Christmas

What is Christmas to you? Does it have the deeper meaning that goes beyond the white fur lined red suit worn by a cheery, red faced,white bearded portly man? I hope so. This post was started on Christmas day, and already I have seen Christmas in action.

While out at the local cemetery to think and reflect, I couldn’t help but notice the number of people coming out of cars into the cold foggy morning air to do the same. It’s a time to look back on our loved ones who are not here now to enjoy this happy time. For some, this is a very sad time, and a ‘Happy Christmas’ is nowhere to be heard. But among the still grieving, there were the children running around in the happy spirit of the day, grasping one of their gifts that appeared under the tree earlier this morning. Children have a very simple view of Christmas, and at times I envy them.

As I drove home, there was the well dressed teenager, very carefully carrying a few gifts in his arms, looking worried that he might drop one. Let me speculate. He was too young to be married, and too old to be the simple child we spoke about earlier. My thinking is that he was on his way to the love of his young life, bearing presents that he hopes she will like. To top his appearance off (literally) he was sporting a white fur trimmed red hat with a white bauble on top. He didn’t care who saw him, because his mind (and possibly heart) was already taken elsewhere with thoughts of love. A carer was making her way from a house where she would have tended to the needs of someone who would not get through the day without her. There was a group of working men in and around a big hole in the ground, I suspect trying to fix a problem which affected the community. And then small groups of families walking to meet, greet, and give gifts to their own, perhaps to enjoy Christmas dinner.

A happy tradition carried on in my daughters, is the Christmas family dinner where mums, dads, children, grandparents and friends are all invited to sit round the big table to enjoy the food lovingly prepared for this particular occasion. When the normal seating is all used, out come the stools and the odd chairs, so that everyone is included and welcome. This doesn’t happen at any other time of year, so everybody joins in the fun, wearing those funny hats from the Christmas cracker and telling the jokes printed on the slip of paper for your enjoyment. If you are fortunate, you might even get a little plastic toy or puzzle to show around.

Eventually, there comes the time to push back from the table having eaten more than you should have, and after loosening your now too tight belt a few notches for comfort, the clearing up begins. The presents stacked under the tree and wrapped so carefully, are ripped open to reveal the needed, wanted, and funny gifts we love. There is coloured wrapping paper strewn everywhere that also needs to be gathered up by the host and/or hostess. After weeks of preparation and planning this lovely slap up meal, it is over so quickly for another year. Chances are we'll do it all again, because it brings us closer together!

It’s a good idea to use the ‘why’ question often asked by young children who want to understand something. They keep on asking ‘why’ until they are satisfied, and only then do they stop asking. Why the gifts? Why sing those same Carols every year? Why the decorated tree? Why the celebration? Why santa, and where does he fit in? Why was all this started in the first place? Asking the searching ‘why’ questions always brings you back to the baby Jesus born into the poverty of an occupied land. To many, His chances of survival would seem slim, but survive He did, and more than that! This helpless baby born to poor parents would grow up into a miracle working, death defying, life changing Saviour. In the space of some 33 years this Jesus would do no wrong, but ironically be murdered in cold blood for His selfless, pure life. But the story doesn’t end there. The God-man defeated death, rose from the grave, and only after being seen by multitudes of people, went back to God His Father where He is now interceding on our behalf. This life is well documented in the Gospels and secular writings so there is no doubt in the sure foundation of our salvation.

Let’s live as though every day is Christmas Day!

Natural?

News outlets like to carry stories that a same sex ‘couple’ have had a baby. Both are quoted as being ‘naturally excited’ after successful IVF treatment. The ‘couple’ may be excited, but no one can say the process is natural. They are not the first to go through this process, and certainly will not be the last. This usually only becomes newsworthy because of the celebrity status of the people involved making some ‘newsy’ contribution on a slow day.

Was intimacy or physical love involved? No. Instead the process will have been intrusive, very unnatural, and certainly not born out of any physical union. Will the ‘father’ or ‘mother’ (if known) be involved in the child’s life? No. Certainly not a desirable outcome.

I understand that this kind of ‘operation’ is becoming more frequent, but by no stretch of the imagination can it be called, natural. We have become so PC that we cannot express an opinion contrary to their decision. After all, they have every right in the law of the land to use this procedure to allow a baby to be born. We do it with normal couples, so why not everyone and anyone? Does our society condone this just because the process is possible, although abnormal? Probably. But does that make it right, or moral, or ethical? No.

The baby, and growing child, will lack either a mum or a dad in their young formative life, and we have been deceived into thinking that children are equally secure and stable in any loving relationship, whether heterosexual, lesbian, or homosexual. We, as a society and community, are on the cusp of finding out the truth of this theory. I for one am glad that I will not be around to see the consequences, but my heart aches for my children and grandchildren. What has my generation done in haste that must be repented at leisure??

Too Late?

