In his first Christmas sermon as Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Steven Croft told the congregation at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve in Sheffield Cathedral that the Christmas story presents a challenge to enter through the narrow, low door of the stable and thus transform the lives of the poor.

Dr Croft relived his first pilgrimage to Bethlehem some years ago when he remembers stooping down to enter through the narrowest of doors to arrive at the exact place of Christ’s birth:” If you would come this holy night and see the Christ child and understand the Christmas story, then you must bow low and stoop to enter in this holy place.
 
“The door to the stable is narrow and small. You must take off your badges of authority and prestige.  You must lay aside your wealth.  You must put to one side this evening your achievements and your qualifications and your sense of your own goodness.”
 
Dr Croft contrasted the biblical accounts of the birth of Jesus and said that the Gospel of Luke, in particular, lays great emphasis on the world’s poor: “Luke’s is a very simple story told for the poor.  It is a story of ordinary people caught up in great events.  It is a story of a journey at a dangerous and inconvenient time.  It is a story of two young people who are homeless and strangers in the city. 
 
“The angels come to the shepherds [who appear only in Luke] who have nothing.  They hear and see their message about Jesus who is saviour, Christ and Lord.  They listen to the heavenly choir and then they run to Bethlehem and stoop low and enter and kneel and see this baby who has been born the Saviour of the World. 
 
The Bishop, who has spent the first few months in his Diocese visiting communities across South Yorkshire and over in the East Riding, has constantly stressed the need for the church to represent the teaching of Jesus in its life today.
 
Emphasising that theme once again as worshippers gathered in the heart of Sheffield, the Bishop explained: “Remember that we are called to care for the poor of our own city:  the homeless; the destitute; the asylum seekers and refugees. We are called to hold in our hearts the poor of the earth:  those whose lives are threatened by climate change and preventable disease; those caught up in war and people movements; those children who will be born this night in poverty and distress.”
 
And he reiterated a previous concern that people had to spend beyond their means just to keep up with society’s expectations: “We are called to hold in our hearts those who continue to struggle in a time of economic hardship:  those who face redundancy and debts too great to manage; those who have lost hope for the future; those tempted to spend beyond their means.”