Here’s wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New Year! I wanted to share with you my Christmas Message for 2025 which I gave at our carol services. I hope you have a lovely time celebrating with your family.
Best wishes, Rev Bryony.
Christmas Message 2025
I wonder what the first Christmas would have been like if it had happened in Barlborough in 2025?
Here we find a busy scene in the house of Michael and Miriam on the links estate. Michael’s just had a text from his cousin Joseph who’s on his way with his young pregnant wife Mary. Miriam is getting the house ready for the extra guests, the kids’ rooms are already full, she’s got a blow up bed on the lounge floor for Mary and Joseph but is a little worried about what to do if the baby comes early, where on earth will they put him?
At 1 in the morning Mary and Joseph finally arrive at the house in their old battered Ford Escort. They got stuck in traffic on the M1, there were roadworks and an accident! Mary has already gone into labour! It’s too late to try and get her to hospital and so, surrounded by Michael, Miriam, their 4 kids and a nurse neighbour who just got in from her shift, the baby is born. Miriam is panicking as she’s used up all her fresh towels for her guests already. Ruth, their eldest, a capable 14 year old has a great idea for where to put the baby – she pulls out her bottom drawer, drags out all her underwear and puts in her own baby blanket from when she was tiny to make it all cosy. So they place the new born baby Jesus in the drawer and all gaze at his tiny fingers and toes and mop of black hair as he squalls and wriggles until finally settling down to sleep.
Meanwhile, on the M1 are a group of roadworkers on a night shift in their dayglow jackets working under the glare of some temporary lights, just by junction 30 – they’ve been the reason Mary and Joseph arrived so late. Suddenly there is a massive flash of light. The men think the bulb has gone in their temporary lights at first but the light remains and bounces off their jackets making them each glow. They’re terrified, it feels like the middle of the day but it’s 2 o’clock in the morning! They see a figure appear in the sky in military clothing who says that he has a message, that a baby has been born who is the messiah, the Lord, that they are to make their way to Barlborough to find a baby wrapped in a pink blanket and lying in a drawer. This child will be the saviour of his people. So the men drop what they’re doing and drive up in their JCB into Barlborough village to find this strange sight of a child in a pink blanket lying in a drawer. The JCB chugs onto the links estate, a few security lights come on but one of the men, Andrew, spots a light on in a house and a crowded room of people. ‘I bet it’s over there!’ And they ring the doorbell. Ruth runs to the Ring doorbell and sees on the screen a crowd of blokes in dayglow jackets. “Mum! There are some men at the door, shall I let them in?” Michael replies, “Who’s this coming at 3 in the morning? It must be important, let them in kid!” So Ruth opens the door and all the men begin speaking at once. “Is there a baby here, in a pink blanket and in a drawer?” One of them spots over Michael’s shoulder the family crowded around a drawer and there is the child! The men from the M1 tell the story and the whole household can’t believe it. Miriam decides it’s ok to break out the Prosecco now and they all raise a toast to the baby Jesus.
Some time later, Mary and Joseph have found somewhere to stay in Barlborough old village, just for a while. One day some people in the village spot a limousine pulling up with tinted windows and 3 men who look like they’re from the middle east get out. They’re wearing sharp suits and shades. They knock on a few doors, some don’t open them, suspicious of these strangers, one person slams the door in their face. Eventually they try and explain that they’re looking for a child who has recently been born. A child who will become the king of the Jews. Someone says, ‘oh aye, there’s a family just moved in on Clifton Avenue – try there, it might be them, I heard a bit of a story about when that kid was born – bit of a tall story if you ask me’. So the men make their way to Clifton Avenue and find the right house and Mary opens the door, her eyes are like saucers as she spots the Rolexes on their wrists and their flashy car. But, she invites them in and sticks the kettle on and hears their story.
Which part of the story did you connect with today? Would you be the one to open up your home to welcome the strangers, would you be the one to slam the door in their face? Would you have let the roadworkers in at 3 in the morning? Would you have found somewhere to put the baby?
Might we allow the Christmas story to surprise us and challenge us again this year. The story tells us that our lives don’t often turn out like we expect, that there will always be surprises with God, especially when we welcome the stranger, welcome the unknown. Let us all open our hearts to welcome Jesus into our homes this Christmas and be challenged to share his love with all those around us. Amen.
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