Prelude Melodia Africana I by Ludovico Einaudi
Opening Words by Ellen Fay
It is the winter season of the year, dark and chilly.
Perhaps it is a winter season in your life,
dark and chilly there too.
Come into Christmas here.
Let the light and warmth of Christmas
brighten our lives and our world.
Let us find in the dark corners of our souls
the light of hope,
A vision of the extraordinary in the ordinary.
Let us find rest in the quiet of a holy moment
to find promise and renewal.
Let us find the child in each of us,
the new hope, the new light, born in us.
Then will Christmas come.
Then will magic return to the world.
Chalice Lighting (you may wish to light a candle in your own home at this point. I will be lighting my chalice for worship at 11.05 am on Sunday morning) words by Howard Thurman
We will light candles this Christmas,
Candles of joy despite all sadness,
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch,
Candles of courage for fear ever present,
Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,
Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens,
Candles of love to inspire all our living,
Candles that will burn all year long.
Opening Prayer by Alex Bradley
O God, on the very brink of Christmas,
we give thanks for everything in our lives,
for our personal happiness, our family, our friends,
our work and our homes, our stability in society.
We pray that all these good things may come
to all people everywhere.
Yet we know that our world is not
as we would wish it to be.
Too many lands groan under tyranny and oppression;
Too many people live in hunger, want, and fear;
Too many hearts are lost to selfishness and greed.
We also think of those on the world stage,
the innocent people who have lost their lives
at the hands of others, especially the children.
Yet, so it was when Jesus came,
born into a restless and troubled world.
Remind us, we pray, of the hope
that came with that child of Bethlehem,
the hope of a divine love that each year
is ever renewed.
May that hope fill our hearts today, and through us,
may it help to bring peace and hope and justice
into a waiting world. Amen
Reading The Christmas Message by Roy D. Phillips (adapted)
The Christmas message is simply this: that what is highest and deepest in reality is not to be sought far off in other realms – in long agoes, in far aways, in the heavens, or in distant ages to come. It is in this world, in this natural, historical, human realm that the sacred is, and is to be discerned by us.
If finding the sacred in this world is sometimes difficult for us, our difficulty is rooted not in disputes with fundamentalists about dates, or dogmas, or the historicity of certainly biblically-recorded events. It is difficult because what is wrong in the natural, historical, human realm tends to preoccupy us, to the exclusion of almost everything else. Therefore the sacred can be hard to feel and to find.
The festival of Christmas itself can help remedy this. If we can enter its stories, its customs, and its celebrations – enter in with energy and will and emotion – glimmerings at least of the sacred will make themselves manifest to us, first to our feelings, perhaps later to our minds.
So let the Christmas message come to us, let the message be shared amongst us all, so that we may truly seek together the sacred need for peace on earth.
Alternative Lord’s Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love, here and everywhere,
May we be aware of your presence in our lives.
May our world be blessed.
May our daily needs be met,
And may our shortcomings be forgiven,
As we forgive those of others.
Give us the strength to resist wrong-doing,
The inspiration and guidance to do right,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
We are your hands in the world; help us to grow.
May we have compassion for all living beings,
And receive whatever life brings,
With courage and trust.
Amen
Reading Thoughts about Light at Christmas shared by the UCA (adapted)
As I look at the lighted candles, I think of all the people who have lit up the world with their love and commitment to humanity. We think of Jesus, perhaps, at this time, we bring our thoughts to others who presently, and through history have worked for justice and peace; to all those who have discovered medicines and new techniques for surgery; who have given us literature, and art, and so much more.
Let us think nearer to home, let us look at the candles and think of the loved ones in our lives, our family, our friends, and instead of feeling sad, let us feel gratitude and celebration.
The traditional Christmas story gives us the image of a bare and primitive stable which would have been poorly lit by an oil lamp, yet the light of the love in that place would have been dazzling: the love of the parents for their child; the love of the shepherds and the kings; even the love of the innkeeper, who wouldn’t let a young couple go without shelter.
At this Christmas time, let us make a promise to ourselves, to be a light of love and peace to all those we meet. May it be so.
Prayer by Ralph N. Helverson
O God, keep us from missing life by small neglects
that blind the eyes of the spirit;
Keep us from being overly analytical
when we need to be understanding;
From talking too much,
when the situation demands listening;
From being too orderly,
when we may need the disorder of insight;
From being so involved in the immediate
that we miss the long view of the soul;
From making such great efforts in life
when the truth that saves is so simple;
From plodding long, when we could hear celestial music
and begin a magnificent journey
to the kingdom of heaven which lies close at hand;
Keep us trusting, lighting candles in the darkness,
knowing that with the eyes of the spirit, and the ears of the heart,
we may perhaps catch an angel this Christmas.
