus came as a baby, giving up his God-ness and came into poverty, to serve and to invite us to become children of God, whose lives can be transformed. Let’s keep accepting the invitation to follow Jesus each day and come and see what he’s doing in our lives and in others.
St. George's Church Ramsgate 