Dear Brothers and sisters
I let out an audible groan. I had been waiting to watch a video on my laptop, and was sitting through the obligatory advert before it started. It was the first Christmas advert I’d seen this year – for a supermarket chain and starring the singer, Michael Bublé.
“It’s barely the end of October…” I mumbled to myself, anticipating with dread the next two months and the unavoidable deluge of loud commercial advertising, pushing us to buy all manner of gadgets, food, gifts, and trinkets that we can barely afford in time for Christmas.
“Even the song he sings at the end [walking in a winter wonderland] has nothing really to do with the meaning of Christmas…”, I continued chuntering. I feel like I’m turning into a grumpy old man, bemoaning the modern over-commercialization of Christmas.
Many Christians understandably do not subscribe to all that western society has caused Christmas to become. Apart from the cynical profit motive of big business, there are plausible arguments about many Christmas traditions not being rooted in Christianity at all, bearing no relevance to the birth of Jesus, and certainly don’t travel well… Santa Claus, reindeer, decorated trees etc. I remember as a child witnessing comical appropriations of western symbols of Christmas that were baffling to me… the vision of a thin African man wearing ill-fitting red overalls and a wooly hat in scorching summer weather in a Zimbabwean shopping centre, evidently uncomfortable under the scratchy fake white beard will never leave my mind. These things held no meaning for me.
By contrast, the world’s need for relief from wars, conflict, hunger, poverty, inequality and injustice transcends culture. Therefore, Jesus coming into the world, bringing hope of peace, restoration and the promise of an eternal kingdom filled with God’s love and abundance, is good news for all humanity – and this IS worth celebrating. No wonder Isaiah wrote of the impact of the coming Messiah, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2 NIV), and in the well-known, glowingly-hopeful terms later in the same chapter.. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end” (6-7).
Christmas is a unique opportunity for Christians to share with others the good news of Christ. This is one of few times (along with Easter), where the general public actually have a level of awareness about Jesus and, therefore, the usual barriers to conversation are somewhat lowered. Schools hold Nativity plays, some shops put on displays depicting various scenes from the story of the birth of Jesus. Let us not pass up this opportunity to talk about him.
Our church recognizes the need to be more outward looking in order to reach more people with the Gospel. To completely disengage, or even to be openly hostile towards Christmas – I believe that such approaches can send mixed messages about our identity as Christians to those who may not know our unique history. Why not instead take a leaf from Paul’s approach with the people of Athens (Acts 17), when he used their background of idol worship and an inscription on an altar “to an unknown God” to bring them the Gospel of the true God? He became, as he put it in one of his letters, “all things to all people…for the sake of the Gospel” (Romans 9:22-23).
Rather than join the pursuit of the next shiny toy or expensive gadget to get as Christmas presents, let us be generous instead with our lives – share time and meals together. Let’s share our unique, personal stories of how our faith in Jesus has shaped our lives.
Rather than endless debate about the factual correctness or otherwise of the said birthday of Jesus, let’s instead celebrate the fact that he WAS born, lived as a human and thus understands our humanity and our struggles.
Rather than (like grumpy me) complain about the ubiquitous bad Christmas music, why not instead explore, listen to and sing from the extensive canon of beautiful and theologically sound Christmas songs that have been written through the ages, such as Isaac Watts’ “Joy to the World” or Adolphe Adam’s “O, Holy Night”, to name but a few.
However you choose to spend the time leading up to and during Christmas, I hope you take the time to thank God for his great gift – Jesus Christ – not just for the tiny baby in the manger, but for the man he became, the promised Saviour and Messiah that he was from the foundation of the world – the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the only hope for humanity’s future.
Jesus is the Reason for the Season!
James Lambu
Chair of the Board – GCI UK and Ireland