I wonder, children, what your favorite Christmas Carol is? (HANDS UP)

I have been singing & thinking about Rudolph all week. (Are there any Rudolphs in Essendon, I wonder?) What’s Rudolph’s story? Who’d like to tell us? (VOLUNTEER)

Rudolph was a bit different. Made differently. Had this unique characteristic (shining red nose). (I had a pimple that gave me a shining red nose once, but didn’t last.) We’re all a bit like Rudolph. Some of us taller than average, some us thinner than average, some of us have more freckles, some of us smile more often, some of us are better at Art, or Maths, or Music. (While some of us are better at annoying the teacher.)

I know that we’re all different & unique (like Rudolph). I don’t know what characteristics make you unique. BUT I know God has made us all uniquely. That’s a spin out. Someone wrote in the Bible (Psalm 139), “Thank you [God]

for making me so wonderfully complex! . You watched me as I was being formed . in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.”

We’re all a bit unique like Rudolph – and that’s good. Sometimes we might not think it’s so good. What often happens in the playground when someone is a bit different? Have you ever seen anyone teased because they were different? (Like Rudolph who was laughed at & called names and not allowed to join in any reindeer games.) Have you ever been teased because you were different? Are there any Rudolphs in Essendon? How much are you like Rudolph? Can you identify with Rudolph I wonder? I can.

Something else about Rudolph which is fascinating. Do you know what fascinates me? (Bit sad.) After one foggy night when Santa asked Rudolph to use his bright nose to guide the sleigh, then everyone loved him. They thought he was special because of what he could do. Do you want the good news or the bad/sad news?

The good news is that we may find the things that are different in us (that sometimes we may be teased for) can be special qualities that are useful and helpful; there are things you are gifted in that others aren’t. That’s good.

The sad news is that all too often children and adults and older people are only loved when they can achieve something useful. Our friends & family & society can tend to love & value us because of what we can do for them. We can become like Rudolph, who wasn’t very high in the reindeer pecking order, until he proved himself worthy. We can try and prove we are worthy of other people’s love. We can think ‘If my nose glows brightly enough in the dark’ we will be accepted and loved.

Our world revolves around performance – how fast we can run, what marks we can get, what degrees we can collect, what awards we receive, how much work we can do, how much money we can earn OR how much our children can achieve (You probably know people who get their identity through their kids, so poor kids if they don’t achieve like their parents had hoped.) Our athletic ability, our unique gifts, the families we belong to, the study or work we do, are only part of who we are, and not the main ingredient of what makes for loving relationships.

Some more good news, is that we are loved by God not because of what we achieve, earn or do; but because of who we are as made by God. Rudolph was loved because of what he could achieve (like us often). But God loves us not because of what we achieve, in fact despite of some of the bad things we do or think or say. That is why the angel said to Joseph, (Matthew1) “Don’t freak. Mary will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” It was like what an earlier writer had said, “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel (meaning, God is with us).”

PRAYER

Darren Cronshaw Aberfeldie Baptist Church