Tonight, we celebrate God’s coming into this broken world. That’s it. It isn’t a complicated message or, for that matter, a very elaborate proclamation. In the person of Jesus, God took human form and dwelt among us … giving us an insight into the potential of human nature, the possibility of human nobility and the prospect of human holiness. The world was not without point and we were not without a purpose … we could transcend ourselves and experience divinity by embracing the child born in Bethlehem and imitating the life he lived. Jesus would exemplify all that we could become and offered a template for a life pleasing to God that we would also find fulfilling – emptying ourselves of ego and self-interest, we could discover our true selves, determine our calling in life and discern our ultimate goal – union with God our creator. Without the self-revealing of God, we were left with little more than speculation and guesswork about why we are here, how we might organise our interactions, and what we might achieve.
Needless to say, in a secular society which has shamelessly appropriated Christmas without any compulsion to apologise to the church for stealing its holy day in the interests of a holiday, I struggle to understand what it means when everyone at Channel 7 wishes me ‘a very happy Christmas’ or when Coles supermarkets claims to have captured the spirit of Christmas. I’ve no idea what they are talking about or hoping I might experience … because, for the Christian, Christmas is the moment to reflect not only the belief that God is present with us … but the humility with which God came to us and the insight that holiness is found in everyday things.
When, then, differentiates a Christian Christmas? Or are we, the reputed followers of Jesus, like those in our culture who see Christmas as nothing more than a time to party and exchange presents with loved ones – oblivious to the growing obesity crisis that is escalating the prevalence of diabetes and the continuing consumption of the world’s resources by a privileged and protected minority – so that having a merry Christmas is contingent on living in a world that is essentially comfortable and peaceful? But what happens to our merry Christmas if the economy falters, inflation increases and the money runs out or we are confronted by physical pain or face a significant family loss, the weather ruins our homes or livelihoods or evil strikes in the form of extremist violence? Then what? Is it possible to find comfort and peace at Christmas under those circumstances – does our faith make any difference to our outlook? Let me explore this tension with you.
The Bible readings, each in their own way, insist that it is possible to find comfort and joy … that is not fundamentally tied to the events of our life that we cannot influence or to the ebb and flow of world affairs we are powerless to change … as we celebrate Christmas. In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah announces that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
Unexpectedly, he explains, a light has shined on those who are living in the shadow of death. We get the shadow of death part because we have all been confronted with darkness in our lives: accidents, illness, death, hardships, injustices and betrayal. Whatever it is, we’ve all experienced our own form of darkness and, at times, the darkness can overwhelm us and leave us without hope. We wonder whether we can continue; whether there is any point.
Perhaps we don’t really believe Isaiah’s promise of a light shining on our darkness because, from the perspective of an external observer, we don’t act like we have seen it. We either refuse to believe the promise of God to shine light on our darkness or, curiously, we act like those who have pulled down the blinds to keep the light out. In other words, we accept (or are prepared to accept) the so-called ‘realities’ of our lives and our world and say: that is the way it is. We live and we die … and try to overlook the most pressing question: why?
Isaiah proclaims: ‘For a child has been born for us, to us a son is given; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’. These are the kind of titles that despots have applied to themselves throughout recorded history … but Isaiah insists the one who is coming has received them from God. They describe a child who, as an adult, will exercise divine authority to pursue divine intentions; someone who stands over time and against malevolent forces. In essence, to shine light into places of darkness – a metaphor for ignorance, uncertainty, anxiety and fear. The one who is coming, Isaiah announces, is not the possession of a chosen few who can look forward to escaping the evils of this world while the perpetrators of evil remain unchallenged and the victims of their activities persist.
Isaiah speaks of one who will right what is wrong with his world— addressing the causes and sources of hatred, rancour, abuse and intimidation – including its leading individuals and controlling institutions. The one God sends will stand against state sponsored violence, political arrogance, economic oppression and environmental destruction. The One called Mighty God and Prince of Peace will disperse the conditions that make for disharmony and despair. This is why God’s people can rejoice and celebrate – because they stand in solidarity with those the world counts as unimportant. In Isaiah’s prophecy—which are the promises of God—we are given a vision of the very heart of God and God’s vision of the future. This isn’t a God who is indifferent to our suffering and the darkness that oppresses us – a God who thinks we deserve whatever we get. This is a God who longs to end all the terrible wrongs that have corrupted his good world and who is determined to set things right – with our cooperation. If, therefore, we believe in this God and in these promises, we have the basis to experience comfort and peace at Christmas; comfort and peace that is not dependent on the circumstances of life or on world events because we have a hope for the present and expectations for the future.
