By Julie Guest
St John Anglican Parish
Julie Guest
I wonder what you hope for this Christmas. Whether we are heading home to our whanau or we ourselves are the hosts, all of us have hopes. Maybe it’s that this year the meal will be ready on time, the meat won’t overcook or that there’ll be enough food. Maybe it’s a fervent hope that there will be no arguments, or that the youngest children will get along. If your whanau is giving presents, maybe it’s that you have given the right things. Maybe it’s as simple as the hope that everyone arrives and then return safely.
That list of hopes is anxiety inducing. Our culture drives us into Christmas busyness – but that was never the plan. The irony is that the true message of Christmas is a message of peace, hope, joy and love. We all know that Jesus was born into poverty, in simplicity. The first people who were told about his birth were shepherds, who had the lowest social status-deliberately chosen to be first. All of these facts are signs of the message Jesus came to bring, which is that God’s love extends to everyone.
Because of that there is always hope, no matter how bleak our life seems. But you won’t see that hope unless you take the risk of believing that this Christmas story might be true, and might impact your life. God’s love is always directed to you, but can only touch your life if you are open to receiving it. What do you hope for this Christmas? Could it be that you hope that Jesus loves you?
See: Season messages from Cambridge
By Phil Strong
Senior leader, Zion
Phil Strong
I got accused of stealing Christmas the other day. I was shuffling along the floor of Zion Hub, dragging a fully laden, 2.4 metre Christmas tree across to the other side of the room, when I was apprehended by one of my team. “Oh, look,” they exclaimed, “the Grinch is trying to steal Christmas!”
Funny as it was, and not far from a fair accusation, I’ve since come to the realisation that one simply cannot steal Christmas. Here are several reasons why.
Firstly, joy always trumps a grump. No matter how grizzly or grumpy we try to be, there’s an over-riding power that happiness brings. Try and be grumpy while an infant giggles at something silly. You just can’t do it. In the same way light always trumps darkness, joy always trumps a grump.
Secondly, avoidance is ignorance. If a reindeer has flatulence and you don’t hear it, does that mean it doesn’t exist? Just ask Rudolf, or Dancer, or Blitzen. You don’t see oxygen and yet its power over you presides every moment of the day. Just because you say you don’t believe in the birth of Jesus Christ does not negate the reality of history.
Finally, a gift is given before the recipient is aware. (Think chicken and egg.) God so loved the world that He gave us His Son, Jesus, as a gift to help us find our way back to Him. You can’t un-give Jesus, nor can you return to sender – King Herod couldn’t and neither can you.
So, as you enjoy Christmas, I hope you discover the true reason for the season.
Samuel Pullenger
Ministry Assistant, St John’s Anglican Parish
Samuel Pullenger
Most of us find life much easier, much more comfortable when we live around people who are similar to us. We often make friends around the clubs or hobbies we enjoy because we have something in common. However, as soon as we begin to ask questions about ancestry, life experiences, family life or culture we find differences between us. We are all highly contextualised; we are shaped by our life experience and the people in our lives. Strangely, this “human difference” is not always a boundary to close relationships.
The Biblical story begins with an account of creation over a period of six days. At the end of each day God says, “It is good.” At the end of the sixth day, God looks at all he has created and says, “It is very good”, meaning that God is happy with what he has created. In the next chapter, though, God says there is something “not good” about his creation – the man he has created is alone. So, God creates a woman to be with him. The woman is different to the man, she compliments the man, and he compliments her. Christians believe that human difference is not just a part of life, but something that actually enables us to flourish. At Christmas we are reminded that God became human, not so that we could all become the same, but that as we celebrate each other’s diversity we become united.
I want to encourage us, this Christmas, as we spend time with family and with people who are very different from us – who we disagree with – may we be able to see that other as “good.” May we celebrate the difference and allow it to bring us together.
