WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.740 I just want to take a few minutes to explain why we've laid on this carol service today. 00:00:06.500 --> 00:00:11.060 So the Ealing lunchtime talks, you may have seen the sign outside on a Tuesday, 00:00:11.060 --> 00:00:16.859 and some members of staff from the Ealing Council have organised this carol service. 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:21.559 And I just want to take 10-15 minutes to explain why. 00:00:21.980 --> 00:00:27.000 So if you would turn with me to the very middle of your handouts, 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:31.560 just a page back from where we had our last reading, 00:00:31.899 --> 00:00:35.539 to that passage in Luke, Luke chapter 2. 00:00:35.659 --> 00:00:37.340 It's just on the left-hand side there. 00:00:38.519 --> 00:00:43.260 And I just want to look at the second little paragraph in that passage, 00:00:43.379 --> 00:00:45.179 which begins with the number 10. 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:54.100 This is a time of year, isn't it, full of a mixture of different emotions. 00:00:54.100 --> 00:01:02.280 So I wonder whether you agree with what the angel says to the shepherd as he brings the message. 00:01:02.460 --> 00:01:09.820 He says to them, doesn't he, that the news of Jesus' birth is good news of great joy. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:16.960 The shepherds hear that this is what the birth of Jesus is all about. 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:26.899 The angel speaks of a gift, doesn't he, that isn't just the fleeting pleasure of Christmas that fades away in January. 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:33.039 But Jesus is born to give lasting and great joy. 00:01:34.500 --> 00:01:37.459 I wonder if that is how you feel about the birth of Jesus, 00:01:37.759 --> 00:01:39.899 if that is how you feel about this time of year. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:43.560 It is a great big claim to make, isn't it? 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:53.020 But to understand this great joy, I think we need to realise two things about this gift that Luke fills us in on here. 00:01:53.980 --> 00:02:01.340 The gift God gives, sending his son to be born as a baby, that first Christmas. 00:02:01.520 --> 00:02:06.859 We need to realise, first of all, that the gift says a lot about us. 00:02:06.859 --> 00:02:10.379 The gift says a lot about us. 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:16.840 It says things about us, actually, that we don't really want to hear this afternoon. 00:02:18.060 --> 00:02:24.240 There are some gifts that when you unwrap them, they send us a big message. 00:02:25.579 --> 00:02:29.599 There are some gifts that when we open them, they make us feel slightly awkward. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:32.939 And we kind of want to say to the person, what are you trying to say here? 00:02:32.939 --> 00:02:39.199 If you're given a book which reads, the title is How Not To Be Selfish. 00:02:39.900 --> 00:02:44.439 Or you open a dieting DVD or a fitness video. 00:02:45.539 --> 00:02:48.120 Some gifts, we receive them like that, don't we? 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:51.900 And we've kind of got to swallow our pride a little bit. 00:02:52.939 --> 00:02:58.159 Last year, just after the talk, this talk, same time, same place last year, 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:01.479 someone brought me a book on how to give better talks. 00:03:01.479 --> 00:03:05.439 And I kind of opened that and thought, what are you trying to say here? 00:03:06.119 --> 00:03:07.780 Slightly awkward, isn't it? 00:03:08.799 --> 00:03:14.679 And gifts like that don't necessarily make us feel joyful, do they? 00:03:15.539 --> 00:03:20.219 They make us feel awkward, or maybe even a little bit angry. 00:03:21.659 --> 00:03:24.899 And it's like that for many with the gift of Jesus Christ. 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:32.439 Because this gift tells us things about ourselves that actually we don't want to admit. 00:03:33.740 --> 00:03:41.560 The angel says to the shepherds that the gift is the arrival of a saviour who is Christ the Lord. 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:48.900 And he says to them, Jesus is born as somebody who will rescue you from your worst problems. 