John Betjeman’s poem, Christmas, pokes gentle fun at some of the silly things we do at this festival:

… loving fingers tying strings
around those tissued fripperies,
the sweet and silly Christmas things,
bath salts and inexpensive scent
and hideous tie so kindly meant.

But in the middle of the poem he asks this startling question:

And is it true? And is it true,
this most tremendous tale of all
seen in a stained-glass window’s hue
a baby in an ox’s stall?
The maker of the stars and sea
become a child on earth for me?

For most of Christmas that is precisely the question that is never asked. Believers and unbelievers alike are enjoying the party - the holidays, the presents, the widespread good cheer. Believers and unbelievers alike sing Christmas carols. But on the whole, we don’t ask, And is it true? It’s almost as if it would be in bad taste to ask the question so directly. We’re enjoying the party so don’t dispel the magic.

The fact is that however we answer the question, And is it true? everything is changed. If it isn’t true then what reason have we to celebrate? Somehow, a midwinter festival of the solstice doesn’t quite have the same power or magic. We probably wouldn’t gather in the middle of the night, to celebrate the lengthening of the days! If it weren’t true perhaps we would just have Hogmanay - a terrifying thought!

But perhaps the real reason we don’t ask if the story is true is not that we would lose so much magic if it were not true, but rather that, if it is true, then perhaps we have to make a positive response to this truth. What if this “baby in an ox’s stall” really is “the maker of the stars and sea become a child on earth for me?”

What difference might it make if it were true? Well, first of all it means we know that God cares infinitely about this planet Earth and us human beings. We’ve become used to science telling us how vast the universe is and how small is our galaxy let alone our planet. But the birth of this child tells us that we matter infinitely to God, the maker of the stars and sea, and of the entire vastness of the universe. We not only matter to God but he is prepared to do something about what is wrong in the way we relate to each other, the way we treat each other. Instead of being somehow aloof from the human condition, God enters into it without reserve. He becomes a child on earth for me.

This is why we have reason to celebrate today. Shepherds and stables, the ox and the ass, stars and wise men all enrich the story, but at its heart is the child in whom God chooses to live among us - to teach us by word and example, and to die for us. Christmas carols can become so familiar that we cease to hear what they have to tell us about this child. It can be quite a surprise in the midst of a huge department store to hear The holly bears a berry as red as any blood, and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ for to do us sinners good. The holly bears a bark as bitter as any gall, and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ for to redeem us all. Here at least there is no attempt to escape from the significance of this child whose birth we so often celebrate without thinking of his redeeming death.

Betjeman concludes his poem:
No love that in a family dwells,
no carolling in frosty air,
nor all the steeple shaking bells
can with this single truth compare –
that God was man in Palestine
and lives today in Bread and Wine.

Bread and wine, the substance of our partying and the food of our Holy Communion. The same and yet different. For if this most tremendous tale of all really is true, then it isn’t just a tale of long, long ago, but a story which impacts on how we live day by day. God who was man in Palestine has taught us that love for God and neighbour sums up all that religion or philosophy can hope to teach us about being human. Such a simple message. Why are many so fearful the story might be true?

Don’t be frightened – however you choose to celebrate this festival, rejoice and be glad the new born child brings hope once again to our world.

The Venerable Alan Jeans

Archdeacon of Sarum

Chaplaincy Home

Criteria for a Just War

The Christmas Address

Remembrance Day

The Rich Young Ruler

Ash Wednesday

2006

The Nature of

Religious

Experience

Atonement