I think a confession is needed, and I must come clean. If I don’t do it now, I might never be able to muster the courage again. As an explanation, this ‘thing’ didn’t happen to me overnight. It took ages for me to be aware of my failing, and even then only slowly. I called it a failing, but is it? Really??

The human body grows quite slowly compared to other species on our planet. As each phase comes and is replaced by the next one, we accept the changes as necessary. We dare not go into our teen years looking and thinking like a toddler. And similarly, our ageing bodies are not as strong and cannot react the way we did in mid life. By the time we are in the ‘end of life’ phase, we do not even remotely resemble our baby self. This is progress. It’s life, and we embrace it.

Why do I not embrace the changing faith years in the same way? The baby and toddler years when proper teaching was made in simple forms, followed by the teen years when the meat of the word was essential, and outreach performed with ease. The mid life years brought a crisis of the questioning heart, not to doubt but to learn because we never want to stop growing. By the time we reach the ‘end of faith’ years, we try to grasp at the younger times when everything was simpler and easier. Salvation was contagious and churches were full with people being reborn into the Kingdom almost without effort. Simply put, I want to go back.

Here’s the problem with my analogy. Everyone born starts at the same place in growth and progress, right through to our end of life phase. Then the cycle always restarts without change and growth is guaranteed. However, the faith years are not treated in the same way. Our ‘progressive’ church leaders seem to want our successive years of growth to be constant and without repeat. Or to put it another way, each generation at their faith birth, should start where the previous generation’s end of faith years left off. Using this as a model of church growth is it any wonder that we fall short? That kind of growth cannot be sustained in either the human being, or the faith model.

My confession about being too late is this: Do I keep running on the treadmill of artificial church growth, or should I let my faith journey be what it is supposed to be at each stage? If I stay on the treadmill, the progressives will applaud, but will it grow my faith or that of my church? On the other hand if I get off the spinning wheel I will be branded as a dinosaur and no one wants that. What do you think? Is it too late to stop the treadmill and get off? At least that would be good for my blood pressure. Perhaps it might not be a bad thing to be a dinosaur after all! Another, and better question is: Can, or should we even try, to reinvent the gospel or is it fine the way it was originally given for all ages and for all time in the Bible?

One of the dictionary definitions of ‘dinosaur’ is “a person or thing that is outdated or has become obsolete because of failure to adapt to changing circumstances.”

Festive Cheer?

It’s that time of year again, so take a deep breath and get right in among it! There’s the gift of giving, scented candles, decorated trees inside and outside the house, the laughter of children, the mystery associated with Santa, a table set for a lavish family dinner and prepared so well by a wife or mum, carol singers, Christmas jumpers, the church services, and the list could go on. These are just some of the things that bring happiness for so many, both young and old.

Looking at the day from another angle, these are exactly the same things that bring sadness to the hearts of many in our nation. For some, the season has lost some of its magic and sentiment. It was lost with the loss of a loved one. Perhaps a parent, spouse, sibling, or a favourite aunt or uncle. Those things that once brought a smile, now bring a tear.

However, for the believer, this has little to do with the list of activities mentioned before. Behind all of the glitter lies the baby Jesus who really is the reason for the season, no matter what the commercial world tells us. Because of that, and only that, the believer can lift their face to the heavens and say, “thank you Jesus” for being the baby in the manger who became our Saviour on the cross. From the Christmas story to the resurrection. Whether we show a smile, or shed a tear during this Holy season, we each recognise the value of the baby on that very special day.

All Done!

When our children were very young, after clearing their plate of dinner, they would lift both hands and say with a look of pride and achievement, “all done”. Christmas Day is all over, and in a way it is all done, but does it have to be? The turkey is almost finished and you are on to leftovers, wrapping paper is in the bin, the tree starts to look a little lost in the room, the carols don’t have the same ring now, and having eaten much more than you should, some plain, ordinary food is now needed. Christmas feels “all done”.

From early December, people were noticeable brighter, happier, and more likely to stop and chat than before. There is the anticipation of Christmas in almost every head whether a believer or not. Let’s face it we all like the feeling that Christmas brings, even if some do not accept the baby in the manger. It is impossible to miss the fact that something big is going to happen, and it means a lot to most people, if not everyone.

For the believer, Christmas is NOT a one day event celebrated once a year. It is, or should be, a way of living every day. The baby grew up, became a man, and was killed for doing good at the hands of a baying mob of his own people. He was unfairly and unjustly treated, and murdered. If the story stopped there we have no hope, and the baby at Christmas would be just like any other baby born at that time. But the story doesn’t stop there, this same baby who grew up, destroyed death, folded the grave clothes neatly, and left the tomb. From being very dead, to being very alive, He became our Saviour.

This makes us want to live like every day is Christmas, giving us a hope for the future and a spring in our step for all to see. So why did the baby come in the first place? One of the reasons is all wrapped up in Jesus’ words in John 10:10: I came to give life—life that is full and good. So, let’s make every day of the year our very own Christmas celebration.