00:03:48.900 --> 00:03:51.640 And we think, great, don't we? 00:03:52.580 --> 00:03:58.180 But the shepherds understand that their greatest problem was not their financial situation, 00:03:58.379 --> 00:04:03.819 it wasn't their political situation, or their social problems, or any of that. 00:04:04.480 --> 00:04:09.900 But their greatest problem was their failure to live in God's world as they should. 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:16.180 Their worst problem was God's great love of all that is right, 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:19.079 and his hatred of all that is wrong. 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:23.540 And they knew that they were definitely not on the right side of that. 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:30.360 They realised that they owe God their whole lives as his creatures. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:34.060 They owe him more than they can possibly pay him back. 00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:38.579 So as we kind of take the wrapping off this gift, 00:04:39.540 --> 00:04:41.720 we might think, ooh, ooh, that is awkward. 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:45.480 I'm actually pretty insulted by this gift. 00:04:46.620 --> 00:04:50.980 I'm pretty insulted that this preacher guy is standing in front of me right now, 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:55.459 and he says that God thinks I need saving from that. 00:04:55.459 --> 00:05:04.139 That God says I need saving from the terrible consequences of not living as I should in his world. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:10.240 And that the gift comes to be my Lord and my ruler. 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:17.259 This gift, rather than making me feel joyful about myself, 00:05:18.379 --> 00:05:21.699 is actually an indictment on myself. 00:05:21.699 --> 00:05:26.879 It tells me things about myself I don't want to hear, quite frankly. 00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:36.500 Somebody once said that the wise person is a person who hears what they don't want to hear. 00:05:38.019 --> 00:05:43.740 But it is for this reason that so often Jesus Christ is an unwanted gift. 00:05:44.860 --> 00:05:48.740 Because the gift God sends tells us a lot about ourselves. 00:05:49.779 --> 00:05:51.519 That's the first thing we need to realise. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:56.560 The second and the last thing that we need to realise is that actually the gift 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:03.579 tells us much, much more about the giver than it tells us about ourselves. 00:06:04.719 --> 00:06:09.959 The gift tells us much, much, much more about God who gives the gift. 00:06:10.799 --> 00:06:15.979 Did you notice how the angel gives directions to find this gift, 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:17.299 to find the Lord Jesus? 00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:21.180 He says, doesn't he, this will be a sign to you. 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:27.319 You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. 00:06:28.660 --> 00:06:30.139 That's the signpost. 00:06:31.620 --> 00:06:35.759 It makes the point, doesn't it, that this is a real person, 00:06:36.759 --> 00:06:40.240 in a real place, someone who is findable, 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:42.780 who they can actually meet. 00:06:42.780 --> 00:06:48.180 This gift is a particular person who fits a particular description. 00:06:49.280 --> 00:06:54.000 He is not just a feeling or a sentimental religious hope, 00:06:54.259 --> 00:06:59.079 but a real, particular, unique person who you can meet. 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:05.919 But what is really strange about the sign is the unusual thing that they say 00:07:05.919 --> 00:07:08.579 about where they will find this baby. 00:07:09.060 --> 00:07:12.939 It's not the fact that he is wrapped in swaddling cloths. 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:16.060 There would have been quite a few babies in Bethlehem, I'd imagine, 00:07:16.219 --> 00:07:17.459 wrapped up like that. 00:07:17.459 --> 00:07:24.839 But I don't imagine that many of them would have been where the baby Jesus would have been found. 00:07:26.019 --> 00:07:28.719 You will find him in a manger. 00:07:30.419 --> 00:07:31.139 In a manger. 00:07:33.019 --> 00:07:34.759 That word, manger, 00:07:35.620 --> 00:07:37.139 it comes from the Latin, 00:07:38.219 --> 00:07:39.299 meaning to eat. 00:07:39.799 --> 00:07:41.299 It's a bit like the French, isn't it? 00:07:41.339 --> 00:07:43.359 If my GCSE French is any good, 00:07:43.479 --> 00:07:44.879 it's manger, isn't it? 00:07:45.179 --> 00:07:47.240 Prêt à manger, ready to eat. 00:07:48.099 --> 00:07:50.319 It's basically a feeding trough. 