Locum Vicar’s Christmas letter 2017
I know it is a cliché, but Christmas seems to roll around more quickly each year. Perhaps age has something to do with it, or the fact that our lives are so busy that we feel this way. Christmas is also so familiar to us that it hard to imagine our world without it, even though the religious observance in many parts of the Western world appears on the decline. Last Sunday evening the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols was a welcome pause for all who came, to rekindle the true meaning of Christmas and void of the sentimentality and commercialization so evident on TV and radio at this time.
Christmas as we know it began with the appropriation of a 3rd century pagan mid-winter solstice festival celebrating “the sun”, whereas the Christian celebration is of “the son”. This suggest that perhaps we should not be too surprised that now we see other philosophies or religious expressions of the Christmas season. In our postmodern and secular society, the Christian celebration of Christmas is not the only way our society celebrates the season.
In fact, we must jostle for a place to be heard at times alongside the worship of the commercial gurus, the celebrities of the day, sport, family and in Australia the Boxing Day Test and the holidays to follow. In many parts of Europe and in some Orthodox traditions the twelve days of Christmas are observed ending with the three wise men visiting the Christ Child on the 6th January the Feast of the Epiphany. They acknowledge him as the promised Messiah, as foretold by the prophets. I think it is sad that we cram Christmas into one day here in Australia and do not appreciate that Christmas has a deeper meaning than family and gift giving.
Christians at Christmas time do not just commemorate an historical event but rather an eternal life changing mystery. In the birth of the Christ Child God enters the fullness of human life and calls us to a new way of being human. Humanity that is generous, open, hospitable, forgiving and offered liberation from the shackles of sin and brokenness. The child who was born for our redemption continues to challenge those who seek naked political power, exploit or abuse their neighbour and reject the call to become God bearers.
At Christmas we pray that the light of Christ will shine into the dark places of our troubled and broken world and in our own lives, homes, city and nation.
Blessings and peace to all for this Christmas. Ray