Pastor’s Thoughts – Christmas 2023

Dear friends,

I wonder, if you were a visitor from a strange culture, and had no idea about our customs, what you would imagine Christmas was about?

Suppose that you were to listen to some Christmas songs. Well, you’d decide that Christmas had something to do with bells and possibly snow. You’d decide that it was definitely something to do with children but also about something that broke your heart last Christmas. Santa features somewhere – don’t know how or where, but he has a sleigh and some reindeer, one of which has severe rhinitis (look it up).

Suppose you were to watch some Christmas movies. They have been appearing for a few weeks now, there are even entire channels devoted to them. Well the first thing you would know is that at Christmas it always snows. Secondly that someone is going back to their home town probably forced by circumstances beyond their control and against their will. There will be various characters that result in them falling in love with the last person they ever intended to, and there will be a climax where they save some big event in the town. Also turning on the lights on the town Christmas tree will be a major event even though they will look less impressive than those outside your next-door neighbours’ house. A forlorn child will feature somewhere.

If you looked at advertising between the films you would guess that Christmas is about a lot of food, a lot of stuff you don’t need, and most peculiarly that people that make and sell perfume are on some sort of mind altering drug leading to adverts that have nothing to do with fragrances and probably driven by the futility of trying to sell a smell on something that has no smells available.

Some people think that Christmas is a lost cause, that it can never be anything other than a massive commercial excuse for overindulgence. That’s not true, and many people yearn for something deeper, something more meaningful, something that has lasting significance. Well, our message to them is:

Come and See

Like the shepherds in the fields outside of Bethlehem; like the wise men travelling from afar; like even Mary and Joseph themselves; come and see what the Lord has done.

After the angels appeared to the shepherds on that night Luke 2:15 tells us:

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

They were told to expect a baby that had been awaited for generations; a baby that would change everything; a baby that would bring hope and set his people free. The whole Old Testament pointed to this moment. The Messiah, the Christ had come. This was not something temporary, tacky or tawdry, this is transformation for eternity.

That’s our Christmas message. Come and see what He has done.