ࡱ> @B?q` "bjbjqPqP 88::%TTTTTTTh 8D < h " 5777777$h |[T [TT p pT T 5 5 TT >kJ  50  p T "   [[= X  hhh hhh hhhTTTTTT Christmas Eve Sermon 2007 Shalom the perfect gift Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 Luke 2:1-14 Two weeks ago a record was broken. 1.09pm on Monday 10th December was the most lucrative moment ever in British on-line shopping history. In a single minute we Britons spent more than three quarters of a million pounds on the internet. Apparently the peak in internet Christmas shopping usually does happen on a Monday, because people have spent the weekend in the shops either failing to find what they want, or checking the prices. And it usually peaks at lunchtime because office workers use their computers on their lunchbreak. And in this particular year, during the peak minute, an average of 128 people every second spent almost 100 each. The prediction was that sales for the whole day would reach 370 million pounds. No wonder theyve been calling it Mega Monday. And I wonder how much of that money was spent on gifts that the person receiving actually wants, let alone needs, and how much will end up discarded. Its so difficult to know what to buy isnt it. Even when youve got a list. And many of us dont actually know what we want, and in fact dont want to do a list, hoping instead that those buying for us will have a brilliant idea, something we would never have thought of, and yet is amazingly perfect. But, in spite of the expense and the consumerism and the waste of this season of the year, I am, still, in favour of present giving at Christmas. The giving of gifts in its purest form is a gesture of love. That old truism that its the thought that counts is spot on. Its important to put thought into what to give someone, but at the end of the day, its the fact that you care enough for them to give them anything at all that is worth more than anything. Well, whatever was on your list, its unlikely to have been headed up with the word peace unless youre a candidate for the Miss World contest of course. And yet the gift promised to us all at that first Christmas 2000 years ago is peace. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given And he will be calledPrince of Peace. Of the increase of his peace there will be no end And again in the story of the birth itself in Lukes gospel, Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to youGlory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests. That word peace is very often interpreted, both by potential Miss Worlds, and indeed by the rest of us, as meaning the absence of conflict on a global scale. Our Christmas cards are covered in doves with olive branches proclaiming peace on earth, and yet perhaps we cant help thinking that if thats the kind of peace promised by the birth of Jesus, its a long time coming. Of course, Christmas has inspired some wonderful moments of truce, with arms laid down, and carols heard in different languages from both sides of a battle line, but sadly the weapons are often picked up again once the day has passed. Perhaps I ought to say at this point that I dont want to give you the impression I think that peace of the non-war-faring kind is a hopeless ideal, many wars have come to an end. Its been less than 10 years since the Omagh bombing for example, which was in our news again last week, and just look at how much peace has come to Northern Ireland in that time. We should always think that an end to conflict is possible, and pray for it too. But if that and that alone was the sort of peace promised at Christmas, we might just think that weve not done quite as well as we should out of this Christmas gift. However, the words spoken by Isaiah, and the words spoken by angels would have been Hebrew, and peace would have been the Hebrew word Shalom. Its often used as a greeting among Jews, but its a word that means so much more than hello or goodbye. And even though its often translated simply as peace, as in our bible reading tonight, it also means so much more than that. One definition of the word shalom that I read included all the following, and its an incredible list: well-being, peace, health, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquillity, completeness, wholeness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. Another described it more simply as the presence of the goodness of God. To proclaim shalom is therefore a huge promise, and a mighty blessing. And its a promise intended for each one of us. Its not so much global, as individual. Youll notice that the pronouncement of the angels wasnt made to world rulers or leaders of armies. It was made to shepherds. To ordinary people living ordinary lives. People like us. And, you know, we may not be living in the middle of war zone, but there are many things in this life that make us feel lonely, or worried, or guilty, or scared, or just plain worn down, and in that sense we are not complete, life knocks holes in us some small, some big. And God never promises that these things wont happen, that isnt what shalom means either. But the gift of the baby Jesus at Christmas, the gift of God made man, is that now we can know that God is with us, that God lived the same sort of life, that God knows what its like. And as Jesus lived his life among us, to those he met, those whose sins he proclaimed forgiven, those he healed, to those he promised salvation and eternal life, he then spoke the words Go in peace. The Shalom of God, the peace of God lies in the fact that God is willing to meet our needs and touch our lives with love, with forgiveness, with healing. All of which gives us the confidence, perhaps peace of mind is the phrase were looking for that comes from trusting God. That comes from knowing whatever happens to us, and whatever mess we make of things, we can turn to God, place our lives in his hands, carry on with hope for the future. And that is why Christmas should be to us each year both something new and something constant. The Christmas story we hear is of course the same, always wonderfully the same, but our world is different. We have new memories, our hopes have been tested, our love has been called upon in new ways whether for good reasons or for bad, were in a different place to where we were a year ago. But the message of hope and peace is always relevant, for you and for me. In his gift of Shalom, God is giving us not so much what we want, but what we need, even if we dont always realise it. As with all the best gifts, his sole motive for giving is one of love. But in this case, it isnt just the thought that counts. The gift itself could not be more perfect, for all of us or more costly to him who gives it. Its almost Christmas Day! May the peace the Shalom of God be in your lives this Christmas and in the year to come.     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