What do you make of the child in the manger?
You've sung of him tonight.
You've heard of him in the readings.
What do you make of him?
There have been some extraordinary words sung here tonight.
!
But the words we sing are extraordinary.
Born the king of angels.
I said, do you mean that?
In those words of another.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.
What on earth does that mean?
Christ, the newborn king.
You've sung that tonight.
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in you tonight.
Let me read to you a sentence from a letter.
It's written by someone who knew nothing of theoretical science.
Who never heard of the internet or I'm a celebrity.
He probably thought the earth was flat if he bothered to think about it.
He knew nothing at all thankfully of Brexit.
And yet, this sentence, the man who wrote it,
understood with remarkable clarity what has so far eluded
some of the most brilliant minds in the world.
It's just one sentence from a short letter.
And I want to suggest to you that in this sentence,
there is more value in this sentence,
more of value and importance in this one sentence
than in anything that's been discovered by human reason.
More of value in this one sentence than you're going to read anywhere else this Christmas.
More of value than anything that's been produced by the most brilliant minds.
There's more importance in this one sentence
that comes from a letter written 2,000 years ago
by a man named Paul to another guy called Titus.
And the sentence runs like this.
It's on the page that you looked at.
You can look at it actually on the front page of the carol service.
It's just written underneath the date there.
And here's the sentence.
For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people.
The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared
bringing salvation for all people.
There it is. There's the truth.
That at the heart of the universe,
it's not a formula,
not a great string of formulas,
and I'll how it completes.
But at the heart of the universe is the grace of God
that brings salvation
that has appeared for all people.
So think with me, just for a few minutes,
about these four things.
First of all, it speaks of, doesn't it, the grace of God.
We don't use that word much,
but that means the generosity of God.
The out of the ordinary kindness of God.
The child in the manger
means that at the heart of the universe
is the kindness and the generosity and the grace of God.
Is that what the birth of Jesus means to you?
Does the coming of Jesus Christ
mean that you know the kindness of God?
As Christmas approaches,
and you give your mind just maybe a little bit perhaps
to this child in the manger,
are you overwhelmed by the fact
that God is good towards you?
Is that what it means?
This is, isn't it, the greatest discovery
that any human being can make.
And it's a discovery that is as discoverable
to a small child
as it is to the world's most brilliant mind.
To discover and to know the kindness,
the grace of God.
Not mind you, the soppy sentimentality of God.
We can mistake it for that.
Sometimes, particularly by the nonsense
of Christmas stories that are told,
there is nothing soppy or sentimental
about the coming of Jesus Christ into the world.
But it is the undeserved goodness
of God to us that He came.
And we'll see the why of that in a moment.
But can you think for a moment
just what a life-changing experience it is
to know not just that God is there,
not just to be able to say tonight,
well, I believe in God,
and not just that God exists,
that you've come to that conclusion.
I'm sure that God is really pleased
that you've come to that conclusion that He exists.
not just that,
but to know that that God
is both kind and generous
and good to you.
Wouldn't life be very different?
For those of us who know that,
isn't life very different?
But even if you don't know the grace of God yet,
can't you see tonight how great it would be
to know that God is good towards you?
But why does the child in the manger mean that?
It's a great story,
as we've got it,
full of human interests and pathos,
charming images of donkeys and oxen
and shepherds and wise men
and stars and so on and so on,
enough to sell millions of Christmas cards.
But how can this story mean
as much as I'm claiming it is?
Or as much as when Paul wrote this letter
to Titus claimed,
how can this story,
when I hear it,
change my life?
Because it brings me to know
the goodness of God to me.
Well actually it can't.
Not just the story of the birth of Jesus,
it can't do that.
And no even tonight,
if you realise who the baby is,
it won't do that.
If you realise that he was no less
than God himself,
that child in the manger.
I will actually only know
the grace of God to me
and the goodness and kindness
and generosity of God
if I know why he came.
And so that's the second thing
in our sentence.
It's really obvious, isn't it?
Do you remember how it went?
The grace of God
that brings salvation.
Jesus came
into the world
not just
to make a visit to planet Earth
like a divine holiday
or a winter break.
He didn't even come
just to make God known.
He came to bring
salvation.
What is salvation?
Well, think about that for a moment.
It means being saved
from something.
And so what do we
human beings
need to be saved from?
Well, some of us tonight
we long to be saved
from sickness.
