Every year at this time we are asked to escape from the
tumult of our hearts to put aside our weighty cares, to
leave our wearisome toil to enter for a while into the inner
chamber of our souls to listen to God’s Word. The Word
calling us through the mist of ignorance and apathy to be
silent, to listen to the sound of stillness and to see in
the Child born of Mary, the Word who became flesh.
The busyness is over, the preparations complete and the
world is hushed and we are gathered now to share in the real
meaning of Christmas. We are invited through our gospel
reading to enter into those well known but difficult words
in the Prologue of John. There’s no mention of Mary or
Joseph, he doesn’t refer to Bethlehem, shepherds, or
stables; there’s no Nativity story that so many young
children act out each year and captivate our hearts but as
we enter into those words we all become part of a much
bigger story. We already know the crucial role that Mary
played in the story having said ‘yes’ to God’s call and
enabling the Word to become flesh but we too can conceive
the Christ Child by faithfully believing and trusting
that God will fulfil his words in each of our lives. God can
change us from within if only we let Him, and say YES to God
as Mary did.
Those strange circumstances of the Christ child’s birth do
not set Him apart from us but they identify Him with us as
he shares all the frailty and insecurity of our human lives.
The culture over 2000 years ago may be very different from
the world we know today of today but it was neither more nor
less harsh than now. Yet on this Holy Night we are all
invited to share in the mystery of what Christmas really
means, especially as we struggle to make sense of our world
in this 21 century.
John’s words remind us that God’s will was active at the
beginning of everything but the Word is the heart, it is the
origin of all that is and life itself emanates from the
heart of God piercing the darkness with light. This light is
far more powerful than the darkness – that is the darkness
of global violence and terrorism, the clashing of political
powers, religious extremism and so on because the Word, is a
God of love, a God of hope, newness, transformation and
illumination. The light that came to earth as a human being
who knew what was in the mind of the creator and who would
grow up to understand and share with us, our joy, sadness
and suffering. Jesus the Logos presents himself to us and
invites us all to receive him; and when we do we become
recipients of wave after wave of divine generosity, God’s
Grace and truth are offered in abundance and The Word works
constantly to change us from within.
In the mystery of the holy child breathing in the manger we
are reminded that the coming of Jesus who brings a new
spiritual birth, he can restore our self-esteem and can also
enable us to become channels for bringing his love and hope
into the world for others to recognise.
It is horrendously clear that darkness continues to be an
integral part of our world even though the light of life and
truth is offered to us in Christ. But the promise of John’s
Prologue is that the darkness despite its best efforts, has
never been able to extinguish the light.
Jesus who was crucified to rise again brings new beginnings
and fresh hope, of course this certainly doesn’t answer all
our questions but it is where our faith needs to be rooted.
If we trust in God who shares our suffering and endures the
darkness of evil then He will carry us through the dark
nights of the soul and help us find new hope and new
beginnings. Our ultimate hope should lie in the future, in a
kingdom that dawned with the cry of a baby. However like so
many who have gone before us we should never tire of
striving to bring hope, healing and dignity to the needy and
provide a glimmer of God’s light and love to shine in their
darkness. Sadly at Christmas time there is often a greater
need than ever to offer help to the lonely, the vulnerable
and the sick. In his book on light David Park writes, ‘Light
is enfolded in our words, our habits, our mental image of
the world and as that image changes, light changes with it.’
Christ’s light is not just enfolded into all our actions it
perfects them as well. Of course our responses can’t always
be used to minimise the problem of evil and suffering but
they will demonstrate that hope and love will not be
extinguished, despite all that conspires against them. We
are called to live out the love and goodness of God just as
Jesus was and if we reflect and store God’s Word in our
hearts and treasure them then we will come to know The Way,
the Truth and the Life.
If our thoughts and our actions show love we are in some
small way bringing God’s Glory and kingdom a little closer
to us here on earth. Yes Christmas is about a great
gift given to world through Jesus - but also through
us. That is an awesome privilege and huge responsibility.
I pray that this Christmastime we will all allow God’s
illuminating presence to break our hearts open in love for
the world and all its people and we will share afresh the
light of His Glory. Wishing you all the peace, love, joy and
hope that this Holy Night brings.