December 25, 2015

Susan Adams

Christmas Day     Luke 2:8-18

Christmas Comes Reaching for Rainbows Anne Weems

Key idea: We all have gifts; we don't always know what gift we have; gifts have to be 'unwrapped'; some gifts have to be 'constructed'; gifts have to be used; our gifts are for sharing with others.

• Who got presents this morning?

• another name for presents is...? gift

• Did you know what your gift was when you first saw it?

• I have a gift – uncover box

• What is in it? Who knows?

• How will we find out? unpack the box

• You might think they are rubber bands, give out the green rubber bands – discuss what they could be for...

But! They are a 'reminder' ! – wear all day to remind us to be kind to one another and to remember to say thank you and smile. These are little gifts we can give all day.

I have a friend who had a baby whose birthday was Christmas Day.

Are any of you born on Christmas Day?

My friend said her baby was the best gift ever... But she didn't know that her baby would have lots of gifts to share with her and with others ... she only discovered this her baby girl grew up. This baby grew up and became ....what ?

Sometimes we hear the story about Jesus being born and we are told that the baby Jesus was God's gift to the people of the world. What do you think that could mean?

Well no one knew at first, not until he grew up and the story writers began to tell us about the things Jesus did when he was and adult. Things like be concerned about people who were sick or who didn't have enough to eat, or getting angry when people were unkind to each other, or when they thought that getting rich was more important than being kind. He didn't like it when one group of people bullied another, or tried to make them work for little wages.

Jesus had time to listen to people and to try to understand what they thought would make their lives happier.

What do you think some of the gifts that Jesus had could be called?

                  kindness, friendliness, love, anger(about things that were unkind), time to listen, caring, love,    fairness (justice), healing (salvation)

Which of these gifts do you have?

What about your friends?

What about your Mum, Dad, grandma, grandpa...? What gifts do they have?

It is very important that as we go about our days – at school or home or work – we try to remember the special gifts that are ours... the more we use them and get good at using them, then the more gifts we will discover we have.

SHOW ANGEL – give out little angels

On Christmas Day we hear the stories about angels who, in the Bible, are God's messengers. They bring special good news to the shepherds who are very poor. But the shepherds didn't just say 'thank you very much for telling us about the baby in Bethlehem' then sit down again and cuddle their sheep to keep warm ... What did they do? Well the story tells us they went down from the hillside to see for themselves what was going on, to see how they could be part of what was happening. Many of our Christmas carols are about this story, about angels and shepherds and the baby in the manger ... and going to see what was happening. It was as if the shepherds wanted to unwrap the gift they had been told about and have a good look to see what it was.

Lots of the stories we have about Jesus are about him giving messages of good news to people, especially people who are poor, or who are sick, or who are not happy for some reason (it is as if he was giving these people little gifts of hope and encouragement to them). There are other stories where he is telling off the bullies and people who are unkind – they might have struggled to hear the 'good news gift' I think. But the good news he told them all was that things could be different for them, for everyone – the world could be a better place, they could all be happier. For some it would be about having more to eat and better places to live, for others it would be a sense of peace in their hearts, a quiet mind because they had done what they knew was the right thing. In the stories we have about Jesus he uses images like heavenly banquets, and salvation, and he uses stories about bread, and treasure, wine and promises.

The world would be different if the people who heard what Jesus had to say got involved in making it different: they had to use their gifts to make things different – to bring love and happiness, kindness, peace and gentleness to each other – if they helped each other; listened to each other; were friendly with one another even if they were different and lived in a different country.

The presents we get from the shops are great, they are lots of fun and we should say a big thank you very much for them.

                  The gifts we are born with are even more fantastic – they never wear out, and, the more we use      them the                more they grow.

                  And, they can be shared with others to make a difference, to make people happier.

Every time we smile when someone is sad, we are sharing one of God's gifts to us; every time we are kind when others are unkind, we share when others are being greedy, we stop and listen when others are rushing about, then God is close, and the angels message of good news to the world is being proclaimed.

If we learn to use the gifts we have well (if we unwrap them and – as sometimes is necessary – take time to put all the pieces together and learn how to use them) they can make the world a better place. If we can do this with our gifts then that will make us all happy people too.

Christmas is the time of year when we stop all our busyness, when we tell the story of the baby and the angels and the shepherds, when sing the Christmas carols and when we are invited to remember to look for the gifts that were given to us at our birth – the ones we can share without having to go shopping!

That was the angels good news,

The gifts of love, peace, compassion, hope were the gifts baby Jesus had to share as he grew up,

Those are our gifts too and we can share them.