Peace on earth–a light in the darkness.
Christmas Midnight Mass: 24th December, 2002
Fr John Davis, Vicar of St Peter's, Eastern Hill
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see–I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord." (Lk 2:10)
Tonight in this darkness that surrounds us, we enter into the heart of the glorious mystery of our faith: God made flesh. With countless millions of Christians throughout the world we gather – it might be in great cathedrals or in tiny country churches, and for the few able to get through, it might be in Bethlehem itself. We come together to worship the light in that darkness.
This is a bold action. Right here in the middle of our major time for getting family and friends together, for exchanging gifts and hospitality and for enjoying a good time in a summer break, we pause to remember and to give thanks for the initial reason for it all. God has entered into our human situation through a woman giving birth to a child. The message is one of peace and goodwill to all.
From the Christian perspective, this is the central event of human history. There will never be anything as important as this. In a particular time and in a particular place, God was to be known and experienced as a human being. God has demonstrated the complete integration of God's interests with ours. The continuation of this most intimate of connections was to be found in the events of Good Friday and Easter Day. The one who rose from the dead for our salvation at Easter was still one of us. The one born in Bethlehem was one of us. Even at the return at the end of history which is promised, that second coming will be the fulfilment and the completion of all that began this night in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago.
Bethlehem represents God's decision to stand right with us and right beside us, where we are, and affirming to us that this world and this life are good things and very much worth being part of. That does not mean that there is no pain or suffering or trouble – as the life of the Lord shows, God is with us in those aspects of living too. But Bethlehem also affirms that there is more to life than mere routine. There is more than birth, struggle and death. There is a wider vision and purpose and wonder. That is what the shepherds first glimpsed. That is what the wise men came to worship.
The faith and simple response of ordinary people is at the heart of Christmas. People like shepherds or children. Uncomplicated people like the very old and the very young. They can serve to remind the rest of us battle-hardened potential cynics and doubters of a much needed openness to God.
Two thousand years after the first Christmas, we still stop to think about its mystery and we still try to live out its message. The question remains, have we travelled very far along that road towards peace and goodwill? That is a particularly poignant question this Christmas, where as one of the daily newspaper cartoonists yesterday observed, the heavenly angels with their message of peace are being strongly challenged and in danger of being shot out of the sky. Perhaps this Christmas more than very many, we are especially aware that the bringing into effect of that central Christmas message is something that God's people are going to have to work even harder for. It cannot in this world be simply assumed.
In all the exchanges of gifts that are made at this time, the most precious one to be received is God's gift of peace and love made flesh in the gift of Jesus the Christ. The teachings of the one born in Bethlehem continue to speak to us today with more than the usual powerful impact. Remember
Words of hope:
"Let not your hearts be troubled:
Believe in God, Believe also in me".
Words of love:
"A new commandment I give unto you:
That you love one another, as I have loved you."
Words of peace:
"Peace I leave with you
My peace I give you".
These teachings will continue to find positive response wherever Christians continue to gather together to celebrate; wherever Christians are trying individually and together to make a positive difference to the world and people around them. Such words will also no doubt also continue to fall on some deaf ears or also be shrugged off by the indifferent or the scoffers – as they always were and always have been. There will be a mixed reception. This is the way it was world to which Jesus came and this is the way it is in our world too now. But our joy and our continuing task as Christians is indeed to hear again that good news first made known at Bethlehem and then to try again to live it out in our lives, now. Maybe we can make a difference too.
With regard to the current international situation, there are those who say that we must now again fight to preserve our way of life and our values. There are others who are saying that they must now again fight to preserve their way of life and their values. Our experience in the last century is that the clashes of such understandings in brutal and drawn out war results in enormous suffering and material destruction. One side eventually is said to have won. But at what a sacrifice! In individual lives, the pain and the loss is heartfelt until the end of their days. Some things are irreplaceable. Some people are personally irreplaceable. Human lives and cultural treasures come cheap in such struggles. Collateral damage, we say. It is the way things are, we say. But we must ask again: is our way forward now in the current international crisis truly to have yet another go at that way of solving human differences?
The direct acknowledgment of these realities and these worries takes some of the shine off the festivities and the celebrations this Christmas. These are fears that every thinking person has, right now. The young worry about the future – their future. The old think, surely not again. We are sharply reminded that there may well be important things for us to do and principles for each of us to stand up for. For absolutely crucial decisions of war and peace in the Persian Gulf are likely to be made within the next couple of months. Our country and our people are going to be part of all this. The whole world is going to be part of this.
Everything we are doing and hearing here tonight declares and reminds us that another way has been offered to us at Bethlehem. Strange to say, it is not a way that has found favour through the centuries. The way of peace is simple, vulnerable, and accessible. Made explicit in a little child, it is easily challenged: this 'peace on earth, goodwill to all people' idea. It confronts the powers of this world. It offends the powers of this world. But surely it is worth another try.
So it is that we see that this is not after all just a story for the children. There is something here for us all to hear, if only we would.
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see–I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord." (Lk 2:10)
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