Maybe that's why you're here.
There are many millions
in the world today,
aren't there tonight,
that need to be saved
from poverty
and from salvation.
Many need to be saved
from injustice
and oppression.
And so many of us tonight
need to be saved
from fears
of many different
kinds of things.
And of course
we could go on and on
couldn't we?
We could list the things
that you and I
need to be saved from.
But these things
that I've just listed
and the hundreds
of other things
they are actually
just symptoms.
Symptoms that
not all is right
with the world.
And not all is right
between the world
and God.
And all is not right
tonight
between us and God.
Is it?
Before God
each one of us
is a guilty person.
Before God
each one of us
has got an awful lot
to answer for.
Before God
each of us
has many many reasons
to be scared
out of our minds.
But the child
in the manger
came in order
to become
the man
who died on the cross
in your place
and mine.
He came
into the world
in order to make
possible our forgiveness
before God.
He came
to wipe
clean
slate
our debt
before God.
He came
to bring salvation.
And that's why
the child
in the manger
means the incredible
goodness and kindness
of God
to you and me.
He came
into the world
so that you and I
can get right
with God.
He came
so that we can
stand before God
confident.
He came
so that we can
stand before God
with no fear
and no worry.
And know
that God
himself and I
we are friends.
Now
what I've been saying
you might think
well this is really
nice thoughts
isn't it?
It's the kind of thing
you get used to
hearing at Christmas
time.
But perhaps
like many
you hear these words
and you think
well that's just
what they are.
They're just words
aren't they?
The grace of God
salvation
they're just
words
just religious
words
they're the jargon
of religion
the cliche
of the Christian
but it's not just
words is it?
Because the third
thing in the
sentence
can you see it?
The grace of God
that brings salvation
has appeared
it has appeared
it's not just
religious ideas
to entertain
those who are
religiously inclined
or to comfort
those who are
religious
that sort of thing
no something
has happened
this verse says
something has
happened in history
in real time
and space
at a particular
time
in a particular
place
if you and I
had been there
you and I
could have seen it
the grace of God
that brings salvation
has appeared
and what does it
look like?
Well it looks like
a child in a manger
who became a man
on the cross
it isn't a question
tonight of
do you like
these ideas?
It isn't a question
do I find them
congenial?
Do these words
make sense to me?
No it is
what do I do?
What do I do
with what has
happened?
What does it mean
that the grace of God
that brings salvation
has appeared?
It has happened
and that is what
the child in the
manger and the man
on the cross
are all about
and the question
is this
do you realise
the goodness
and kindness
of God to you?
Do you remember
the last words
of our sentence
the grace of God
that brings salvation
has appeared
and do you remember
how it ends?
It ends from
think on this
for a minute
for all people
it's a historical
fact
that is accessible
to all
I keep people
I'm meeting people
who say to me
when I ask them
do you go to church
they say
I'm just not
the religious type
and maybe
you may be
like the cow
but you're just
not the religious
type you say
but let me just
tell you the kind
of people
that Jesus met
with
and the kind
of people
Jesus dealt
with when he
was on earth
he dealt
with the lepers
the outcasts
the demonised
the woman
everyone wanted
to avoid
the little cheat
Jesus went
out of his
way to meet
with people
that weren't
the religious
type
one of my
friends wrote
this on twitter
last week
he said
oh come
all ye
faithless
joyless
and defeated
oh come
ye
oh come
ye to Bethlehem
Christmas is
for the weary
for the messed
up
and for the
broken
if your life
isn't
instagrammable
Christmas is
for you
and maybe
tonight
you said
well actually
I'm alright
I've got
everything to
gather
and if you
have
I'm really
pleased for
you
but you're
deceiving
yourself
because
whoever you
are tonight
and whatever
you've done
and wherever
you're from
and however
you feel
the grace
of God
that brings
salvation
has appeared
for people
exactly like
you
and wouldn't
it be a great
thing if
this time
Christmas 2018
was the time
that you came
to know
or came to
know afresh
the grace
of God
came to
know and
understand
and came to
experience
what it is
to realise
the great
goodness
of God
towards you
and that
can happen
the grace
of God
that brings
salvation
has appeared
what do you
need to do
when you need
to say thank
you don't
you
to say
thank you
to God
and you need
to receive
his great
kindness
to you
and you need
to stop
rebelling
against that
kindness
and be
willing to
be changed
by it
as I finish
I want to
read you
a news article
that came out
yesterday
it's about
President
George W.H.
