Wonderful.
Well, since he's not here, let me just extend my thanks to Peter,
who worked so hard on that as well behind the scenes.
He would never say that publicly by himself,
but he worked so hard to put that together along with the rest of the team.
How good was that?
Folks, just think this time last year we hadn't even heard the word Zoom.
And there we are.
Let's hope this time next year there's some kind of swear jar Zoom equivalent
that every time we mention it, something goes in the pot.
But let me just take us in for 15, 20 minutes from thinking about that nativity,
just reflecting on some of the things that we've seen.
And let me tell you about a rainy day which happened on a Saturday afternoon
a few weeks ago in our house.
It's the kind of afternoon, I guess, you get them a lot this time of year in Scotland,
where you're going to just accept that you're in for the day.
You know those kind of days?
You're just going to in.
One o'clock in the afternoon, the whole kind of afternoon's ahead of you,
but no, we're going to just stay in.
So we decide we're staying in.
We say to the kids, kids, how about a film?
And they say, we'd love a film.
We say, well, what film would you like?
Knowing that we've got kind of a few days left on Disney+,
hoping that we go for that.
And so they say, well, how about, we'd love to watch Aladdin.
And inside I'm containing myself, thinking, all right, okay,
we can put that on if you like.
But inside, okay, I'm going, yes, Aladdin, right?
My favourite Disney film when I was growing up.
Absolutely loved Aladdin.
So I'm delighted with their choice.
And it comes to the point in the film, which is my favourite scene.
It might be your favourite scene as well, if you've seen it.
It's the one where Aladdin, dressed as Prince Ali,
he's been transformed into Prince Ali,
and he's kind of waltzing up to the palace.
Okay?
And you've got that scene of there's bright colours, there's fanfare,
there's dancing, there's animals,
and it's all to that kind of really catchy song, you know, the one.
And I'm watching this, and I'm thinking to myself,
oh, man, that is what I'd call a king's entrance.
Okay?
If I was a king, if I was going to go for it,
that's how I would enter the stage.
And kind of there is Aladdin with the princess in his mind,
and he's the street boy who's aiming high.
And I guess as I've kind of reflected on that this week, on Aladdin,
reflected on the Christmas story,
it strikes me and it struck me once again
that the entrance of God's king into the world
was profoundly the opposite.
Here's what the Christmas story does.
It invites us to come and encounter the living God
who has his heart set on the lowly.
Okay, here's this man,
this first century doctor-cum-historian called Luke,
which is kind of where the nativity's taken from.
Luke, who has most likely been employed by this man called Theophilus.
You get this right at the start of this gospel.
He's been employed to historically and accurately
look into the things about Jesus,
to authenticate them.
Did these things really happen?
Who is this man?
So that this man, Theophilus, can have,
and the key word in Luke's gospel
is that word certainty that you get right at the top.
Luke's written this account
so that this man and every reader ever since
can have certainty about this man called Jesus.
Okay, and into our world of fake news,
and into our world of fact-checking,
isn't it wonderful to reflect on the fact
that we can,
we have something here that we can trust,
we have something here that we can stake our lives upon,
and that has transformed the lives of countless people
across the world,
down the ages,
as people encounter Jesus,
as they come to encounter God's reliable
and trustworthy word.
The living God,
whose word this is,
and whose heart is set on the lowly.
And we're straight into that in the Christmas story.
I mean, you read it,
and it's almost as if Luke's gone out of his way
to show us that every person
and every character in this story
should surprise us.
Think about what we've just seen.
Okay, think about Elizabeth and Zechariah, right?
Not your young and up-and-coming trendy family,
2.4 children,
living the suburban dream,
you know, the kind you'd expect to see
on an advert for a Jet 2 holiday, right?
That isn't these guys.
They're a couple with pain in their past
and perhaps shame in their present
because they are old
and they have no child.
It's not as if they're bad people,
they're good people.
And the angel appears and says,
what's the first thing?
God has heard your prayer.
What do you think that prayer was?
Right?
Just laying his soul before the Lord.
The pain, the questions of life.
And think about Mary.
She's not the aspiring young professional
living up in the penthouse suite
in the big city, is she?
Up at 6 a.m. for a Zumba class
and straight into work.
She's likely this young teenage girl,
probably with not a lot going for her in life
except that she's in love
with the young village carpenter.
Into the bargain, she's from Nazareth.
People in the Bible, you get it.
I love it.
They make jokes about that place.
Who would come from Nazareth?
What good could come from there?
And that's why, friends,
if you're here today and you're hurting
and you're worried and you're scarred
and your future you think is looking bleak,
what is going to happen,
then I want you to know that you're in good company
because this is the original Christmas cast.
And I have to say,
I love the realism of the Bible.
I love the rawness of the Bible.