500 years after Isaiah’s prophecy, a man named Luke, a non-Jewish doctor, was persuaded that Jesus of Nazareth was its fulfilment. He was convinced that in the birth of Jesus, God become human for our sake. He was told that the Lord’s messenger announced to some unremarkable shepherds: ‘I bring you good news of great joy. To you is born this day in Bethlehem a Saviour who is the Messiah, God’s anointed one, the Lord’. The birth of his child heralded the arrival of the promised one who would rescue God’s people and set them free from the darkness that oppressed them. God has returned as promised. This time, however, God’s intervention is not like the rescue of the exiled Israelites from the Egyptians in the Red Sea or as God appeared to the people at Mount Sinai in the desert. This time, God has returned as a vulnerable baby, born of an unmarried young girl of no social standing, with a finance who is without means, far away from their home and families. What is more, this child will be born in a shed.
Luke mentions a ‘manger’ (an animal feeding trough) three times. Why? Here is something we have sentimentalised so thoroughly that I suspect we’ve missed the point. The angels are telling the shepherds to verify their announcement. The unbelievable has just happened, but not as they expected, and they need to know they’ve not been misled. They are invited to engage in what we would call ‘due diligence’. It is unsurprising that the shepherds are sceptical? But they are offered some proof of the legitimacy of what they’ve been told. There are lots of babies wrapped in swaddling clothes but there is only one is lying in a feeding trough for animals. That’s your sign. Check that out. God tends to the smallest details in the midst of ordinary human history to demonstrate the veracity of the announcement to the shepherds. This is how God has chosen to shine divine light in human darkness.
In taking human form, God is telling us we matter. We bear God’s image. Further, creation matters. God is with us. Hear the words and let them resonate. God with us – God with you; God with me. This is not a God who has abandoned us or who is indifferent to the evil that has afflicted us and this world, evil that casts a dark shadow over individuals and institutions. God has come to set us free. But has this message any relevance as we prepare for 2023? Look around, read the news, surf the internet: the world, our world, is in a mess. We don’t seem to have been rescued from anything. Luke and the rest of the biblical writers, along with countless Christians over time and space, would disagree. To be sure, there is much we don’t understand about God’s intentions and I certainly don’t claim to know the mind of God. I will even confess that I find God’s promises sometimes ambiguous and, at other times, incredibly ambitious. But promises rest on the character and conduct of those making them.
Given the state of the world, you might conclude that Jesus is just another absentee landlord and that, in reality, we’ve been left to our own meagre devices to combat evil? In the later chapters of his Gospel and follow up volume, the Acts of the Apostles, Luke explains that Jesus promised to be with his people in the power of the Spirit and called on them to continue his work. His followers are to be for the world, what Jesus was (and is) for them.
As his followers, we are to embody his love and compassion. We are to pray for God’s world and for his kingdom to come on earth as in heaven, precisely because we believe God’s promise to heal and make whole. We are to watch the world and its leaders, and to speak out when we see injustice and tyranny. We are to engage with God’s word and worship regularly to be reminded of God’s presence. We are to be here for each other because we realise that we are all part of God’s family, broken and equally undeserving of God’s love and grace.
Doing these things will open each of us to the Spirit’s presence. And when thathappens, we learn to experience the truth of God’s light shining on our darkness to comfort and console, protect and heal us. None of this makes us personally immune from the evil that afflicts this world. What it does do is give us power to overcome the darkness. This is why we celebrate Christmas. We are not alone. Jesus’ birth is the beginning of the Good News that nothing can prevent God’s promises from being fulfilled, not even the powers of darkness. This is why, and this is how, we can experience comfort and peace each and every Christmas, irrespective of circumstance. It’s because we are people who have the Good News of Jesus Christ, now and for all eternity. For much of the world it’s hidden in plain sight – until we speak and act as Jesus’ voice and hands – and then a little more of the truth is revealed.