Bush
H.W.
Bush
he was the
president
about 30
years ago
let me read
it to you
it's a bit
long but
you'll be
alright
it's the
last thing
I'm going
to say
nearly 20
years ago
former
President
George H.W.
Bush
wanted to
sponsor
a Filipino
boy
named
Timothy
through
Colorado
Springs
non-profit
Compassion
International
but first
he needed
a pseudonym
he's passed
away now
so it's
probably not
classified
anymore
it was
George
Walker
said
Wes
Stafford
Compassion
President
Emeritus
that's the
same name
that President
Bush
used
apparently
whenever
he checked
into a
hospital
and they
needed to
have it
unknown
that he
was there
Bush's
security
team
was worried
about
Timothy's
safety
said
Stafford
if word
had gotten
out that
the child
was communicating
with a
former US
president
he could
have been
in danger
through
Compassion
International
sponsor
writes a
letter to
a child
in addition
to providing
financial
support
Bush's
letters
were intentionally
vague
to mask
his identity
and all
communication
between the
two of
them went
through
Stafford
who was
then
President
of
Compassion
the first
time he
started
breaking
our little
security
rules
was when
he sent
a picture
of his
dog
Millie
and he
added
this is
Millie
she's
met
lots
of
famous
people
Stafford
said
laughing
and I
thought
okay
that's
cute
but boy
that's
starting
to slip
into
some
little
secrets
in there
then years
later
he wrote
we're going
to have
Christmas
this year
with my
son
at his
house
and then
he adds
oh
and he
lives in
a big
white
house
and I'm
like
come on
Mr.
President
you're
really
pushing
the
envelope
here
Bush's
sponsorship
began
around the
year 2000
in Washington
DC
when he was
at a
Christmas
concert
featuring
a line
up of
Christian
musicians
during
his
admission
the
performers
asked
if
anyone
wanted
information
about
sponsoring
a
child
to everyone's
surprise
all of a sudden
George
Sr.
raised his
hand in
the middle
of his
security
entourage
and said
I want
one
the packet
was passed
down to
him
and all
these
security
people
were like
has
anybody
screened
to
Timothy
Stafford
said
he
hand
wrote
the
letters
and
even
drew
pictures
to the
boy
he
really
threw
himself
into it
he
would write
to little
Timothy
and Timothy
would write
to him
and anything
that Timothy
said that was
interesting
President Bush
would write
back with a
comment on it
thank you for the
picture of that
beautiful rainbow
we had a
rainbow like that
right outside our
house last week
he was everything
that we wish
of all our
sponsors would be
he was engaged
in this little
child's life
he told Timothy
that he loved
baseball and
golf
that he was
pretty good
at throwing
a frisbee
he was looking
for common
ground
and after
learning that
the boy
liked art
Bush sent
a package
of coloured
pencils
crayons
paint
sketch
pads
with a
compassion
international
staff
member
travelling
to the
Philippines
Bush was a
man without
fanfare
he did
excellent things
very quietly
always giving
the credit
away to other
people
I just loved
that about him
years later
as Bush's
schedule became
busier and his
health began to
decline
Stafford's
executive assistant
Angie
Laughlock took
over his
sponsorship
then in 2010
when Timothy
was Sandin
Laughlock and her
husband Larry
flew to the
Philippines to
meet him
but Laughlock said
Timothy is a very
quiet shy and
sweet spirited guy
with a very tender
spirit
Stafford said
he played the
guitar in his
church worship team
Angie is the
one who told him
your former sponsor
is someone that I
know pretty well
and he was the
president of the
United States
Stafford said
and Timothy
was defounded
he was speechless
and he said
here's what I
want you to
know
well I knew
that he was
kind and
encouraging and
a wonderful man
but I had no
idea
and I thought
you know to a
child in poverty
it's amazing
enough that anyone
would care about
them
but it was
beyond his
wildest imagination
and even his
ability to
comprehend
that the
president of the
United States
knew his name
the truth is
there is a
God in
heaven's night
who knows
your name
and he's not
written to you
a letter
he's not going
to be your
pen pal
but the grace
of God
has appeared
bringing salvation
to people like
you
and people like
me
and so
won't you
trust him
I want you
to receive him
I want you
to thank God
for him
let's pray