You know, a few Fridays ago,
Alex and I were sitting with our newborn
trying to bounce her.
We thought we'd just put something on the telly.
Friday night, we thought we'd just flick through the channels.
What's on?
The One Show.
Okay.
Ever watched The One Show?
Me neither.
Okay.
So we're watching The One Show.
And who's on The One Show?
So this is kind of what got us interested.
There's Robbie Williams.
He's on The One Show
and he's talking about his new Christmas song.
Apparently he's got a new Christmas song out.
Presenter asks him,
Robbie, thinking about your lyrics,
is it fair to say that 2020
hasn't been an enjoyable year for you?
And Robbie's put this song together,
apparently to kind of,
it's kind of given voice to his frustration this year.
And do you know what he said?
He said, I've decided what I'm going to do with 2020
is I'm just going to wipe it out of my memory.
I'm going to pretend that it doesn't exist.
And everyone around the sofas is going,
that's a great idea.
That's a great idea.
But watching it thinking to myself,
if only life was that simple.
Okay.
It's okay to say if you've got a lot of cash in the bank,
a lot of security there, I'm sure.
But if only life were that simple,
we could just wipe out the bits that we didn't like.
My friends, some of us will have scars
and emotional memories from this year
that will stay with us for the rest of our days.
Okay.
And it seems to me that escapism
is not a very good place to go.
And that's why I love the Bible,
because it is real and it is raw.
And it presents us with life as we know it.
Okay.
And it presents us not just with life as we know it.
It presents us with a God
who didn't just look on from a distance.
Sympathetically, you might say,
but no, he didn't look on sympathetically from a distance.
It presents us with a God in the person of Jesus,
God in the flesh,
who entered our lowliness,
who became weak and vulnerable,
who came down into our world of pain and questions.
This is Jesus, God in the flesh.
But back in the story,
Mary's pregnant,
but not because of Joseph,
but because the God who in the beginning
formed life itself from nothing
has caused a life to form in her womb,
which is a sure and certain way of showing us
that the hope that's dawning on the world
that's about to break in
is nothing of man's doing.
It is all of God's doing.
Jesus, the clue's in the name.
His name means God saves.
God saves.
It's not a boat from the blue either.
Mary gets this.
She connects the dots.
She gets that this is God
making good on the promise
that we read right at the start.
We heard read of the nativity,
the promise that he'd made to his people
that one day through them,
centuries before to Abraham,
he was going to act
to bless the peoples of the nations
and save his people.
And this is what makes Mary burst into song.
She understands what's going on here.
And as we cast an eye
over the lyrics of her song,
and if you've got a Bible there,
you might want to check in at this point.
Beginning at verse 46,
Mary's song of praise,
her magnificat,
here's the question
that we need to ask ourselves.
The question surely can't be,
do we have her life?
Because we don't have her life.
We don't know what she was going through.
What we've got is the details we have here.
The question is not,
do we have her life?
The question surely is,
do we share her song?
This God has done great things for me.
Joy has invaded her soul.
Hope has burst into her heart.
And let me just say,
this is what knowing the God of the Bible does.
The constant refrain in the Psalms,
as you read them through,
that at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
That you put more joy in my heart
than when their grain and wine abound.
This God is joy giving.
And here's what she exclaims.
Verse 46,
Notice the threefold repetition of my there.
Okay, this is no kind of generic burst of praise.
This is a deeply personal for Mary.
He's my Savior.
He's my God.
He's making good on his promises for me.
And really quickly,
let me just pick out two things
that make Mary's heart sing
as we see it in her song here.
Here's the first one.
She's singing that her king
is coming with mercy in his eyes.
Do you see it?
Verse 50,
his mercy extends to those who fear him
from generation to generation.
Her king's coming with mercy in his eyes.
That word mercy there,
it's the Lord's compassion,
his love,
his undeserved favor,
his grace.
And this God shows it to those who what?
Acknowledge his existence.
No, he shows it to those who fear him.
Okay, two different things.
God's mercy is for those
who would reorientate their lives
and live them in light of who he is.
And that mercy,
do you see how she reflects
on the fact that it extends?
Okay, it extends.
It keeps on going.
Do you not love an extension?
Right, not talking about a house.
Okay, eat out to help out.
See, when I found out
that was going on for another month,
extended, delighted.
Okay.
This invitation that God makes
to come and experience his mercy
as you come to know Jesus,
it keeps on going
from generation to generation.
So the question we have to ask
is have we entered in
to celebrate his mercy?
There's a constant refrain in the Bible
that thrills the soul of God's people
that this God does not treat us
as our sins deserve.
Rather, he is compassionate
and he is gracious.
He is slow to anger.
He is abounding in love.
And that truth that thrills the souls
of God's people
is reaching its pinnacle right here
in the coming of Jesus.
