Okay, here's what we're going to do for the next 15 or 20 minutes or so.
We're going to think about those verses in Colossians 1 that we read in the prayer a little bit earlier.
If you want to do that, you can open your Bibles at Colossians chapter 1.
Just three verses we're going to look at, verses 20 to 23.
They'll go on the screen at some point as well, so it's always good to have the Bible open in front of us.
So last week, I heard one of the best sounds ever.
Do you want to hear about it?
So I was taking the kids to school.
Not this Thursday, but last Thursday.
And it's a sleety day. It's a cold day.
You know, kind of Scotland just doing its Scotland in winter thing.
And all of a sudden, there's a noise erupts in the playground, this quiet scene.
One boy shouts, snow!
And what was a quiet scene?
And all of a sudden, now every single person who's in this playground lifts their eyes and has a look.
And the guys, the boy is right.
So everybody starts noticing that it's snowing.
And one after one, as each child recognizes it,
joy and laughter erupts across the playground.
Now, is that noise not one of the best things that we can ever hope to hear?
Right? When children discover white snow for the first time in the year.
And so what happens is we hear this noise.
I hear this noise.
I lift my eyes.
And because of where we live over this side of town,
we can see the Pentland Hills.
And the Pentland Hills are covered in pure white.
There it is.
It's untouched, pure, unstained, perfect snow.
And I hear the dulcet tones of Michael Bubly in my head.
A beautiful sight.
We're happy tonight.
We're walking in a winter wonderland.
You know that scene?
You know the scene I'm talking about?
The one we get in Christmas cards this time of year?
Snow.
Perfect snow.
Tranquility.
Peace.
White.
And here's why I think my heart yearns for that scene every single year when it comes around.
I wonder if you're like me.
I yearn for it because I want my life to be like that.
Yeah?
Inside, is there not our human hearts?
Is there not a yearning that that would be true of our lives?
Right?
I look back on the 351 days that I've come and gone so far in 2022 in my own life.
Oh, and there's been some great times.
There's been some joy.
There's been tons of laughter.
But also I'm so conscious getting to this time of year.
And this year for me has been tinged with regrets.
It's been tinged with hurt.
It's been tinged with words that I said that I can't take back.
It's been tinged with missed opportunities.
And so every person that comes to me this time of year and says,
what are you doing this Christmas?
The temptation for us, is it not, to spin the story and to keep up the show that we're somehow,
all of us, taking up our own little scene in this perfect Christmas postcard.
Right?
The pressure we put on ourselves and our world to kindle the magic of Christmas for one or two days a year,
when actually we feel like in that words of that carol,
we are in our lives in the bleak midwinter.
And that's a crushing pressure, is it not, that comes at this time of year,
that maybe comes at no other,
where we feel the pressure that our lives should be Christmas postcard white,
but we're conscious that they're not.
Friends, if you are here today and you're weary and sad,
if you're here today and you're feeling the anxiety,
if you're here today and you're aware of someone who you love,
who will not be around that Christmas table this year,
then I've got wonderful news for you today in this passage.
Because this is the gospel, what Christians call the gospel.
And here it is taking place in Bethlehem.
And this is good news for weary and sad and worn out people.
And here's what I mean by that.
I'm going to give you two reasons, one later on,
as to why I became a Christian at age 18.
Do you know what the first one was?
The first one was that I found in the Bible a compelling realism
that I found nowhere else in my life.
I agreed and C.S. Lewis put it like this.
He said, when he became a Christian, I've been reading poems.
I've been reading poems, romances, vision, literature,
legends and myths my whole life.
I know what they are like.
And I know none of them are like the Bible.
I remember when I first became a Christian,
it was like I picked up this book
and it was like for the first time in my life,
I was looking at a map
that helped me understand the contours of my worlds.
Now, there were three phrases in that passage
that we read earlier that describe the human condition.
And ones that I remember when I read them,
I thought, yep, that is true.
Here's the first one.
Did you pick them up?
The first one is that word alienated.
Right?
By our own free will.
This is what we are.
We are estranged.
We are separated from the good God of love,
of life and light who created us.
And he created us in his image,
not by chance, not by accident.
He created us in his image to live in relationship with him,
enjoying him and knowing him forever.
But now our paths, because of our rebellion,
are set on a destiny of physical and eternal death.
And because of that, what are we in our thoughts?
We are hostile in mind.
We are enemies in our minds.
Because we don't want the God who made us.
We don't want his ways.
We find them restrictive.
We find them offensive.
And because of that, what are we?
Well, we are doing evil deeds.
Do you see?
The kind of global acts that cause wars,
the kind of everyday acts that cause division and hurt.
I don't know about you,
but I'm always amazed at my ability
to hurt the people that I love the most.
And those three words, those three phrases come together.
And they come together in that word sin.
You know, we live its effects daily.
And we feel its effects daily as it wreaks havoc on our world.
I find it interesting.
I wonder if you saw that that's the tone that John Lewis
are being praised for recognizing in their Christmas advert this year.
