Christmastime means different things to different people.\u00a0 To some, it\u2019s precious because the family will all gather together.\u00a0 To others, it\u2019s a fearful prospect because the family will all gather together!\u00a0 Some people rejoice in the nostalgia that surrounds Christmas, and remember especially their own happy childhood times.\u00a0 There\u2019s wonder and joy, feasting and gladness and the giving and receiving of gifts; it is a good season to celebrate with friends and family.\u00a0 Other people\u2019s experience is tinged with sadness as they remember people with whom they no longer share Christmas because of distance, family rift or death.<\/p>\n
Often people see Christmas as \u201cthe season of goodwill\u201d where past hurts are laid aside and estranged people are brought together, hopefully not in a \u201cgrin-and-bear-it\u201d way, but with real forgiveness which buries the past and looks forward to the future.\u00a0 The reason for this is rooted in the story of Jesus, the Christ of Christ-mas.\u00a0 At the most traditional \u201cCarols by Candlelight\u201d services, the Bible readings tell the Bible\u2019s story briefly but well.\u00a0 It begins with the fall of Adam, the rebellious decision of mankind to disobey God and to attempt to manage God\u2019s world with no reference to its maker.\u00a0 The healthy relationship between God and people is destroyed; there is no way that imperfect and finite human beings can ever repair their relationship with God who is infinite and perfect.\u00a0 This is a massive problem.<\/p>\n
Centuries later, the prophet Isaiah picks up the story; he says in 9:2, \u201cThe people walking in darkness have seen a great light.\u201d\u00a0 The people\u2019s sin has led them further and further away from God, and they are in exile, experiencing His judgment, not His favour.\u00a0 There is no way out.\u00a0 Suddenly, a great light appears.\u00a0 And what is that light?\u00a0 Isaiah tells us in 9:6; \u201cTo us a child is born, to us a Son is given \u2026 He will be called \u2026 Prince of Peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
The birth of Jesus that we celebrate at Christmas is the moment when God came to dwell amongst us to bring light into the darkness and to reconcile us to Himself.\u00a0 God, who we have wronged by our pride, has offered to forgive us and make us His beloved children.\u00a0 Some people jump at this chance; they recognise their lives are not perfect, they know they need forgiveness and they embrace Jesus with glad hearts like a shipwrecked sailor grasping at a life-ring.\u00a0 Others are not convinced; the way they see things, they are perfectly good enough for God (if he even exists), so they pay little attention to Jesus, like a shipwrecked sailor hiding from the lifeboat crew as they survey the wreckage of his boat.<\/p>\n
We tend to think Christmas is about presents and time with those we love, but it\u2019s actually about reconciliation and forgiveness.\u00a0 First, it is about God\u2019s reconciliation with and forgiveness of those who have failed to love him.\u00a0 Following on from and flowing out of that, it becomes a season in which people can be reconciled to one another.\u00a0 How does our celebration of Christmas bear witness to either of these things?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Christmastime means different things to different people.\u00a0 To some, it\u2019s precious because the family will all gather together.\u00a0 To others, it\u2019s a fearful prospect because the family will all gather together!\u00a0 Some people rejoice in the nostalgia that surrounds Christmas, and remember especially their own happy childhood times.\u00a0 There\u2019s wonder and joy, feasting and gladness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,34],"tags":[21,39,31,38,50,19,28,37],"class_list":["post-103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cultural-comment","category-family-life","tag-christmas","tag-family","tag-fear","tag-goodwill","tag-gospel","tag-jesus","tag-peace","tag-reconciliation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117,"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}