The right choice for Christmas

 

Some of you may have heard before about a book called ‘Run Baby Run’. It is the story of a man called Nicky Cruz who, in the late 50’s and early 60’s became a gang leader in New York. He tells of the time when he first arrived in the City from Puerto Rico – alone and with very little money. 

He wrote ‘Moving on down the street I stopped in front of a Church. A heavy iron gate had been pulled across the front doors and it was fastened with a chain and padlock. I stood in front of the grey building, looking up at the steeple which pointed towards the heavens. The cold stone walls and dark stained glass windows huddled for protection behind the iron fence. The statue of a man with a kind face and sad eyes peered through the locked gate. His arms were outstretched and covered with snow. But he was locked in, and I was locked out…’ 

For some people there is a feeling that God is someone or something, unreachable, unapproachable… 

But Christmas offers us an incredible reminder that God is not this distant being but can be seen in the child born in Bethlehem, the man who didn’t just talk about love, but showed that love in his life - that offered an example of caring for people, of working against injustice and corruption, against inequality. 

In the story from the start there is the statue of Jesus with arms outstretched, but the whole person is locked behind a fence. The outstretched arms of Jesus were the arms on the cross nailed far apart but calling people to him with a radical and embracing welcome. 

Sometimes in the church we can make Jesus seem distant with our words and ceremonies, but let’s return to the scene in Bethlehem- the simple scene of a child born in difficult circumstances, a child born into a world of turmoil in many ways, born in an occupied land, but born to invite everyone into an eternal world of peace… 

Let’s return also to the scene after the resurrection of Jesus as he meets his disciples on a beach for breakfast and assures them of an everlasting peace… 

This Christmas , as with so many before, is difficult in the Holy Land. With scenes we witness on television of destruction and war, of hatred and fear, we think of the Christians in the Holy Land praying and working for peace and in them we find hope. The Bible tells us that a light shines in the darkness and that no darkness can ever extinguish the light. The light is Jesus and there is no darkness that can ever destroy Him. 

We will all approach Christmas with different emotions - like Scrooge in a Christmas Carol we might think of Christmases past, of the present and of the future. 

We will at this time of year be drawn to reflect on all kinds of different things, but whether it is the past, the present or the future, we are again called to think of the simple invitation of Jesus to allow him to be part of our lives, not as a statue hidden behind a locked gate, not as a baby born in Bethlehem or a man executed on the cross, or even as the resurrected Jesus on the beach, but as a Saviour who can change us, guide us, help us to know we are loved, we are special. And help us to know that we make a difference today, wherever we are and whoever we are… 

Christmas is often portrayed with pretty scenes of peace and joy, but that isn’t the world Jesus stepped into and it isn’t the world today, but as He did then, Jesus has come bringing peace and love and hope and joy…

Because, amidst all of the problems we face or others have faced Jesus brings an incredible message of good news of great joy… the greatest Christmas gift of all…

There’s a story about a boy who had recently passed his driving test and decided to ask his father if there was any chance of him getting a car for Christmas, which was yet some months away.

'Okay.' said his father 'I tell you what I'll do. If you can get your 'A' level grades up to 'A's and 'B's, study your bible and get your hair cut, I'll consider the matter very seriously.'

A couple of months later the boy went back to his father who said 'I'm really impressed by your commitment to your studies. Your grades are excellent and the work you have put into your bible studies is very encouraging. However, I have to say I'm very disappointed that you haven't had your hair cut yet.

But this was a smart young man who was never lost for an answer. 'Look dad, in the course of my bible studies I've noticed in the illustrations that Moses, John the Baptist, Samson and even Jesus had long hair.' 'Yes. I'm aware of that...' replied his father '... but did you also notice they walked wherever they went?'

We have been given a gift with no conditions… The future with Jesus may be unpredictable, we may have uncertain times, it may have sadness, it may have disappointments, as well as hopefully many joys, but Jesus is  God of the past, the present and the future, and whatever it is that we have to face in our lives, Jesus has been there, is there, and will be there.

The great joy of first Christmas is that God was coming into the world not for the first time, but in the most visible way – and that demands a response. 

Everyone who sees a baby responds in some way, whether it’s good or bad; everyone who sees a child cleverly talking to adults in the way Jesus did in the Temple thinks something about that child. Everyone who sees an adult taking a stand on behalf of love or justice, or who sees an adult risking all for someone else will inevitably respond. Everyone who sees a king has some opinion or not on the validity of that king’s throne…

As we think of Jesus his love for us demands a response – one of the loveliest carols sung at Christmas is, ‘In the bleak midwinter’, and the one verse that says,

‘What can I give him, poor as I am ?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;

Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.’

Every one of us at this Christmas time can do that – give our hearts and our lives to Jesus – God who has seen our past, who has been there for us, whether we realised it or not, throughout our lives; God of the present, who is alongside us today, and God of the future, who promises never to leave us.

The novel ‘A Christmas Carol’ finishes with the words of Tiny Tim, ‘God bless Us, Every One!’ – May God indeed bless us… every one, this Christmas time and always ! AMEN