This Christmas, Bishop Sarah offers a message full of hope - that in celebrating the baby in the manger, we come face to face with the God who knows us and loves us. May this love meet you wherever you are this Christmas.
Our journey to the Crib of Jesus began at Durham Cathedral on Advent Sunday, where we sang the carols of longing, especially O Come, O Come Emmanuel, which speaks of the longing for the one who is Emmanuel, God with us, who will come and be with us in the circumstances of our lives.
And it culminated at our midnight communion, where we sang our final carol, O Come, All Ye Faithful.
“Yea Lord, we greet Thee,
born this happy morning,
Jesus, to Thee be glory given.
Word of the Father,
now in flesh appearing,”
with a call to adore Him.
An Advent carol and a Christmas carol - carols are part of our heritage. Ancient songs, often dances, that bring us the story of Jesus in a way that we can all remember. They seep into our hearts and our minds.
A few days ago, I was walking with my mother down the corridor of her care home, and as we slowly made our way, I began to sing Silent Night, Holy Night, and to my joy, Mam joined in. She had the words almost completely right, and she got the tune perfectly as well, so that even when other memories have fled away, those ancient carols are deep within us, as they were within my mother.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel and O Come, All Ye Faithful - those carols bring to us the truth of who Jesus is.
The Gospel of John says, “No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, has made God known.”
And that is what Jesus is doing in being made flesh and coming to live among us; making the God we cannot see, the Father, to be seen.
And so Christmas says, look at that baby in the manger. Look at that man, Jesus, with his friends and his enemies. Look at that man Jesus on the cross and in the Garden of Resurrection. And as you look, you see the heart of God as God truly is.
And what we see is a love that does not let us go. We see a forgiveness that is ready to meet us, to run towards us. We see one who knows us and meets us in our deepest need as well.
And so my hope for you this Christmas is that you will encounter God with us - Jesus, Emmanuel - in whatever the circumstances of your life.
Just as Mam and I met Jesus as we walked down the corridor of the care home to Silent Night, Holy Night, my hope is that you will know him calling you as He says, “Come and sing with me. Follow me all the days of your life.”
Happy Christmas!