Amen
Reading Christmas Beatitudes by David Rhys Williams, from Songs for Living
On this blessed day, let us worship at the altar of joy, for to miss the joy of Christmas is to miss its holiest secret.
Let us enter into the spiritual delights which are the natural heritage of childlike hearts.
Let us withdraw from the cold and barren world of prosaic fact, if only for a season,
That we may warm ourselves by the fireside of fancy, and take counsel of the wisdom of poetry and legend.
Blessed are they who have vision enough to behold a guiding star in the dark mystery which girdles the earth.
Blessed are they who have imagination enough to detect the music of celestial voices in the midnight hours of life.
Blessed are they who have faith enough to contemplate a world of peace and justice in the midst of present wrong and strife.
Blessed are they who have greatness enough to become at times as a little child.
Blessed are they who have zest enough to take delight in simple things.
Blessed are they who have wisdom enough to know that the kingdom of heaven is very close at hand, and that all may enter in who have eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to understand.
Time of Stillness and Reflection words by Christine Robinson, adapted)
Let us join our hearts and minds together in the spirit of peace and love.
May these moments of quiet lead us to the heart of the season, which is peace.
May we breathe deeply of peace in this quiet place, relax into its warmth, know we are safe here, and let us open our hearts to the Christmas story.
Like the harried innkeeper, may we find ways to be of help to others.
Like the wandering couple, may we find that our greatest trials issue forth from our greatest joys.
Like the lumbering beasts, may we be silent witnesses to the unfathomable glory of life.
Like the shepherds on the hill, may we know that we need never be afraid.
Like the journeying wise, may we always have the courage to follow our stars.
Like the angels, may we cry peace to a troubled world.
[silence]
Holy one, to these prayers for our own transformation we add our prayers for all of those who suffer and grieve this morning. May they find comfort. And we add our prayers for all those involved in war; may they be safe. And may this season of peace and goodwill nudge our world towards its ideals, for then will Christmas truly dawn. Amen.
Musical Interlude I Giorni by Ludovico Einaudi
Address Christmas 2025
Today is the fourth Sunday in Advent – we are nearly through that magical period of anticipation leading up to Christmas. So at this time of year, with less than a week to go before Christmas Day, many of us will be blatting round like the proverbial blue-bottomed flies, buying presents, sending cards, collecting our pre-ordered turkeys and making the hearts of the supermarket shareholders glad by spending our hard-earned cash on excessive amounts of food and drink to see us through the festive season. Then, when Christmas Day has come and gone, many of us will end up with post-Christmas indigestion – too much food, too much to drink, too much everything. I don’t know about you, but much as I enjoy the Christmas season, I also look forward to “getting back to normal” again.
The lead-up to Christmas is also the time of the year when all the charities go into overdrive. It is still the season of goodwill when people are more inclined to respond favourably to pleas for donations for good causes. The first Christmas catalogues plopped through my letterbox way back in August. I buy most of my Christmas presents from them, as well as all my cards.
So Christmas is a time of joy, of goodwill, of charitable thoughts and deeds. God’s in his heaven, all’s right with the world. Or is it? No, of course it’s not. Most Unitarians I know are the lucky ones – we have family and friends who love and care for us, with whom we can share the joys of the season. But not everyone is so fortunate. Christmas has a darker, largely unacknowledged side. Unaccustomed proximity can lead to bitter family arguments and breakdowns in relationships. And there are also so many lonely people who simply don’t have anyone to share Christmas with, and who wouldn’t feel like celebrating even if they did. For such people, the contrast between their lives and the Christmas projected through the media can exacerbate feelings of isolation, panic, stress and depression. For them, Christmas is a season to be got through somehow, not a time of joy and sharing. And even people who are spending the time with friends or family may feel pressured to appear happy and to hide their true feelings or problems so as not to spoil the party atmosphere.
As Alex Bradley wrote in our beautiful opening prayer, “Too many lands groan under tyranny and oppression; too many people live in hunger, want, and fear; too many hearts are lost to selfishness and greed… Yet, so it was when Jesus came, born into a restless and troubled world. Remind us… of the hope that came with that child of Bethlehem, the hope of a divine love that each year is ever renewed. May that hope fill our hearts today, and through us, may it help to bring peace and hope and justice into a waiting world.” Amen
The Christian message, which the Gospels of the New Testament tell us Jesus preached – love God, love your neighbour and don’t forget to love yourself – is a crucially important one in this mad world of ours. If Christmas, the festival in which we celebrate the birth of Jesus, that great prophet and wise leader, reminds people of this great truth, which is common to all religions, then I’m all for it. But the message can get a bit lost in the commercial frenzy which seems to surround Christmas these days. And I truly believe that it is a message we need to remember, and act upon, all the year round, not just at Christmas.
