King Charles spoke of faith, fellowship and compassion in his second Christmas message. In his message he spoke about care for others, linking this to the provision of the stable in Bethlehem and Jesus's own acts of service, care for creation as the angel appeared to those who were close to nature, and universal values including the golden rule and creation care.
He said that Christmas is a time to “think … of those whose work of caring for others continues, even on this special day” and thanked the “selfless army of people” in this country who are volunteers, serving “their communities in so many ways and with such distinction”.
The “care and compassion we show to others”, he said, “is one of the themes of the Christmas story, especially when Mary and Joseph were offered shelter in their hour of need by strangers, as they waited for Jesus to be born”.
The stable in Bethlehem is where the shepherds find the baby Jesus (Luke 2.15-21). As we know, the holy family found their way to the stable after experiencing rejection on their arrival in Bethlehem. Yet, all it took, whether in the midst of apathy or overcrowding, was for one person to respond, even reluctantly, for the miracle of Jesus’ birth to occur in the way that is told to us in the Gospels. All it took was for one person to respond. We are fortunate in this country, as King Charles noted, to have many volunteers in many communities. Let us continue to offer our time in our community in support of those in need.
Next, the King spoke about the shepherds to whom the angels brought the message of hope that first Christmas night. He suggested that they were people who lived simply amongst others of God's creatures and that it was those close to nature who were privileged that night.
Around the mid-point of his life, my father switched careers from community work to retrain as a landscape gardener. We moved from the city of Oxford to a village in Somerset and, although the change was to some extent forced on him and caused financial difficulties for us as a family, he came to greatly appreciate the enhanced sense of being in nature and of living closer to the natural rhythms of the seasons and the circle of life. The well-known verse from Dorothy Frances Gurney’s poem ‘God’s Garden’ – “The kiss of the sun for pardon, / The song of the birds for mirth,– / One is nearer God’s heart in a garden / Than anywhere else on earth” - though somewhat sentimental, nevertheless touches on a truth.
My former colleague at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Revd Sally Hitchiner, was particularly struck by this aspect of the King's Christmas speech. She posted that, in all her years of preaching on them and hearing others preach about them, they have always spoken about either as simple working folk or those who were excluded from hoity-toity religious circles, not as those who were close to nature. She wrote therefore of being struck by the positive framework of the King and his natural theology.
King Charles spoke about how, because out of God's providence we are blessed with much, it is incumbent on us to use this wisely by caring for the Earth we have been given. He said that, "During my lifetime I have been so pleased to see a growing awareness of how we must protect the Earth and our natural world as the one home which we all share” and do so for the sake of our children's children. He finds great inspiration now from the way so many people recognise this and, as we reflect on the Shepherd’s being the first to hear the good news, can also be inspired to care more deeply for our environment knowing that, like them, we will encounter God there.
The King ended by speaking of his two themes – care for others and care for the world - as universal values. He said that to honour the whole of creation as a manifestation of the divine is a belief shared by all religions and "To care for this creation is a responsibility owned by people of all faiths and of none”. He also quoted the words of Jesus - 'Do to others as you would have them do to you' – saying that, at a time of increasingly tragic conflict around the World, these seem more than ever relevant. "Such values,” he noted, are also universal, “drawing together our Abrahamic family of religions, and other belief systems, across the Commonwealth and wider world”. They are, after all, what is known as the Golden Rule, a teaching found in all religions.
He could have referenced this from the Nativity story, too, as Jesus’ birth was also marked by a visit from wise astrologers of other faiths; Zoroastrian priests (the magi), and foreign kings. In our reading today, we can note the naming of Jesus, whose name, given by God through angels, derives from Hebrew roots meaning “the Lord is salvation.” In his incarnation, Jesus unites the divine and the human making God one of us and ourselves one with God. In this way, he shows that God is with all and for all.
In our Gospel reading, we hear of Mary pondering all the things that happened at the birth of Jesus in her heart and of the shepherds sharing the good news of Jesus’ birth with others. It is clear from his Christmas message, that King Charles has also pondered the events of the nativity long and hard and, in his Christmas message, has shared the good news found there with others too. This Christmas, we would do well to do the same.
Bringing all the themes of his Christmas message together, King Charles concluded: "my heart and my thanks go to all who are serving one another; all who are caring for our common home; and all who see and seek the good of others, not least the friend we do not yet know. In this way, we bring out the best in ourselves. I wish you a Christmas of 'peace on Earth and goodwill to all', today and always." May we know the same in our lives this Christmastide and in the year to come. Amen.
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The Holmes Brothers - Amazing Grace.
