SERMON BY THE VICAR: Midnight Mass of the Nativity 2025

Readings:  Isaiah 52:7-10, Hebrews 1:1-4, John 1: 1-14

What is the image which stands out for you in this fading year of 2025?  For me, the image that stands out was of a woman in our Anglican hospital of Al Ahli in Gaza who had lost her family home through the war.  In the middle of destruction and devastation she gave birth to a boy safely. She said I will call this baby Jesus because he is hope.  This was hope and life out of death and destruction. The Christian Gospel has it its heart this same hope and vision shown by the descent to earth of God in Christ, and the ascent to God of God-like humanity.  Two images from the Orthodox Church powerfully express this. You will know that in the Orthodox tradition Christ is not born in a stable but in a cave. This is of course a metaphor for the cave of the human heart.  And a hymn from Russian Orthodoxy puts it like this, “You descended to earth to redeem Adam.  Not finding him there, you descended to hell.  There you found him.” God physically lifts us up, and spins us around, like a finalist on Strictly Come Dancing.   God lifting us up will give us many things - not least hope and vision, and it’s these two things two things I want to talk about – hope and vision.

First, Hope.  The birth of a child is a similar moment – scary, but above all full of hope. And tonight, the birth of Jesus in the cave of Bethlehem as the Messiah, or Christ, brings fresh hope for everyone.  This sense of fresh hope is conveyed by words from the Prophet Isaiah, which have been used by the Christian Church as a prophecy about the meaning of Jesus Christ for the world.  “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”  The birth of this God child changes everything. This is not simply empty churchy jargon.  Let me illustrate it from life.   As a priest, I see the lives of individuals constantly being transformed by the liberating effect of Jesus Christ in their lives.  In the desert of western secularism, people instinctively know this.  This church, like many others, is currently experiencing what has been called the Quiet Revival – more and more people, especially men from Gen Z are turning to this Gospel to make sense of their lives and the life of the world.  We welcome all unconditionally – and in a society where welcome has become a politicised and exclusive commodity this is blast a blast of liberating fresh air. In response, churches, this church, is called to be turned outward and not inward, not to be afraid of risk, to be vision driven, and constantly re-inventing itself.  It will also be calling people to take on responsibilities they never expected to do, and individuals will be stretched, and changing and growing in their faith. This is our life now, setting us on an exciting course for the year ahead.

So, for this year ahead of 2026, if you are a regular worshipper here in this Christian community, may you know for yourself the freshness of the Gospel of the Birth of Jesus Christ.  If you are a visitor, may you experience that hope and new energy this evening right now and in your own life and community wherever that is. We have much to build on – a worshipping community which has grown in size and diversity in the last few years, new members of staff breathing fresh life and energy into our music and liturgy, our work with the very young and with the nursery in the Undercroft, our work with the frail, elderly, and housebound in the Parish, and with the Filipino community into an exciting phase of growth and new energy. In short, a church which is engaging with the community in which it is set in new and interesting ways, which will only increase in the year ahead. So let this freshness do its work in our own lives, often unnecessarily weighed down with all sorts of baggage.  Remember too that the ministry of Jesus Christ begins at his baptism in the Jordan River – the lowest place on the earth’s surface.  I do not need to explain the symbolism of that in our own lives, except to say that God comes, in Jesus, to the very lowest place of human need.

Hope leads to Vision.  The year ahead could be a particularly significant and hopeful one for the whole of our world.  A new start for the brutalised people of the Holy Land, Ukraine, Sudan and so many other places of conflict in our globe needs to come, not least for the violently persecuted Christian minority in so many countries. With Pope Leo XIV we say “Pray God for an end to war and violence.  Pray God for peace.” There must be a new start for all who are weighed down by the weight of oppression and violence in regimes which dishonour the human person as the image of God. For our own society, in a year in which we have all continued to experience the very real sense of anxiety generated by politicised xenophobia, the fragility of the markets, and who receives what in benefits, we also see new signs of hope in our own society.  A small example is food banks which are opening at the rate of three a week. Most of them have brought together a consortium of churches and allies who would not claim to be Christian. And as someone cleverly said, “ I am looking forward to the news of the first food bank set up by the National Secular Society.”  In this situation, the church will not retrench but expand, which it is already doing. We cannot do this, of course, without the money and volunteers to carry forward this vital work in society. So, I can say that I feel fortunate to work in this community where many give of their time and resources to make things happen. This is our vision for 2026.

So together, let’s make things happen in 2026. We can make it a real year of hope and vision, where we work at demonstrating a more hopeful, and therefore Godlier, world order.   At Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ brings hope and vision to every situation.  People who are in trouble often know this better than others.  We all bring our own stories to this celebration, and for most people these stories are mixed- some good, some bad, some achievements, some regrets. If you have lost someone in the last year or at this time of year, it continues to be a bittersweet celebration.   Whether you are a visitor to this church, or an occasional worshipper, or you are here regularly, whether this year past has been for you an annus horibilis, or whether it’s been a good year, may you know this hope and vision for yourself.  We can’t live without it. The birth of Jesus Christ changes everything, as we live it year by year. God comes down to earth and pulls and drags us up to heaven.  This is our new reality.  Join us. To use words of John our Patron set for this Midnight Mass of the Nativity, “Behold, I make all things new.”  May this continue to be true for all of us, and may 2026 be for all a year full of fresh hope and vision, even an annus mirabilis, full of grace and wonders.