He came down to earth from
heaven
Who is God and Lord of
all,
And his shelter was a
stable,
And his cradle was a
stall;
With the poor and mean and
lowly
Lived on earth our Saviour
Holy
There has been much in the public realm recently concerning
communication.
Lord justice
Leveson enquiry has created a fierce debate with those on the side
of the freedom of the press decrying any infringement on their rights to tell
the world what they think the world wants to hear: and those on the side of
people who's privacy has been invaded, usually at a time of heightened personal
crisis or tragedy. It remains to be seen how far this debate will go in
changing the nature of our society and the way in which we stay informed.
This month of December marked the 20th anniversary of the
first txt message sent. Given that I
expect everyone of us in church has sent or received a txt message it seems incredible that it they have only been
around 20 years. Can you imagine your day without a txt, can you sustain your
friendships and express your love and concern or simple delight in another
person without txt? I expect for many of us it would seem inconceivable. From the moment that first text was sent our
world and society changed for ever.
And finally there was the tragic results if a hoax call, Mel Grieg and Michael Christian, the
Australian DJ’s behind the hoax call to King Edward 7th hospital . A harmless bit of fun turning into shocking
loss, a moment of foolishness having far
reaching consequences. For Nurse Jacintha Saldanha it was moment of communication that
changed her life for ever and resulted in the terrible consequences of her
suicide.
At the heart of the Christmas story is the desire of God to
communicate, us his creation his sons and daughters. To send a message, to
reach out, to create a story that still has the power to change peoples lives
and the life of our world.
But God is no hack, or devious reporter determined to use
any means necessary to get his story, his Good News, into the public domain.
God choose to use a seemingly ordinary event, the birth of
a child, to herald an event of world changing proportions.
God choose not to use the wonders of technology, the
ability to instantly connect and convince, but the everyday and ordinary around
us, dreams, stars and lowly shepherds.
God choose to intervene in human history, a decision that
in some people's eyes is as foolish as a hoax call, but one that has far
reaching implications, not for death but for life.
This month gave the world another first – the first Tweet
by the Pope. Indeed I too have joined the tweeting community by following his
example and sent my first tweet two weeks ago.
Some see texting
as destructive to traditional forms of communication, and although it is a view
that I have a great deal of sympathy with, there is some truth in the claim of
those in favour that it is simply another form of communication which has
become part of the fabric of our modern world.
Greg Burke, the
senior media adviser to the Vatican, explained that the @Pontifex Twitter name
was chosen because it means Pope and it also means 'bridge builder'.
Such bridge
building through different avenues is part of the Christian tradition. The
Christmas story celebrates a God who
communicates in diverse and creative ways –A drama which features the worlds of
prophets, angelic visitations, and then supremely, God becoming a human being. “ He came down to earth from heave, Who is
God and Lord of all”
It’s the way of
building a bridge in a way that human beings can receive and understand.
Indeed it is estimated that around 8 trillion txts are sent a year, I wonder
how many of the worlds 7 billion humans will wish another person a happy
Christmas today by sending a txt?
And that would be
an interesting challenge, if you have not already risen to it this Christmas,
when you have a moment why not send a message of no more than 140 characters –
a tweet – to convey all the joy and hope and love that is revealed as we gaze
anew on the child born of Mary.
I will finish as I began
with words of another well known hymn which we will sing togthter at the end of
our service, words that for me
powerfully convey the esense of what our celebration at Christmas is all
about
Hail the heav’n-born
Prince of Peace!
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he
brings
ris’n with healing in his
wings;
mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may
die,
born to raise us from the
earth,
born to give us second
birth.
And if you are interested
that is 195 characters- I think?
