Christmas Story

A Christmas Parable Presented at St Paul's, Ashgrove, Christmas 2024

My christmas sermon this year is a story. In fact it is a story about a story about a story. It isn’t a factually true story of Jesus’s birth. This one is a story I wrote when I was reflecting on how I can possibly express in a new way the miracle and the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus.

Once upon the very tip of a blue Papermate ballpoint Pen, there lived a Story that longed to be written.

Pen was in the hand of a girl called Emily.

Emily loved to write! She had written lots of beautiful stories, and she loved every character and landscape and plotline she had ever created. But this time… this time she had decided to write the most beautiful, most moving, most action-packed Story ever. And it was right on the tip of her Pen.

But how to begin?

What is a good way to start a story?

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”? That’s pretty good. Or there’s the classic, “Once upon a time.”

Finally, she settled on, “In the beginning.”

So, Pen put those words on the page: “In the beginning.”

They had made a start: Emily and Pen.

A picturesque little village appeared on the page.

What do you think you might see in that village?

Shops?

Schools?

Dogs and cats?

Churches?

A lake?

Some hills in the distance?

Farms?

A hospital?

Homes, of course. Some full of light and music and the smell of yummy food. Some dark and quiet, and smelling of wet socks.

You see, it wasn’t an impossible village where everyone is happy and kind all the time. It was a village filled with people like you and me: sometimes wonderfully kind; sometimes jealous and grumpy. Sometimes so happy that they would sing and dance in public; sometimes so sad and ashamed they just want to be left alone.

Emily loved them all! Every single character in the village. She loved them when they were happy, and she loved them when they were sad; she loved them when they were kind, and she loved them when they were grumpy.

There was one character in the story who she was especially fond of, whose name was Storm. When anyone asked Storm to do something new or to learn an unfamiliar skill, they would always hear “No!” and “Never!” Storm liked things to stay the same. Always! Storm did not like meeting new people or going to new places. The village elders worried that Storm might always be alone.

But Emily and Pen knew Storm had a kind heart – deep down, deeper than most people ever cared to look.

Another of Emily’s favourite characters was Sunshine. When someone asked Sunshine to do something new or to learn a new skill, they always heard, “Yes” and “Right now!” Sunshine loved anything new! Sunshine was always the first to welcome newcomers and visitors to the village. Sunshine made new friends quickly, but old friends sometimes had trouble keeping up, and the village elders worried that one day Sunshine might rush, headlong and thoughtless, into serious danger.

But Emily and Pen knew Sunshine had a steady heart – deep down, though few people saw it because Sunshine never stood still.

Emily smiled as she thought about Storm and Sunshine. And she kept writing. More characters emerged, and Story found herself gliding over the pages of Emily’s notebook.

Emily loved Pen and she loved Story. And she loved every shop, school, dog, cat, church, lake, hill, farm, hospital and home in the village. But most of all she loved the people – the characters in this most beautiful, most moving, most action-packed Story.

The more Emily wrote, the more she loved everything about this Story. She loved them so much that she wanted to get to know them better.

She wanted to visit the shops and taste the chocolate bars she had written about.

She wanted to study at the schools.

She wanted to play games with the dogs and cats.

She wanted to pray in the churches.

She wanted to swim in the lake.

She wanted to climb the hills.

She wanted to milk the cows on the farms.

She even wanted to know what it felt like to get sick and be treated in the hospital.

Most of all, she wanted to visit the homes of the people in the village – to eat meals at their tables, to play board games, to hear the jokes they told each other when they were relaxed and silly. She wanted to feel the lightness of the happy homes and the darkness of the sad homes – to be part of every little thing.

So, Emily, Pen and Story thought and thought and thought about how that could possibly happen. After a long discussion, and I don’t know whose idea it was in the end, but they came up with a plan. Pen would write Emily into the Story. The author would become a character.

This plan was so bold, new and unprecedented that they needed to catch their breath before working out the details.

What sort of character should Emily become in the story?

What do you think?

Maybe she should be the mayor of the village? That way, everyone would have to respect her, and everyone would want to invite her to their home for dinner.

Maybe, but…

No, she didn’t want people to be nice to her just because they thought she could do something for them.

Maybe she should be a police officer? That way she could tell everyone how to behave so they would all get along.

Maybe, but…

No, she didn’t want people to be kind to each other just because they were afraid of her.

Maybe she should be a pilot? That way she could fly into the village when she wanted to and have an excuse to leave the village whenever she chose.

Maybe, but…

No, she wanted to really live there and share real life with the characters.

What do you think she should do?

They considered all the options and then found the very best sort of character for Emily to become.

She would become a baby! That way she would get to experience all of life, right from the very beginning bits – including learning to walk and talk and have her nappy changed.

It was a risk, of course. As a baby, she would need to be looked after, and what if nobody did look after her? It was scary but she decided it was worth the risk. Every baby in the Story takes that risk, so why shouldn’t the author?

So, Pen wrote Emily into the story as a tiny baby, left alone in the park in the middle of town in the early hours of Christmas morning. As she lay there, she felt cold and hungry, confused and afraid for the first time in her long life. She had only ever written about those things before. Now she felt them. And she did not like it. She started to cry and was surprised at how loud she sounded.

Sunshine was the first person in the village to hear the baby. Of course she was! Sunshine always noticed things first and ran toward new discoveries without a second thought. Sunshine picked up the baby and gave her a big hug, kissed her wet cheeks and said, “Don’t you worry. I’m here now. Everything will be OK. I’ll look after you.”

Sunshine looked around and couldn’t see anyone who this baby might belong to. She didn’t know of anyone in the village who might have just given birth to a baby. She looked into the baby’s eyes – the exact blue of a Papermate ballpoint – and for the very first time Sunshine stood very still. If there was nobody else to look after this baby, could Sunshine really promise that everything would be OK? Could Sunshine really promise to look after a little person for her whole life, and love her no matter what happened? Sunshine wasn’t sure she could, and sank to the ground, feeling unsure and inadequate for the very first time.

But, while holding the baby, a still, strong, steady feeling from deep inside begin to work its way all the way out to Sunshine’s fingertips and toes.

Storm was out walking that morning, with a hoody blocking out everything new and different. But the hood didn’t block out the sound of the baby crying. Storm thought about running in the other direction, but didn’t. There was something about that sound that drew Storm’s attention. Storm looked, and saw Sunshine slumped on the ground. Still. That was weird. That was new. That was different. And Sunshine was holding a baby.

Sunshine would need help. But could Storm offer to help? Storm thought about how much would change with a little person to look after. Everything would be new and different – and Storm did not like new and different. But slowly, as Storm looked at that baby, a warm, kind, gentle feeling from deep inside started to work its way all the way out to Storm’s fingertips and toes. The feeling formed itself into word Storm had never said before: “It looks like you could do with some help. Shall we take care of this together?”

And they did take care of baby Emily together.

And that is only the very beginning of the story.

But it is enough for today.

God, the creator and author of the human story, loves every single one of us. God did not want to be a detached sort of creator, keeping an eye on us from a distance. God wanted to be in the story. So, God chose to enter the human story as the baby Jesus. God became one of us – able to experience all the same things we do through a whole human life – even learning to walk and talk and have his nappy changed: laughing and crying and hurting and healing like the rest of us. Able to really know us and be known by us.

Jesus didn’t stay a baby, of course. He grew up. He changed the human story. He transformed every human character he met and he was transformed by us. And every week when we come to church together, we get to know him a little bit more because we keep reading his story – which is also our story.

And it isn’t finished yet!

With Love from Rev Margaret