December 2009

There is a story of a church carol service where the misprinted first line of the carol read 'Away with the Manger.' Sadly a growing lobby want to do just that and silence the Christmas message: Keep the tinsel and the frills but throw out the baby. What I cannot quite understand is why people feel such a need unless there is something here they find uncomfortable or wish to silence. Nearly always it is those of no faith and not those of other faiths who shout.

The Christmas story, given a moments thought, doesn't fit the sentimentalised and often stereotyped images. It's about God becoming one of us in order to transform us, coming down in order to lift us up. Here is God embracing poverty, accepting frailty, becoming a refugee, experiencing political repression and eventually dying falsely accused a criminal's death. Into that darkness he brings light and a love that triumphs over evil. He offers us that new way of living. As one writer put it 'With Jesus God became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood.' The question this Christmas is: how are we going to treat the neighbours?

+Alistair