At this time of year we all like the familiar, warm feeling of Christmas - carol singers with candles, mince pies and mulled wine, nine lessons and carols, a Christmas tree with baubles and tinsel and enticing presents beneath. Somehow it is cozy and safe, reminding us of childhood excitement, snowmen and sledges, followed by hot chocolate.
If only that were the message of Christianity at Christmas!
I'm all for the things above - a time to pause from the bustle of life and re-connect with family and give gifts. But actually I'm very glad that this is not the message of Christianity! For it is also somehow irrelevant to the rather harsher realities of most of life, which includes financial struggles, unemployment, rejections, broken relationships and anxiety. If Christianity has anything useful to offer, it must be relevant to real life.
Perhaps that is why the Christian celebration of Christmas is about God coming into the world as a baby, born in poverty in a muddy shed, welcomed by a few and ignored by the majority, and the family's flight as refugees into exile as the despot ruler massacred children in an attempt to kill the baby.*
Umm, not much tinsel there ... and yet the Love of God revealed.
I hope you have a loving, safe and peaceful Christmas.
* You can read about it yourself in the Bible, in Matthew Chapter 2
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