Christmas Day

Readings: Isaiah 61v1-40&8-end; Psalm 126/Luke 1v46b-55; 1 Thessalonians5v16-24; John 1v6-8&19-28.

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.

A Word: As we celebrate the nativity of Jesus, we remember that the star that shone at his birth was seen far away in the land of Persia. The Church celebrates the arrival of these astrologers and their meeting with the infant Jesus, at the feast of Epiphany, in early January, but what the Bible does not reveal is how many astrologers came. So, we have the tradition of speaking about three Persians – also known as three kings and three wise men - because the Bible tells us about the three gifts they brought of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Now, as we do not know how many Persian astrologers came, this inspired a story about a fourth traveller, as told by an angel in a film. This is the story I am going to share with you now.

Now, when the first three astrologers set off to find the new born King, the fourth held back to help a family in need and so was delayed. Then as the other three found their way to Herod’s court, the fourth was delayed even more because he had stopped to assist people in trouble and difficulties along the route. Then, after the three eventually found Jesus in Bethlehem and made their way home by another way to avoid King Herod, they met the fourth and told him to avoid Herod and head straight for Bethlehem. Unfortunately, by the time the fourth traveller arrived in Bethlehem, the holy family had already set off for Egypt. But, before following them, the fourth stayed to comfort the families and bury the children who had been killed by Herod’s army. So, by the time the fourth traveller arrived in Egypt, Herod had died and the Holy Family had returned home and settled away from the public eye in Galilee. Having heard they had gone home already, the fourth traveller did what he could to help the people he met in Egypt before returning to Israel to search for and find the young King. This pattern of life became the fourth traveller’s way of living: always seeking for the King, always meeting with people in need and always being delayed because he offered compassion and care to all who required it. Eventually, after 33 years of searching, the fourth traveller arrived in Jerusalem only to hear that the King he was seeking was about to be crucified in a place called Golgotha. The fourth traveller searched outside the city walls and eventually found a cross on which there was a sign above a dying man. It said “The King of the Jews”. The fourth traveller looked up at the King he had spent so many years trying to find and said “I am so sorry that I have missed finding you so many times during your life here on earth, as I so wanted to look upon your face before this”. In reply, Jesus looked back and said “Do not be sad, because every time you helped others, you were helping me; and every time you looked with compassion on the people you helped; you were looking straight at me”.

So, as we give thanks for the birth, life and death of Jesus today; we give thanks that we are called to show love, care and compassion to others; for as the Bible tells us, when we help others, we are helping Jesus.

Prayer Thank you Lord God Almighty, that you as the creator of all things came into the world as a baby, to live and die to save us from our sins. Amen

Thank you for joining us.