00:07:51.219 --> 00:07:52.579 A manger, a manger. 00:07:54.339 --> 00:07:58.039 The manger is a sign not only of where he is, 00:07:58.719 --> 00:08:00.699 but of who he is. 00:08:02.159 --> 00:08:04.519 The gift tells us more about him 00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:07.240 than actually it tells us about us. 00:08:07.299 --> 00:08:09.659 It tells us about who he is as the giver. 00:08:10.919 --> 00:08:15.439 And he is maybe not the kind of lord and saviour that we were looking for 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:16.799 and that we expect, is he? 00:08:17.459 --> 00:08:21.799 He is not a lord like all the lords of the world. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:23.879 He is not a proud lord. 00:08:24.839 --> 00:08:26.839 But he is a humble lord. 00:08:28.060 --> 00:08:32.120 He is not a remote emperor stuck in some ivory tower somewhere, 00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:35.019 but a close saviour. 00:08:35.019 --> 00:08:37.340 He is lowly. 00:08:39.500 --> 00:08:42.019 There's a famous painting, if you're into art, 00:08:42.220 --> 00:08:45.220 by a Renaissance artist called Holman Hunt. 00:08:45.379 --> 00:08:47.899 And the painting is called The Shadow of the Cross. 00:08:47.899 --> 00:08:49.759 It's a great painting. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:54.079 In that painting, it shows a man who is in a carpenter's shop. 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:56.879 And it's Jesus and his mother is there. 00:08:57.579 --> 00:09:00.000 And there are wood shavings all over the floor 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:01.559 and tools strewn everywhere. 00:09:01.559 --> 00:09:06.979 And the painting depicts the man stretching his arms out, 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:08.979 measuring something maybe. 00:09:09.979 --> 00:09:12.099 But when you look again at the painting, 00:09:12.219 --> 00:09:14.639 you see that this man is casting a shadow. 00:09:16.099 --> 00:09:20.559 And that shadow, it lines up perfectly with a beam of wood 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:24.399 that is on the back of the workshop with nails in it. 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:27.699 What is Holman Hunt's point? 00:09:28.539 --> 00:09:31.500 It is that the baby who was born in Bethlehem 00:09:31.500 --> 00:09:33.639 grew up as a man, didn't he? 00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:35.139 He grew up to be a carpenter, 00:09:35.299 --> 00:09:38.679 working a normal job in a carpenter's workshop. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:45.860 But that man lived a life with a shadow hanging over him. 00:09:47.019 --> 00:09:50.759 It was the shadow of his sacrificial death. 00:09:51.439 --> 00:09:52.960 The shadow of the cross. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:55.899 And God says, doesn't he, 00:09:55.959 --> 00:09:59.019 you owe me more than you can afford 00:09:59.019 --> 00:10:02.000 for living how you have in my world. 00:10:02.980 --> 00:10:05.439 But in this gift, he adds to that, doesn't he? 00:10:05.459 --> 00:10:07.799 He says, I am willing to pay. 00:10:08.899 --> 00:10:11.939 I am willing to pay the debt that you owe to me 00:10:11.939 --> 00:10:15.179 with the most valuable thing that I can afford, 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:17.000 my life. 00:10:18.740 --> 00:10:20.000 And so if you think about it, 00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:23.939 the whole course of Jesus' life is very poignant, really. 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:26.579 Because he is born in a manger, 00:10:26.819 --> 00:10:28.600 which is going to be made of wood, 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:32.539 and he dies at the end on a wooden cross. 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:35.500 From start to finish, 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:38.259 his whole life says to us 00:10:38.259 --> 00:10:41.159 that he is a Lord and Saviour of a different kind. 00:10:42.740 --> 00:10:43.959 He is a Lord and Saviour 00:10:43.959 --> 00:10:46.559 who not only deserves your obedience, 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:50.179 but he wins your admiration. 00:10:51.179 --> 00:10:54.299 He doesn't just demand your submission, 00:10:55.619 --> 00:10:58.039 but he stirs up your adoration 00:10:58.039 --> 00:11:00.019 and your delight 00:11:00.019 --> 00:11:00.979 and your thanks 00:11:00.979 --> 00:11:02.699 and your praise. 