Midnight marks the start of Christmas. All our preparations and planning reach their culmination at the strike of twelve. But what are we waiting for?

For many people Christmas is the time of the year they identify with the most. It is the great party season. But what are we looking forward to; what are we waiting for?

Children are excited. I suspect they’re excited at not having to be in school for two weeks, and at the prospect of getting presents. But are the presents and the time off worth waiting for?

If we’re looking forward to getting something, some item, we may be disappointed. Because true value lies in sharing. Mother Teresa said, “The greatest suffering is being lonely, feeling unloved, having no-one. I have come more and more to realize that it is being unwanted that is the worst disease that any human being can ever experience.”

 

Pulling a cracker on our own is not only difficult, it is unpleasant. The pleasure comes in pulling it with someone else. (PULL CRACKER). We were made for relationship; to give and receive love. We are here not to live alone, but to help and rely on one another. 

 

Being lonely and feeling unwanted is the tip of the iceberg. We may not have many friends and our family may be far away. But at the heart of loneliness is isolation from God; a broken relationship with the Maker of all good things, because of our wilful, self-centred, independent attitude. But God wants us to enjoy the most lasting and deepest relationship possible. He wants to restore the broken relationship. And He has done that by giving us His Son, Jesus. 

The reading we have just heard (Luke 2:1-20) starts off by reminding us that Jesus was born into the Roman Empire; a vast empire with an emperor at its head. A top king, if you like. Into this empire Jesus is born. His earthly father, Joseph, is of the royal line of David, but Joseph is no prince. The angel makes it plain that Jesus may have been born in the most deprived and humble of circumstances, but He is Saviour, Christ, Lord. Jesus is heavenly royalty, and by giving Him the title, “Lord”, the angel leaves us in no doubt as to Jesus’ eternal status: He is King forever. Which brings me back to our cracker….

The cracker contains three things: a hat, a motto and a gift. All of these things we see as throw-away things in our throw-away culture. But they point to the Christmas message. The hat is a crown, the motto represents a life-giving message and the gift is for real and forever.

 

First, gift. Jesus is God’s great gift to us at Christmas. And, please, let’s have none of this, “Christmas is for the children” nonsense. Children show us what it means to be excited, to be surprised, but Jesus is exciting to be around if we are 3 or 30, 9 or 90. Life with Him is not dull or lonely. That’s because He reconnects us to the Source and Goal of our lives; relationship with God our Father. Jesus enjoyed parties. He turned water into wine, healed the sick and brought dead people back to life.  Do you know anyone as exciting as that?

 

Second, Jesus is King of kings. He is above all other powers and rulers. He is above the emperor, and yet He does not compete with anyone else. He has no need to play the human status game. He is unrivalled; He is God’s Son. You can’t argue with Him, you can only accept or reject Him. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. When He came as a baby and lived as a man on earth, He didn’t pick and choose the best bits of life to experience. No, He shared it all: the good times and the very bad. He didn’t breeze in and then breeze out. He lived and breathed here, so that we could live and breathe forever. He is King over death, so that nothing can separate us from God - from eternal life - if we say yes to His invitation and trust Him to be our way home to God the Father.

 

Third, Jesus is the Message Bringer and the Message itself. This message is the good news, the One who can save us, our Rescuer. He came to save us from the pain of the deepest loneliness, of that isolation from God our Father.

Jesus shows us that far from being unwanted, God wants us to come home. Jesus says, “I am the gate for the sheep; I am the Way.” We have to come in with Jesus or we won’t get in at all. 

Now, shepherds figure prominently in the story of Jesus’ birth, but few of us will have met a shepherd. In ancient times, the shepherds were socially unacceptable. They couldn’t be a part of society as they spent all their time out with the dirty and smelly sheep. But they were tough and selfless in the way they cared for, and protected, their sheep.

Later in His life Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd and that shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” He will not abandon us or run away from us in our need. Jesus says, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” We are not unwanted strangers to God; in fact, Jesus is familiar with us and wants us to get to know Him.

 

We are waiting. Waiting for Christmas. Most of us are waiting for life to get better. And God is waiting for us to stop playing around with Him, to stop paying Him lip service and to let Him care for us, His children. 

Whatever we are hoping for, we should know that nothing will satisfy us for long unless it is everlasting and true. The cracker, hat, motto and gift will find their way into the rubbish bin soon enough, and I know that my friendships will not always be enough. But only Jesus, King, Message Bringer and Gift is everlasting and true. He won’t blow hot and cold as some of our friends. He is always for us. He is always waiting, always longing to be with us.

 

So, what are we waiting for? Why wouldn’t we want the best gift money can’t buy this Christmas? Full life here and now; certainty that we can go home to enjoy the best company of all: friendship with God. With Him we are never alone. Only Jesus makes that possible. He is the best thing you could want this Christmas. The people of Israel, shepherds and all, waited for thousands of years for Jesu435s, The Saviour of the world. The good news is that we don’t need to wait; He is waiting for us….