He's remembered,
sorry, he has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful.
Right?
So God's not some kind of politician
who's made some massive promise
years ago
and then tried to wriggle out
of that promise
before somebody picked them up on it
and then the politician said,
oh, well, I guess I should make good on that.
Mary's saying,
God, you said you'd do this
and you've done it.
You've done it.
You've followed through on your promise.
You've made good on your word.
Friends, do you know what?
I'm discovering more and more
as I go on in the Christian life
that the God of the Bible
is always so much greater
than I think he is.
Mary's singing.
She's rejoicing that her king's coming
with mercy in his eyes
and she's singing secondly and quickly
because her king is coming
with might in his arm.
Do you see that?
Verse 51.
He has performed mighty deeds
with his arm.
He's scattered those
who are proud
in their inmost thoughts.
So she's recalling here
that her God
always has a track record
of getting the victory.
She reflects on it, right?
God saved us
from captivity in Egypt.
He led our ancestors
through the Red Sea
which is the event
that defines
the very nation of Israel.
And she's reflecting
the fact that this God
is at it again.
Right?
An impossible situation.
Nowhere to go.
But somehow
this God
has made a way.
Right?
And this God
has scattered the proud
in the thoughts
of their hearts.
Those who think
that they've made it.
Those who are worshipping
themselves.
Those who are lifting
themselves up.
He'll bring down
the mighty,
this God.
And he'll lift up
the humble.
Okay, of course,
in Mary's world,
the supreme power
of the day
is Rome.
Just reflect on this
for a minute.
It's Rome, right?
Top of the tree
is Caesar.
Now,
never in a million years
would you have conceived
in this day
that 2,000 years later
people's first thought
when they hear
the word Caesar
today
is salad.
Okay,
a few bits of lettuce,
a sprinkling of croutons.
That's what we understand.
The first thing
that we think of
when we hear
the word Caesar.
And yet,
here we are today
and this baby
to be born
to this peasant girl,
not only are we still
talking about him,
but apparently
2.7 million
new people each year.
No idea how
they figure that out
and I'm sure
that figure will be
much higher
because it doesn't
account for the
underground church.
2.7 million
new people each year
choose to follow him
and there are
2.4 billion people
alive today
across the world
who call him
Lord.
Why?
Because of what
the angel said
at verse 33
of his kingdom.
Remember,
this is a
baby yet to be born
who will come
next week,
we'll see,
arrive in the manger
of his kingdom.
There will be
no end.
And I'd say
the proof is in the pudding
of that one.
Here is
a magnificent song,
a heart response
to a quite
incredible bit of news.
Mary is singing
that her king's coming
with mercy in his eyes
and she's singing
that her king
is coming with
might in his arm.
And both of those things
will be so perfectly
embodied
in the child
that Mary will bear,
Jesus.
the king who is
all mercy
and the king
who is
all
might.
And the king
gloriously
who didn't just
look on the lowly,
the God
who
would become
lowly.
God made
low.
you know,
essentially the story
of Aladdin
it ends with,
doesn't it,
the boy born in poverty
becoming the boy
who gets the riches.
That's right,
isn't it?
Street rat,
that's what he calls himself.
Makes it right to the top.
Friends,
the gospel
is all about
Jesus,
the one who knew
all riches,
right?
John 17,
the one who
knew that he had
an experience,
glory
with his father
before the foundation
of the world.
Giving that
up
and becoming
the boy
born
in poverty.
And he would go
even lower
all the way
to the cross
so that in him
we who are
poor
might
become
rich
as we know
the forgiveness
and the loving kindness
of being
right
with our
creator.
And so here's the question
as we leave Mary's song.
Here's the question.
Not do we have
her life
but as we come
into another advent
and maybe even
for the first time
this morning
asking yourself
do you share
her song?
My soul
glorifies
the Lord
and my spirit
rejoices
in God
my saviour
for he has done
great
things
for me.
Let's pray.
And maybe
let's just use
this moment
just to reflect
on some of the
things that we've
thought about.
This God
he has done
wonderful things
for me.
And so
heavenly father
we worship you
this morning
for who you are
the God
of all grace.
And thank you
for advent
and being able
to celebrate
and having our own
language
and be able to read
the account
of the arrival
of your king
your son
Jesus
into the world.
and so father
I pray for
for some of us
here today
who perhaps
don't know you
perhaps who
maybe the fire
in their heart
that was once
there
the joy
of knowing
you
is no longer
there.
Father I pray
that this Christmas
we would recapture
something
of the heart
of Mary's song
here
that my soul
greatly rejoices
in the Lord
because he
has done
great things
for me.
Father thank you
that you hear us
and we pray
these things
in Jesus'
precious name.
Amen.