Sermon for the 1st Sunday of Christmas: “Visiting Shepherds” preached at the Eucharist, Sherborne Abbey on Sunday, 31 December 2023 by the Reverend Christopher Huitson (Galatians Ch 4: v 4 – 7; Luke Ch 2: v 15 – 21 ).
Just as last Sunday was the Eve of Christmas allowing me to give you Christmas greetings so today is New Year’s Eve enabling me to wish you all a very happy New Year.
Judging by a proliferation of News stories 2024 is going to be the year when Artificial Intelligence really gets going. A recent newspaper article quoted research which speculated about which jobs would be most affected. Near the bottom were plasterers and sports players mostly unaffected by AI whilst the list had near the top – clergy and priests though it does seem unlikely that an Artificial Intelligence app will ever be given permission to officiate, the authorisation bishops give to retired priests to conduct services and preach sermons. Today your sermon has been devised by human intelligence!
A mother, busy at Christmas time, as so many mothers are, was asked what her favourite carol was and replied, “Silent Night”! Children, of course, are noisy and full of questions for that is how they can learn about the world around them. But adults too, make sense of life by asking questions. From the very beginning of the Bible, in Genesis, we can see answers being supplied to implied questions like: how was the world and everything on it made? Why do people have to work hard to produce the resources for survival? Why does a snake have no legs? And so on. The writers of the gospels also seem often to be imagining us asking them questions, for the gospels are a rich source of answers. Who was Jesus? How was he special? How can we believe that he was God’s son?
We sometimes conclude that over the centuries human beings have become wiser and more knowledgeable, though in all conscience the world today doesn’t seem to have improved much. It is true that we understand the universe a bit better and have made many scientific discoveries which have added to the sum of human knowledge but are we wiser than previous generations? There seems little evidence for that. If you do take the approach that we have improved over the years then if, in imagination, you were to travers time in the opposite direction, then it might look as though people of long ago would be less wise and more credulous. But in fact those early followers of Jesus were not gullible fools but intelligent and thoughtful people. They knew that the Christian message they brought to people might seem strange, even incredible. But such was their faith and their conviction that their beliefs were founded on the rock of certainty that they felt compelled to share it with any who would listen.
As we progress through the Church Year, so we learn more and more about Jesus – about what he said and did and how his death and resurrection brought extraordinary change to our lives.
We are about to mark the end of our calendar year but it falls about a month after the beginning of the Church Year which started with Advent, the time of preparation for the coming of Jesus and now we are celebrating that coming as we are presented with the very beginning of the story. St. Matthew and St. Luke give us pictures in words of the birth of Jesus while the opening verses of St. John’s gospel, often read at the Midnight Mass, regale us with some theology, as God’s all powerful and creative word is identified with the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hearing these readings over a short period of time points up the huge contrast between the reality of his nature and the circumstances of his birth. Even in earthly terms the special nature of Jesus is underlined and emphasised by referring to him as a King, Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one. But his power and glory does not mean that he was born in a palace; not even in a house with warmth and clean clothes, but in an unhygienic stable; laid in a manger with hay to keep him snug and farm animals for company with Joseph and Mary. This image is derived from our desire to populate the bare bones of the story, in St. Luke’s version, with sheep, an ox and the donkey we imagine Mary rode on to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, though we have to be reminded that none of these details is actually in the gospel narrative. Often such additions reflect verses from the Old Testament which have been embroidered by poetic interpretations conveyed to us through the carols we sing.
He is aligned, even from his birth, with those who had no power, no influence. St. Luke, in particular, constantly stresses the connection Jesus felt with the poor and powerless. His family certainly lacked influence but was probably not in the very poorest group. The word we have come to understand as carpenter for Joseph’s trade, was probably a bit wider in meaning. In addition to working in wood Joseph would have turned his hand to small building tasks and general repairs and these would have been greatly beneficial to the community. His trade was valued not despised.
This was not the case for the first visitors to see the baby. They were far from being rich or powerful – simple shepherds but they were regarded with some contempt by the pious as they were obliged to work on the sabbath. The sheep still needed leading to pasture, sabbath or no sabbath. And yet from such pastoral commitment Jesus devised powerful descriptions of his nature. “I am the Good Shepherd” he said and was ready to use images taken from sheep and shepherds as illustrations in his parables. John the Baptist referred to him as “the Lamb of God” as the connection is made with the Lamb of sacrifice at Passover time. So the shepherds came to the stable and no school nativity play is complete without children dressed as shepherds and sheep. In this special way the beginning and the end of Jesus’ life are linked together as his shepherd visitors connect with the sacrificial lamb of God. Our gospel reading today gives us what happened when the shepherds made their way to the stable and then went back to their flocks and their fields.
St. Mark doesn’t give us any stories of Jesus’ birth at all. St. Luke is a bit more forthcoming and provides us with shepherds and angels while St. Matthew tells us about the tyrant Herod and the star guiding the wise men with their 3 gifts, so allowing the odd camel to grace the stable scene, although in truth the Holy Family seem to have moved to a house in St. Matthew’s account. We put these various strands together in our minds and so find deep meaning in that time when the Messiah came to this world.
It is for such reasons that the birth of this little baby was so significant. It is for such reasons that year by year we celebrate Christmas. Much of our world dates its history by years before Christ’s birth and after it. It’s a little inaccurate. Nevertheless tomorrow marks the addition of another year as we celebrate the start of 2024 and lay upon it our hopes for peace and some answers to the world’s problems.
Despite all the misuse of Christmas by those who do not understand; despite being transformed into a mere shopping opportunity by our secular society, still the mystery remains of the simplicity of the Holy child born one silent night and laid in a manger.