00:11:02.700 --> 00:11:06.440 He is Aragorn, 00:11:06.900 --> 00:11:08.259 not Sauron. 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:10.660 He is King Richard, 00:11:11.020 --> 00:11:12.580 not the Sheriff of Nottingham. 00:11:13.300 --> 00:11:14.480 He is Aslan, 00:11:15.220 --> 00:11:16.460 not the White Witch. 00:11:17.879 --> 00:11:20.100 He is the kind of King and Saviour, 00:11:20.280 --> 00:11:21.040 Lord and Saviour, 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:22.320 that we long for. 00:11:23.340 --> 00:11:24.720 He is a King who was born 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:25.840 in a feeding trough. 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:27.399 And notice, 00:11:27.580 --> 00:11:29.399 as soon as that word manger 00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:32.040 is used in the passage, 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:33.620 it is at that moment, 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:34.720 with that word, 00:11:34.860 --> 00:11:36.440 that all of the other angels 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:37.639 burst on the scene 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:39.460 and start praising God. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:41.360 As if to say, 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:43.200 is this what you imagined 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.440 your Lord and your Saviour to look like? 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:48.600 He is a Lord and Saviour 00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:50.580 who is willing to get himself dirty, 00:11:50.580 --> 00:11:51.580 who has been willing 00:11:52.180 --> 00:11:54.139 to involve himself with you 00:11:54.139 --> 00:11:56.080 and to share in your mess 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:58.319 and to rescue you from it. 00:11:59.299 --> 00:12:00.899 And so look at him there 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:01.919 and honestly, 00:12:02.819 --> 00:12:04.720 does he look like 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:06.199 a kind of Lord and Saviour 00:12:06.199 --> 00:12:07.259 whose main mission 00:12:07.259 --> 00:12:09.240 is to make you feel got at? 00:12:10.500 --> 00:12:11.639 Whose main mission 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:13.519 is to kind of lord it over you 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:14.500 and oppress you? 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:17.699 The gift does that, 00:12:17.779 --> 00:12:18.080 doesn't it, 00:12:18.100 --> 00:12:18.600 in a way, 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:20.419 as it reveals our need, 00:12:20.419 --> 00:12:21.799 but the manger tells us 00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:22.919 that he is humble 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:25.019 and he is a Saviour 00:12:25.019 --> 00:12:26.479 and he is a servant king 00:12:26.479 --> 00:12:27.759 come to rescue you 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:29.639 and to win 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:31.620 what actually he deserves from you, 00:12:31.740 --> 00:12:32.579 your affection 00:12:32.579 --> 00:12:34.500 and your praise. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:38.659 Just as I close, 00:12:39.019 --> 00:12:40.039 the story is told 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:41.620 of a family in New York State 00:12:41.620 --> 00:12:43.459 who had a painting on their wall 00:12:43.459 --> 00:12:45.299 for quite a few years 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:46.899 and they needed some space 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:48.299 for some more photographs 00:12:48.299 --> 00:12:49.860 so they kind of moved this painting 00:12:49.860 --> 00:12:51.720 and strangely enough 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:52.580 they shoved it down 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:53.519 the back of a sofa. 00:12:53.960 --> 00:12:54.820 Strange place to put it. 00:12:55.580 --> 00:12:56.580 It was a painting 00:12:56.580 --> 00:12:57.800 of the Virgin Mary 00:12:57.800 --> 00:12:59.639 holding baby Jesus. 