Thoughts for Christmas

II. Sandy Gunn

'With all the gloom on the news it's difficult to get into the Christmas spirit!' Parties and a break from routine can be fun. But for many the annual mid-winter escapism is one big headache. Changed valuation of houses and pension funds, and uncertain prospects for business and employment, make the task of decision-makers increasingly complex and mean that the gap between how people are conditioned to think they should feel and how they really feel is huge. A hassled façade can be kept up only for so long.
     But is the 'Christmas spirit' dependent on circumstances, needing to be engineered and geared up? Once when the lord provost of Edinburgh was switching on the Christmas tree lights on the Mound with the words 'Christmas is a time for children', a student's voice rang out from the ramparts of New College 'Heresy!' People may accept or reject Jesus, but to celebrate Christmas with nothing more than snowmen (or Easter with bunnies) is an educationally invalid and unacceptably inauthentic representation of Christianity, selling short a growing generation asking about meaning and values for our world.
     The real Christmas is not superficial escapism. It is God opting in, bridging the gap. Jesus was a refugee, in an occupied country in the troubled Middle East, let down by friends, and denied justice by vested interests. He suffered and understands hurts. An authentic Christmas is not just views, but in fact news...good news that the God of the galaxies Who planned the laws of science opted into the mess of this world because people matter. 'God so loved...i.e. so valued...the world that He gave'. This is the valuation God placed on us, a valuation guaranteed in the evidence of history, index-linking us to eternity. When we accept His valuation, we are brought into a living relationship with God and are 'rich in love'. Therefore a genuine celebration of the intervention of God in this mixed up world is more than decorations: the love of God is operational, making a difference in the lives of individuals, and then through individuals in society, local and global, as the currency of God's love determines our dealings with one another.
     We hear about 'toxic debt' at the root of the financial crisis – the spiral of coveting of the latest style/gear/gadget accelerated by advertisers leading to dependence on material things, borrowing without basis, and a need for enormous resources to deal with what has poisoned the financial world. When something is toxic, the poison needs an antidote. God has diagnosed the ultimate toxic problem in the world as spiritual sIn, the big I replacing God, and therefore ultimately devaluing ourselves. Christmas is the celebration that God entered the world to take on our spiritual toxic debt in Jesus on the cross, and to offer us His valuation based on the resources of His eternal love.
     Far from being a mere decoration or hobby, something for children out of which they grow, genuine Christianity makes a difference in and through lives, for Christians live in the dimension of God's values, drawing our resources from His meaning for our minds, His love for our hearts, and His power for daily life.
     This means that Christmas is not just a date on the calendar, but a dimension for our character. Is this authentic Christmas news being made known in our homes and schools, and celebrated in our lives? This is real good news: worth celebrating on Christmas Day...and every day in 2009.