The teachings and example of Jesus are amazing. This man, born over 2000 years ago, somehow saw to the heart of things. To quote Alfred Hall, author of Beliefs of a Unitarian, “Jesus has shown what spiritual heights are possible to man when he is faithful to the noblest ideals. … In the teachings of Jesus there is a note of joy, the belief that life is good and the provision which God has made for it generous, if men would use it aright, and the definite, ringing message that God cares for every human being, and loves each one with a love that will never let him go. … He has also taught us that the basis of human society must be that of generous good-will. He emphasised this so strongly that he urged men to love their enemies. In other words, he declared that each individual is to have the highest motives in his dealings with his fellow-men, and every group in its relationships with other groups must be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect.”
It’s quite a message.
I think the important thing that we need to do now, today, and next week and next month too, is to take the message of Jesus deep into our hearts, and act on it in our daily lives. One of my favourite Unitarian Universalist authors, Victoria Weinstein, wrote a lovely poem about this called Being the Resurrection which I would like to share with you (it was originally written to be shared at Easter, but I think it is just as relevant all the year round):
“The stone has got to be rolled back from the tomb again and again every year.
Roll up your sleeves.
He is not coming back, you know.
He is not coming back unless it is we who rise for him
We who lay healing hands on the reviled and rejected like he did
on his behalf —
We who rage for righteousness in his insistent voice
We who love the sinner, even knowing that “the sinner” is no farther off than our own heartbeat
He will not be back to join us at the table
To share God’s extravagant banquet
God’s love feast, all are invited, come as you are
And so it is you and I who must feast for him
Must say the grace and break the bread and pass it to the left
and dish up the broiled fish (or pour the wine) and pass it to the right.
And treat each one so tenderly
as though just this morning she or he made the personal effort
to make it back from heaven, or from hell
but certainly from death
to be by our side.
Because if by some miracle (and why not a miracle?)
He did come back
Wouldn’t he want to see us like this?
Wouldn’t it be a miracle to live for just one day
So that if he did, by some amazing feat
come riding into town
He could take a look around and say
“This is what I meant!”
And we could say
it took us a long time…
but we finally figured it out.
Oh, let us live to make it so.
You are the resurrection and the life.”
Yes. We are the people who can make a difference, who can turn Jesus’s message into action. I would like to think that we are all fairly socially-aware people, who do what we can to make the world a better place, but is that enough? I can only speak for myself, but I am well aware that I can be jogged into doing that little bit extra if I am reminded by someone else. It’s not so easy to be your own conscience, and to remember to give that little bit more all the year round. But we can surely try.
I recently came across a beautiful Prayer for the spirit of service. I’d like to share part of it with you, if I may, to remind us of the true spirit of giving:
“Take from us the love of ease and the fear of men, and show us the simple things that we can do to help our neighbours. Brighten the daily round of tasks that we have undertaken and are tempted to neglect; make us faithful to the trust that life has put upon us; keep us steadfast in the humblest duty. Prepare our hearts in sympathy to be partners in suffering with the weak, in eager service with the strong. By thy love restrain our censorious speech and teach us to commend; by thy wisdom enlighten our plans and direct our endeavours for the common weal. ”
At the beginning of this address, I said that after Christmas I am usually quite glad to be getting “back to normal” again. This year, let’s try to go one better. Let us all resolve to give more of ourselves all the year round, not just at Christmastime. It needn’t be something big or difficult but doing a little extra for somebody else on a regular basis could make a huge difference to their lives. Let us be like Howard Thurman’s candles, which “burn all year long.” As Kahlil Gibran wrote: “It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” And the pleasure that can be found in helping someone else is its own reward.
I wish you all a joyous and peaceful Christmas, and a busy, but happy and fruitful, New Year.
Closing Words
Spirit of Life and Love,
May we take the Christmas message
of peace and goodwill to all,
deep into our hearts
and try to make a positive difference in the world.
May we return to our everyday world refreshed,
may we share the love we feel,
may we look out for each other,
and may we keep up our hearts,
now and in the days to come.
Amen
Postlude Stella del Mattino by Ludovico Einaudi