Christmas Morning 2013

Christmas Morning 2013. So it is this sense of 'gift' that draws me to choose the verse of this carol. In the very depths of my heart I know that this child is the offspring of At this time of year I am sometimes asked what my favourite carol is. God; that this miracle of new life in Bethlehem 2000 years ago is nothing Assuming the questioner means Christmas Carol, I normally find it very less than the Word of God made flesh and living among us. Christ is difficult to give an answer – I like so many of them. God-given.

However, there is one Christmas carol whose final verse I particularly This is great news for you and me. We all love gifts, but nothing can like. It is from the carol 'In the bleak mid-winter'. surpass this gift from God. And it gets better than a baby in a manger, for this gift is what we might call a multi-pack. As well as babe in a manger, What can I give him, you get Way, Truth, Good Shepherd, Bread of Life, True Vine – all this poor as I am? and more wrapped up in this holy gift. If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb; How could there be more? Well, this gift of Jesus whose first little cry is if I were a wise man heard breaking the stillness of the night, is the same Jesus who cries out I would do my part; in the middle of the afternoon on Good Friday. 'Gloria in excelsis Deo' – yet what I can I give him - 'My God, my God, what have you forsaken me'. give my heart. The kid on the crib is the Christ on the cross; not only Christ-child but Why do I like it so much? Probably because three times the word 'give' is Christ-Crucified whose pure self-giving makes him the Resurrection and used. Of course Christmas is a time for giving – giving of presents, the Life. This makes him our Saviour and our Lord. giving time to family and friends, giving a bit more to charities, giving thought to what Christmas must be like this year for Christians in Syria, This is why shepherds give of their joy and gladness, this is why Kings Iraq, Bethlehem, Nazareth, or part of Pakistan and Africa, where our give gold, frankincense and myrrh, this is why Mary ponders these things fellow sisters and brothers celebrate this festival in danger; all of these in her heart. things. Go home and have a wonderful Christmas – share your gifts, receive But it is much more than that. I'm drawn towards a baby in a manger, your gifts, give of your love to family and friends. But stop and think wrapped in swaddling clothes who is a gift from God. Jesus is pure gift – what HE has given you – and what will you give HIM. given freely, given joyfully, given with no conditions. This child is pure gift – God's selfless gift his gift to us. This gift is God's mirror image – to see this child is to see God, as Mary, Joseph, shepherds, Wise Men and countless billions of people have done through the Christian centuries. All have seen in Jesus the image of God. Jesus is if you like God's 'selfie' as 'selfies' seem to be all the rage these days.