delivered 25 December 2009
by Rev. Dr John Evans
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
John 1:1-14
We all like a good story – especially at Christmas time. Indeed some of us may have been given a good book as a Christmas present. And of course we heard another story this morning – the story of The Fourth or The Other Wiseman by Henry Van Dyke.
So what makes a good story?
Now people who think about these things say there are four things to consider:
1. The context – the situation. “It was a dark and stormy night”; or “The world was at war”; or “Bill was a lecturer at the University of Melbourne, married to Jill and they had two children and so on”.
2. Next comes the complication. “One day when Bill was walking to work he saw two men acting suspiciously ….: or he had an argument with Jill; or his professor.” There is a complication. The complication then plays on the situation. Things develop. There is conflict, choices, drama, suspense.
3. Then at about page 268 of the 277 page book, there is then the “ah ha moment”, “the time for decision”, the ultimate “choice” – they finally marry – Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy finally get it; or the “goal” is reached, or there is the “freeing of the hostages” – whatever.
4. And finally there is the resolution – “they live happily ever after”, or “the world avoids another war”, or “the plane does not crash”; or” the lost children are happily re-united with their family”.
Four aspects: a situation, the complication, the moment of decision and then the resolution. Of course there may be many stories or sub-plots in the one book – all woven together. Thee will always be the love interest on the side. However, it is a pretty standard pattern: the situation, the complication, the moment of insight or decision, then the resolution.
And in the Christmas story you can see this as well.
Mary and Joseph, two ordinary Jewish young people – in love, betrothed. All is going well. There time was when Augusts was emperor, and Quirinius was governor of Syria.
There is however, a complication. Mary, a virgin, is pregnant! Moreover, she is pregnant and will give birth to the messiah, the Christ. A rather spectacular complication.
In the third phase – Mary and Joseph accept the task. It is not easy. They have to travel to Bethlehem. There is no room in the in. They however, respond to the challenge.
And there is a resolution – the baby is born, just as predicted. There is even adulation of this child, all confirming that this baby, born of Mary, is Christ the Lord.
The pattern is repeated in other subplots of the Christmas story. Shepherds are in the field going about their work A complication – angels come with a message. What do they do? They go. And the resolution is that they return to their work rejoicing. Also with wisemen – the three of them; and it also applies with Artaban – the other wiseman. With Artaban – there are always complications – just when he seems to be near the Christ so he can handover his precious gift. And although he does not succeed in that task, the resolution is clear. His response to each of the complications showed the choice, the decision he made – and this, as the story comes to a close, in fact resolves the story. One does not personally have to have been there to present one gifts; it really in the end depends on how one lives one life.
We love this Christmas story. Children act it out. We as a congregation acted it out just last Sunday in our Christmas pageant. And yet is it really the whole story – the big story, the story of all of us, the hope for all of us?
Doesn’t the story of all of us go something like this?
The situation or context is that we as human beings have so much going for us. We are miraculously made. This world is an amazing place to live. Life is good. And if you want evidence of that just look at the joy and the opened eyed wonder of a small child this morning – Christmas morning – as they received their gifts. Life is meant to be people living in harmony and in relationship with God.
Then comes the complication – us. We are not God’s plaything or puppet. We are free – free to love, free to respect, free to imagine and create. But also free to be selfish, free not to be content with what we have and want more, and free to be resentful of what others have. Free to be jealous of others – and even assume we can survive without God – certainly to live without that highest ideal of all that is good. In our freedom we fall short of what we can do and achieve. We are sinful. In our freedom we choose other paths, other ways. We reject God’s will. The complication drives a wedge between ourselves and others; perhaps even with our own better nature. Certainly we become isolated from God. Life can spiral out of control – and just becomes one damned thing after another. Over this complication there may be thrown other overlays of illness, or tragedy, or natural disaster, or oppression and injustice. All however, point to a drifting away from what we discern to be the good, and the will of God.
Then there comes the ah ha! The solution – the decision. Now for some this solution might to be the personal insight – “I have to change my ways”, I must do something about that relationship I have with my children – whatever. A sort of new year’s resolution. And personal responsibility, and personal effort are important. However, do they ultimately bring new life; a new creation as the bible says. Or another awkward word – “salvation”. Will we have the solution if we just depend on our own efforts to be good? Or will this itself tend to be just another complication in this big story?
The “Christmas solution” to our complication is however, that that choice did not rest with ourselves. Rather the decision is God’s decision. God’s decision was that God sent God’s own son – “the word became flesh”, as St John’s gospel says. Jesus was born. God’s decision was to raise up a saviour, Christ the Lord. This was God’s grace. God’s love – God’s intention that we should all live a fulfilled, good life. God sent Jesus – Jesus was born. Jesus was God’s gift.
The “Christmas story” thus becomes a critical aspect of the big picture story It was, as the angels showed, something to sing about; as the wisemen reacted – something to be joyful about; as the shepherds responded – something to praise God about. In the history of world – the great ah ha moment had come – the Christ was born.
“To you this day in the city of David is born a saviour who is the Christ, the Lord.”
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
So to the final aspect of any story, the resolution. The rest of the story. How does it finish? Are you are part of this story? Do you believe that a turning point in time came with the birth of Jesus; do you believe our saviour has been born?
We love the Christmas story; I think we are vaguely aware of the big picture story of our world and our lives. This Christmas, the question is do we fit within this larger big picture story?