00:13:01.100 --> 00:13:01.919 Years later though, 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:02.879 one family member 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:03.759 wanted to know 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:05.100 what this painting was about 00:13:05.100 --> 00:13:07.480 and so they inquired, 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:08.779 they took it to an expert 00:13:08.779 --> 00:13:10.340 and discovered 00:13:10.340 --> 00:13:11.080 that it was painted 00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:12.000 by some guy 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:13.519 called Michelangelo. 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:16.319 That painting is now 00:13:16.319 --> 00:13:17.679 estimated to be worth 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:19.699 up to £190 million 00:13:19.699 --> 00:13:22.659 down the back of a sofa. 00:13:24.699 --> 00:13:26.720 The problem with all of this, 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:27.059 isn't it, 00:13:27.059 --> 00:13:28.259 is that this gift 00:13:28.259 --> 00:13:30.220 is ignorable. 00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:31.539 Isn't it? 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:35.039 And something deep inside us says, 00:13:35.539 --> 00:13:37.399 don't open it. 00:13:38.819 --> 00:13:40.120 Something inside us says, 00:13:40.199 --> 00:13:41.340 just get through this, 00:13:41.419 --> 00:13:42.059 wait till this guy 00:13:42.059 --> 00:13:42.759 stops talking, 00:13:42.759 --> 00:13:44.019 we can sing the last carol 00:13:44.019 --> 00:13:44.819 and get out of here. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:47.279 And I can pack this gift away 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:48.319 in the attic 00:13:48.319 --> 00:13:49.159 for another year 00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:50.019 with the decorations. 00:13:50.899 --> 00:13:51.899 And I can shove it 00:13:51.899 --> 00:13:53.159 down the back of a settee. 00:13:54.899 --> 00:13:56.319 But we want to say to you, 00:13:56.500 --> 00:13:58.700 to shove Jesus down the settee 00:13:58.700 --> 00:14:00.720 is a massive mistake. 00:14:02.319 --> 00:14:03.460 God sent Jesus 00:14:03.460 --> 00:14:05.399 not to give you good advice 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:06.580 or good teaching 00:14:06.580 --> 00:14:08.019 or good life coaching, 00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:11.419 but he came to give you good news. 00:14:12.340 --> 00:14:14.139 Good news of great joy. 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:17.279 And isn't it joy 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:18.579 that people are looking for 00:14:18.579 --> 00:14:19.600 at this time of year? 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:21.399 It's what we all want, 00:14:21.460 --> 00:14:21.799 isn't it? 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:22.360 Joy. 00:14:23.779 --> 00:14:24.439 C.S. Lewis, 00:14:24.659 --> 00:14:26.439 who wrote the Narnia book, 00:14:26.539 --> 00:14:27.639 said that pleasure 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:30.159 is often in our power 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:30.719 joy, 00:14:30.719 --> 00:14:31.980 but joy 00:14:31.980 --> 00:14:32.980 rarely is. 00:14:34.500 --> 00:14:35.259 But God 00:14:35.259 --> 00:14:36.139 comes to you 00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:37.139 and he gives you 00:14:37.139 --> 00:14:38.799 this precious gift. 00:14:39.819 --> 00:14:40.860 A gift that, 00:14:41.079 --> 00:14:41.199 yes, 00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:42.219 we need to swallow 00:14:42.219 --> 00:14:42.959 our pride 00:14:42.959 --> 00:14:43.779 and receive. 00:14:44.939 --> 00:14:46.000 A gift of a Lord 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:46.659 and a Saviour 00:14:46.659 --> 00:14:47.579 to surpass 00:14:47.579 --> 00:14:49.059 all of our expectations. 00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:51.120 The King 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:51.919 of a manger. 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:52.479 So, 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:54.120 will you receive him 00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:54.919 this Christmas? 00:14:56.259 --> 00:14:57.240 Will you receive 00:14:57.240 --> 00:14:57.899 this gift 00:14:57.899 --> 00:14:58.860 of great joy? 00:15:00.819 --> 00:15:01.799 Let me lead us 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:02.740 in a short prayer 00:15:02.740 --> 00:15:03.479 and then we'll 00:15:03.479 --> 00:15:04.599 sing our final carol.