Bishop Paul’s Christmas Sermon from Southwell Minster
‘How our hearts can find a home and be at rest in God’s love at Christmas’
In his Christmas sermon at the Midnight Communion in the Cathedral on Christmas Eve, Bishop Paul spoke about the way God’s peace can help our hearts to find rest and a true home in the love of Christ.
He posed the question: “How do we find the peace about which the angels sang, when so many things in our lives and world seem to conspire to make it impossibly out of reach? The answer is in the manger. The Prince of Peace has come. Here is the deep joy this night holds out to each of us…Because of Jesus we can be completely known and yet dearly loved by God.”
In his sermon, Bishop Paul went on to pay particular tribute to all who work tirelessly to help the most vulnerable in Nottinghamshire to find a safe, supportive and loving place they can call home, including the tremendous work that is done in caring for the homeless in providing shelter, food and long-term accommodation through Framework and Emmanuel House in Nottingham. He also gave thanks to God for the remarkable way social workers and foster carers, in partnership with many others, find and provide homes for all the children brought into care in our city and county. Concluding his sermon, Bishop Paul shared, “This Christmas let’s pray for blessing on each one and this work which is so very close to God’s heart.”
Read Bishop Paul’s Christmas Sermon in full below.
Readings: Isaiah 9:2-7 and Luke 2:1-14
‘Whether you are at home or far away from home this Christmas, I want to reflect for a few moments tonight on how our heart can find its home (and be at rest) in the love God has for us in Christ: How the peace the angels sang about two thousand years ago really can be yours and mine, in a personal and profound way, not dependent on our circumstances.
A few weeks ago on the 7th of December a pair of sparkly ruby-red slippers worn by Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz sold at auction for 28million dollars. You may have read about it. The auctioneers called the slippers the ‘Holy Grail of Hollywood memorabilia’, though even they were surprised by the final bid.
In case there is anyone here tonight who’s not seen the film, the pivotal moment in the whole story occurs when Dorothy must click together the heels of her magic red shoes three times and repeat ‘There’s no place like home’, in order then to leave the magical land of Oz and return to her home in Kansas.
When you look back on the past year, I wonder, if you had magic shoes like Dorothy, how many times you’d have been tempted to click your heels and say, ‘There is no place like home’.
We all yearn sometimes in certain moments, to be whisked away, at least in our imagination, to a safe place of love and belonging we associate with home. For some of you that may be your present home or somewhere you’ve been excited to return to for Christmas. It may be a much-loved childhood home, or a regular holiday home, or a place you associate with a happy season of life.
Equally, the memories attached to a particular home may be quite painful or at least something of a mixed blessing. The truth is, there is no picture-perfect home, and our deeper longings are often much more about being safe and secure, as well as loved and accepted, this is the peace our hearts were really made to seek.
So how do we find this peace when so many things in our lives and world frequently conspire to make it seem fairly elusive and impossibly out of reach? The answer is in the manger. The Prince of Peace has come. Here is the deep joy this night holds out to each of us:
That God does not wait for us to find his peace. It is not something we need to achieve arising from a well-ordered life, having the dream home, the perfect job, the glittering career, the requisite number of friends and family – everything around us and about us just as we always dreamed it would be. To live like that is not only exhausting, it is a prison to the soul. And it cannot turn even the finest house into a truly loving home.
So what is the pivot which can open the door of our hearts so that God’s peace in Christ may enter in? The bible’s answer for us is one word: forgiveness.
When the angel announces the birth of the Christ child, there is one reason given for why this is a source of such great joy for all the people: the Saviour has come! That’s why Joseph had already been told in a dream to name the child, ‘Jesus’, ‘because he will save his people from their sins.’
Christ was born for this very purpose, and more importantly he would die for this purpose, to save us from the power of sin and all its terrible consequences, which we certainly see around the world this night wherever war and conflict rages, and in countless places where people live in fear and despair.
But we also see it closer to home and in our own lives, perhaps painfully so for some this Christmas. At its root sin then turns the heart in on itself in guilt and shame, closing us off from the possibilities of true connection, of love and belonging. This is the condition of human hearts everywhere. And why reconciliation is so hard.
Yet here is the good news that the birth of the Saviour brings to our world: on the Cross, Jesus willingly took upon himself the full penalty for our sin – the price has been paid for us in the costly love of God. It’s why at the very dawn of Christmas morning we share in celebrating communion. Here we remember that we are truly known and dearly loved by God and one day will be eternally at home with him.
And so tonight, we can open our hearts to receive his forgiveness and his peace afresh, or perhaps even for some to know for the first time what it is for your heart to be at home and at rest with God. If you would like to explore any of these things more closely, you would be very welcome to take one of these invitations to a series of five evenings which I’m pleased to be hosting with my wife Sarah in the spring, it’s called simply Exploring Faith.
Whenever we receive God’s peace afresh into our lives I’ve found the Spirit inspires us with renewed courage and compassion to serve those we see in need around us.
That’s why as we edge closer to Christmas morning, I want to conclude by paying particular tribute to all who work tirelessly to help the most vulnerable in Nottinghamshire to find a safe, supportive and loving place they can call home. That includes the tremendous work that is done in caring for the homeless in providing shelter, food and long-term accommodation, particularly through Framework and Emmanuel House.
But also, to give thanks to God for the remarkable way social workers and foster carers, in partnership with many others, find and provide homes for all the children who for various reasons are brought into care in our city and county.
This Christmas let’s pray for God’s blessing on each one and this work which is so very close to his heart and to his glory. Amen.‘
Use this link to watch the live stream of this service, including Bishop Paul’s talk.