You probably all know what the Christingle means by now – the different things all represent something – the orange of course represents the world, the red ribbon reminds us of the blood of Jesus, who loves us enough that he was prepared to die for us, before rising to life again.
The 4 sticks represent the 4 corners of the earth as well as the 4 seasons of the year – Spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the sweets or nuts on the ends of the sticks represent the fruits of the earth – all of the good things we have. And then there is of course the candle representing Jesus, who died for us, but who rose from the dead, and who is a light shining even into the darkest moments of our lives.
But today I want to focus on the world (represented by ??? the orange). If we look around the world today, we see all kinds of different people, people of different personalities, different faiths, different colours of skin, different abilities, and so on. We live as a unique part of God’s creation – all of us are special, and there is not one of us that is absolutely the same as someone else.
And throughout the world today those things cause many problems because we’re not good at dealing with differences. All of us have probably at some time argued with someone about something – I, for example, have lost count of the number of times I have had to people they’re wrong when they have suggested that Cardiff Blues are not the best rugby team in the world when they clearly are !!!
But more seriously – people sadly have caused fights, even fought wars, because they don’t like what someone else believes. In that reading that we’ve just heard though, Jesus reminds us of something very important – he said, ‘You are the light of the world’.
This means that he is relying on us to do the right things in the world today – to treat others as we hope to be treated ourselves, to try and love people even when they’re not very nice to us, which is just what Jesus did with all the people who hurt him.
He said that our light couldn’t be hidden, and that we are to shine as lights in the world to other people. If we do good things we may be noticed by others, and we will certainly be noticed by God – we can’t hide our light from him, but there’s a reverse to that in that if we can’t hide the good things we do, then neither can we hide the bad things we do !
When we think about light and darkness, we often think of light being good, and dark being bad – and Jesus is calling us to be light, in other words, good ! We’re in the process of preparing for Christmas – letters to Father Christmas have probably been written, cards have been given and received, shopping has been done, or is still being done, and to be honest things can get a little bit busy !!
But in the middle of all of this rush, Jesus is asking us to take a look at him – the whole reason for the Christmas season in the first place, as we celebrate his birth. And he’s asking us to look at how he treated people around him – he stood up for the people who were different, he tried to help those who needed help, he even cared for and prayed for those people who hurt him…
As we approach Christmas, we can do no greater thing for Jesus than to remember that we’re all different because we’ve been created differently, but that everyone of us is special and loved, because everyone of us is special to and loved by Jesus…
As we look around at different people, remember Jesus loves every one of them, just as he loves every one of us…
The red ribbon around the Christingle reminds us, as I mentioned earlier, of the blood of Jesus, but that ribbon is tied around the whole of the world, reminding us of the loving arms of Jesus which are wrapped around every one of us and the whole world.
Christmas is a great time for giving and receiving gifts – but there is no greater gift that we can ever have than love – the love perhaps of a family member or friend, and the love of Jesus, and there is no greater gift that we can ever give than to love the people around us just as Jesus loves them. AMEN
The 4 sticks represent the 4 corners of the earth as well as the 4 seasons of the year – Spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the sweets or nuts on the ends of the sticks represent the fruits of the earth – all of the good things we have. And then there is of course the candle representing Jesus, who died for us, but who rose from the dead, and who is a light shining even into the darkest moments of our lives.
But today I want to focus on the world (represented by ??? the orange). If we look around the world today, we see all kinds of different people, people of different personalities, different faiths, different colours of skin, different abilities, and so on. We live as a unique part of God’s creation – all of us are special, and there is not one of us that is absolutely the same as someone else.
And throughout the world today those things cause many problems because we’re not good at dealing with differences. All of us have probably at some time argued with someone about something – I, for example, have lost count of the number of times I have had to people they’re wrong when they have suggested that Cardiff Blues are not the best rugby team in the world when they clearly are !!!
But more seriously – people sadly have caused fights, even fought wars, because they don’t like what someone else believes. In that reading that we’ve just heard though, Jesus reminds us of something very important – he said, ‘You are the light of the world’.
This means that he is relying on us to do the right things in the world today – to treat others as we hope to be treated ourselves, to try and love people even when they’re not very nice to us, which is just what Jesus did with all the people who hurt him.
He said that our light couldn’t be hidden, and that we are to shine as lights in the world to other people. If we do good things we may be noticed by others, and we will certainly be noticed by God – we can’t hide our light from him, but there’s a reverse to that in that if we can’t hide the good things we do, then neither can we hide the bad things we do !
When we think about light and darkness, we often think of light being good, and dark being bad – and Jesus is calling us to be light, in other words, good ! We’re in the process of preparing for Christmas – letters to Father Christmas have probably been written, cards have been given and received, shopping has been done, or is still being done, and to be honest things can get a little bit busy !!
But in the middle of all of this rush, Jesus is asking us to take a look at him – the whole reason for the Christmas season in the first place, as we celebrate his birth. And he’s asking us to look at how he treated people around him – he stood up for the people who were different, he tried to help those who needed help, he even cared for and prayed for those people who hurt him…
As we approach Christmas, we can do no greater thing for Jesus than to remember that we’re all different because we’ve been created differently, but that everyone of us is special and loved, because everyone of us is special to and loved by Jesus…
As we look around at different people, remember Jesus loves every one of them, just as he loves every one of us…
The red ribbon around the Christingle reminds us, as I mentioned earlier, of the blood of Jesus, but that ribbon is tied around the whole of the world, reminding us of the loving arms of Jesus which are wrapped around every one of us and the whole world.
Christmas is a great time for giving and receiving gifts – but there is no greater gift that we can ever have than love – the love perhaps of a family member or friend, and the love of Jesus, and there is no greater gift that we can ever give than to love the people around us just as Jesus loves them. AMEN
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