In the build-up to Christmas, the shops are starting to fill with decorations and gift ideas. For several months we’ve been planning the various Christmas and carol services, and I am looking forward to getting together with people from around the area at many festive events over this season.
For our family, Christmas will be a bit different this year as our eldest has moved to Australia. When I get back from midnight communion, we’ll be calling her to wish her Happy Christmas, as it will be past 11am in the morning for her.
But for many people, Christmas will be more than different, it will be difficult, if not impossible. Wars continue to escalate around the world, and the impact of climate change is bringing huge suffering. On top of that, the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury over the findings in the Makin report reminds us of the great suffering that can occur when we fail to safeguard the most vulnerable among us.
It was not that different when Jesus was born. There was a military occupation, there was the killing of children, and Jesus’ family were displaced as refugees fleeing to Egypt for safety. In that dark time, fanfares of angels announced the coming of the prince of peace, the saviour who would bring light and hope to the world.
Sending a baby might seem an odd way for God to bring hope to the world, but God isn’t looking for a quick fix (there isn’t one), but something more profound. The heart of the problems we face is in the way that humanity treats one another. My years of leading strategic change management in industry, and now in the church, taught me that you can never force lasting change on anyone.
God knows that too, so he doesn’t force change, but through Jesus sets in motion a long-term strategic plan to show humanity a different way to live. Jesus comes not in force, but humbly and vulnerably. He grows up and starts a movement, a community founded on love and compassion with a mandate to change the world through sharing that love.
Over the centuries there have been many times the church has got things badly wrong, and it still does. But God has continued to work with anyone (whether they are part of the church or not) who wants to be part of that long-term strategic plan to heal our world.
I feel very fortunate to have witnessed many times when lives have been transformed by acts of love and compassion. Not only through things like the foodbank and the many community events that bring people together, but also in the many everyday ways that people in our communities go the extra mile to help others. And these same sorts of acts of kindness go on all over the world.
As we gather at Christmas, we remember the birth of the child who started this peaceful revolution, and we share hope and love to encourage one another. We also recommit ourselves to do our part in joining with God’s long-term plan to transform the world through the love he offers.
Merry Christmas
Rev Barry Jackson