You've seen that one?
The John Lewis advert?
Choosing not to go for novelty,
not to go for cuddly monsters,
not to go for the man on the moon looking through the telescope,
but instead going for reality, right?
Basing their advert around the fact that heartbreakingly,
some 108,000 children are currently caught up in the care system in the UK.
It's almost as if we're waking up, isn't it,
to the fact that, no, something is not right.
This should not be how it is.
And yet this is our world.
And the Bible would say it is because of our hearts.
And so what do we do with that?
Well, there's three options, right?
Or three animals when you think about it.
Okay, what do we do with that?
Well, we can go full hamster, right?
And we can try and get on the proverbial training wheel
and we can try and run a bit harder,
trying to do a bit more,
aiming to do a little bit better.
We can go full hamster or we can go full ostrich, right?
We can put our heads in the sand.
We can close our ears.
We can say it ain't so.
We can try and escape the realities of our world
that we feel so acutely at this time of year.
I find it interesting that the BBC
now show their biggest and their best shows,
not on a Saturday night at eight o'clock,
as used to be the case in my day growing up.
When do they show their best shows now?
They show them at Sunday night at what time?
At nine o'clock, every single time, right?
And it's almost as if we thank them as a nation
for the fact that for one extra hour on a Sunday night,
we thank them for being able to forget about one Monday morning
for one extra hour, right?
It's what we do.
It's escapism.
Or we can go, and this is the invitation of this passage today,
we can go full lamb, right?
Full hamster, full ostrich.
This invitation is to go full lamb.
As we see Mary's little lamb born in that manger in Bethlehem.
Now, if you've got the passage open in front of you,
don't worry if you don't, it will go on the screen.
You'll see that Paul makes a big deal of the fact
that Jesus has a body of flesh, right?
That he really came as a human being.
That for Paul, as he writes this,
this is not some take it or leave it little detail
of the Christian faith.
In fact, this is a cornerstone of the Christian faith, right?
This is like the Jenga brick,
that if you pulled this out,
the whole thing would collapse around you and you lose, right?
Jesus was no ghost figure.
No, without ceasing to be God,
he really did become a human being.
The eternal God was at one point in time
smaller than a full stop.
The creator of all things came out the womb,
all fingers and toes.
The God who upholds all things
had to have his umbilical cord cut.
I remember moving to Bristol
and asking a lady who lived,
who worked in the PR department of the company
that I was going to work for
that I'd seen a flat in a certain area of the city.
And I asked her, I said, is this a nice area?
Should I live there?
Should I, what kind of word would you use to describe it?
Do you know the word she used?
She used the word earthy.
Yeah, I know I'd never heard of it before.
Earthy.
What she meant is that area of town,
there's no glitz and glam,
no pomp,
real people,
rough and ready,
you'll be right in the thick of it.
Earthy.
Use that word all the time now, I love it.
Earthy.
The wonder of Christmas
is that in Jesus,
God got earthy.
Right?
Born into our sweat,
our toil,
our mess.
The son of God shed tears.
He knew smiles.
He got splinters.
He felt hunger.
He had needs.
Why?
Well, last week we thought about the fact
that Jesus coming,
he came to reconcile all things.
And this week,
it's almost in this passage
that Paul goes from all things,
he goes personal.
He says,
you.
Jesus came for you.
Right?
What did he do?
Jesus took responsibility.
That's what he did.
Right?
We hate people in our culture
who don't take responsibility.
It's why Matt Hancock went on,
I'm a celebrity,
get me out of here,
wasn't it?
Trying to gain back his reputation
that he lost.
Why?
Because we didn't trust his words
and didn't trust him
to take responsibility.
Well, this Jesus
took responsibility
with his life.
Right?
He came,
he entered our world,
he stood in our shoes
and he lived a life
that we couldn't.
A life lived,
a perfect life of worship
to his father.
And you have to say,
what a life it was.
And this is the second reason
I remember becoming
a Christian when I was 18.
Reading the person,
reading about the person
of Jesus
and thinking to myself,
I've never met anyone
like that.
You have to say that
you should look at Jesus
in the Bible
and if you haven't done
that this morning,
the invitation is for you
to do it
and you can grab a Bible
before you go.
We'd love to make that happen.
You have to say,
here is the fullest human being
who ever lived.
He did what we couldn't.
Healing the sick,
going towards the destitute,
eating and drinking
with questionable people.
You have to look at Jesus
and say,
here is the most fully satisfied
human being
that's ever existed.
His life.
He lives the life
that we couldn't live
and his death.
His life ends
crucified on this Roman cross.
The death that he suffered
in his body
that we deserved.
This Jesus took it.
He took it.
He lived the life
that we couldn't live
and he died the death
that we should have died
and he did it.
Why?
To take responsibility
to win his people.
That's what his name means.
His name means God saves.
He came to save us
from our sin.
And the call is to trust
in this rescue plan
hatched in eternity past
by this God of love.
