Cramming Christ In Christmas

I was watching a bit of Canada AM last Wednesday morning and they had a feature on Children’s books for Christmas. They talked on about a whole bunch of different books. The Grinch is most definitely a favourite but there were others like the Polar Express and a few I had never heard of.

Then, at the very end of the feature, the lady who was the guest and who had brought the various books in to show, in what almost sounded like an afterthought, says, “And then of course there is the traditional Christmas story”, as she holds up a book with the Nativity scene on the cover.

To this, Beverly Thompson, the host of the show says, “Yes, how do you cram that story in with all of the others.”

And there it was! I know she never paused to choose her words thoughtfully. She just kind of blurted it out. And maybe that’s why she spoke the unabashed truth so unashamedly. Is our present culture keeping Christ in Christmas? You bet we are! Yep, He is there alright. No doubt about it. No, He’s not obvious at all, mixed in like an onion in a jar of olives, but He’s got to be there somewhere. You shouldn’t expect Him to be easy to spot behind all of that stuff. You’ll have to look pretty hard to see past the big fat Santa and fight off the distraction of flying reindeer and dancing sugar plums but if you look hard enough, you might just see Him because He most definitely has a place. We’re not always sure where that place is but you might want to check to see if He is sitting on a shelf somewhere perhaps, because He most definitely has a place and we’re determined to keep Him in it.

Good grief, I even saw a comment posted on Facebook by someone who was saying how Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Santa. Yep, Christ is there, somewhere, but most of our children growing up will never notice Him. I hope we will do our part to make sure that some really do.

The Bethlehem Massacre

Everyone has heard the news. Most have heard it over and over again. Last Friday, a twenty year old man shot and killed his mother in her bed in Newtown, Connecticut, then got in a car, drove a short distance, walked into Sandy Hook Elementary with an assault rifle and shot dead twenty little children, along with six adult staff members, then took his own life.  

Amidst all of the shock and grief being experienced and broadcast all over the world, the whole episode is made even more excruciating by the fact that this is all taking place at Christmas time. So all of the grief and horror ends up on display, juxtaposed the wonderful message that the Prince of Peace has come.   

For most people this is all just too much. But as our society fails in its struggle to reconcile these two competing realities, it is really nothing new. As horrible as this tragedy is, and it is that beyond measure for the families of those children, it is not something that is not addressed by the biblical narrative.   

The gospel of Matthew tells us that soon after the birth of Christ (one could even say in response to the birth of Christ!) a massacre of innocent children took place at the hands of a crazed king.

Matt 2:16-18

“When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’ ”

So, right here in the biblical record we have the great proclamation and arrival of the Messiah followed almost immediately, speaking chronologically, by the mass murder of innocents. We have no way of knowing how many children were actually killed in Bethlehem by Herod’s violent rampage, but we know that one is one too many.

But rather than negate the message of the Messiah, these realities only serve to make our need for Him more obvious. One of the key reasons we are so scandalized by these more recent events is because we want to believe as a society that we are beyond these things. We have convinced ourselves, against all evidence to the contrary, that we are getting better and better. We see ourselves as being so sophisticated and so intelligent. And those are the same reasons we don’t think we need God anymore. But the reality is that we need God just as much as we ever did if not more. Because the simple truth is that we don’t have the answers even though we want to think we do. We are not getting better and better. In spite of our vast accumulation of collective knowledge and all of our technological wizardry, our social problems are in fact compounding. And the farther we get away from the message of Christ, the more we will see just how acute and chronic our need really is as the whole situation continues to escalate.  

So, as everyone continues to scratch their heads and wonder how this could ever happen, maybe more of us will wake up to the realization that we are not nearly all we like to think we are, and that we really DO need a Saviour, if for no other reason than to save us from ourselves.

Watch for it!!!

20/01/2013

  

 

 

 

Connecting

It’s been a long time in the works. It was conceived of last Spring, but this past Sunday saw a ‘soft launch’ of our new café. Anyone who knows me knows how much I enjoy food, and when you can connect food with family, the result is exponential, over the moon. What a joy it was to finally be able to start providing this kind of service in that kind of atmosphere. There was a LOT of work that went into making it happen, and there will continue to be much labour of love to see it continue, but it is so worth the effort.

 

The pace of our lives and the hectic nature of our schedules as individual families has only increased again and again over the past decades. Never before has the need been greater for us to be strategic, intentional and selective in terms of our activities and what we can realistically expect of people. We are hoping to see God use this new exciting ministry dynamic to provide much in the way of meaningful interactive time spent together, on Sundays at least.

There is just something about gathering around a table, enjoying good food and good conversation. There was no shortage of laughter and love expressed and I think it will prove to be one of the best things we’ve ever done. A great big thank you goes out to all those who had a part in making it happen and all who will be blessed by it for years to come.

I’m looking forward already to this coming Sunday. Hope I see you there.