Readings:
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Canticle: Magnificat or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26
Romans 16:25-end
Luke 1:26-38 

Collect:
Almighty God,
as we prepare with joy,
to celebrate the gift of the Christ-child;
embrace the earth with your glory
and be for us a living hope
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Reflection 

As we approach Christmas, some will be excited and joyful, others will be struggling, grieving or lonely, and many will perhaps be experiencing a complex mix of emotions and memories in relation to this festive season. In all that life may bring at this time of year, the good news is that Jesus whose birth we celebrate calls us, not to forced jollity or good cheer, but to the knowledge that in every aspect of our lives, Jesus is truly with us. 

This is the good news we celebrate at Christmas: God-with-us, Emmanuel, the Word made flesh. As The Message version of the bible puts it: “God moved into the neighbourhood”. That should inspire us to look for signs of God in our own neighbourhoods, to seek the face of Christ in the people we meet. But really, in the incarnation, God does rather more than move into the neighbourhood. God inhabits the truth of what it is to be human. God takes on our humanity in order to show us what divine love looks like up close. God moves in, not only to the neighbourhood, but to our lives and hearts. 

One of my favourite children’s books to read at this time of year is “The Perfect Christmas Present” by Alexa Tewksbury. It’s about a shrew called Small who sees a bright star. A wise old tortoise explains to Small that the star is a sign that God’s own son has been born in the world. And Small is so excited that he sets off to find the perfect present for God. But everything he finds seems inadequate: “How can this be enough? God’s gift to the world is so much bigger,” he says, over and over again. Finally the wise old tortoise intervenes: “The perfect present was here all the time. It’s you. It’s me. It’s everyone living on the earth. This Christmas night, God’s given himself to the world by sending his baby son to live here. The only present he wants in return… is us.” 

As we prepare for Christmas, whether with anticipation or trepidation or both, it’s easy to get caught up in getting things done, or getting things right. And in all those concerns which crowd in, we can lose sight of this essential truth. At Christmas we remember that God gives Godself to us, and the only gift God wants in return is for us to give ourselves to God. All the rest is just the ‘wrapping paper’ around that extraordinary, life-changing gift. 

I hope that at some point this Christmas we can each find a quiet moment to pray, in the words of Small the shrew, curled up in his cosy nest at the end of the book: “Thank you for giving us Jesus, Lord God. Now, here am I. All for you.” 

Ruth Harley