The promise that he made
that snowballed and grew
through the Old Testament
until Jesus came.
He lived,
he died,
he rose
and he calls us now
in the position
where he is
of all power
and authority
having conquered death
to trust him.
Come and trust him.
That his death
is our death.
That his life
is our life.
And his father
is our father.
You know,
I always think about this
what it means
to be a Christian.
I remember a number
of years ago
Alex and I and the kids
we started climbing
Blackford Hill.
New Year's Day I think
or the 2nd of January.
We started climbing
Blackford Hill
and we get halfway up
and then we realise
with the kids
that this ain't gonna work.
And we're with friends
and our friends
want to get to the top.
They've never really been
to the top
so they keep on walking
to the top
and we say
we'll just stay halfway
and we'll just get you
on the flip side
when you come back down.
And so we sat there
on the benches
getting colder
but we've got our
big winter jackets on
and we each took a child
at a point
there was only two
child in
and we just wrapped
them in our jackets.
What is it to be a Christian?
What is it to trust Jesus?
At its heart
the Bible talks about
the fact that
our lives are in him.
He has taken
full responsibility
for the life
that we couldn't live
and the death
we should have died.
And that is what
happens to our lives.
And that is what it is
to go full lamb.
To trust in him
and to come to him
and to find
our life
in his light.
And what's the result
of that?
Well we are
reconciled.
Those
now what
three phrases
describe us
as Jesus
presents us
before God the Father.
Holy
you see that?
Set apart.
Blameless
without blemish
not just forgiven
but perfect
and above
reproach.
Meaning that
no charge
or accusation
will stick
against
those who
trust in Jesus
because he
has paid it all.
And now
in him
what are our
lives
because when
God looks at us
he sees Jesus.
What are our
lives?
Our lives
are pure as snow.
That is what
your life is
in the eyes
of your loving
father because
of Jesus.
And the invitation
then
is to come
and trust him.
And maybe
you have
maybe your
life is
in Jesus.
The invitation
again is to
come and find
rest in him.
To fall back
to collapse
yourself in
who he is
and what he's
done for us
on the cross
and to bask
ourselves
in our
father's love
for us.
That's what
sent Jesus.
Our father's
love for us.
You know what
does this look
like just as we
close?
I want to tell
you about my
friend Gordon.
Right Gordon's
another pastor
in the city
but that's not
how I really
know Gordon.
I know Gordon
because I see him
as a fellow dad
every day on the
school run.
Right?
And every day I
see him and he
texts me sometimes
afterwards.
He's become a
really good friend.
He texts me and
he said,
buddy, you're
looking really
down today.
Are you okay?
Sometimes I text
him, mate, you're
looking quite sad
today.
Anything I can
help with?
And I love it
because we so
often chatted
about the
struggles in our
lives.
Right?
Life is really
hard.
Battling
illness as a
family, raising
children aware of
your own weakness,
concerns for your
own family, things
that always need
done around the
house, financial
concerns, all of
these things which
would seek to rob
us of that joy of
who we are.
And I said to
him, buddy, listen,
how do you do it?
What is God
teaching you?
And he said,
because of the
gospel, there's so
much going on in my
life, but I say to
myself that there's
two things that are
true for me every
day, two phrases are
true for me every
day because my life
is caught up in
Jesus.
Do you know what he
said?
He said the first
one is that there's
no one today I need
to impress.
And he said,
secondly, there's
nothing today I need
to prove.
And that's what it
is to trust in
Jesus.
The one who came
for us, the one
whose name means
God saves, the one
who lives the life
we couldn't live, who
dies the death we
should have died, and
who now holds our
lives in his right
hand at the
God the Father's
right hand side in
the place of all
power and authority.
This is not about us
up in our game.
This is not us about
finding our greatest
self at this time of
year.
This is another
wonderful reminder
that Jesus has done
it all.
So that's what it is
to go full, Lamb.
That's the invitation
we have this morning.
So come to Bethlehem
and savour what God
is doing.
As your Saviour
takes on flesh and
is born.
No wonder the
angel said, it is
good news of great
joy for all people.
Let's pray, will we?
And we thank you, dear
God, for your wonderful
love for us.
So undeserving.
Lord, we weren't
looking for you.
Thank you that this
tells us, the baby in
the manger, that into
our darkness and our
distress and our sin,
that you came looking
for us.
And we just thank you
that this is the kind
of God that you are.
And so, Father, I pray
for those here today
who are hurting.
Lord, I pray that by
your Spirit you would
meet them and comfort
them in their loss.
Lord, those who are
anxious, those who are
worried, those who are
stressed, those who are
fearful of what
tomorrow might hold.
Father, thank you that
because Jesus came to
earth, took on our
flesh, not only does he
know what it is, but
Father, thank you that
he's able to bring
rest and peace for our
souls.
And we just thank you
for this wonderful time
of year, everything that
we've done so far today.
And we commit ourselves
to you in his
wonderful name.
Amen.