The children were clear as to what should be among their respective Christmas gifts. Lucy, as a savvy six year old was convinced Santa was going to bring her “the Stitch Crack Me Up Plush”, an interactive blue alien which delivers lovable giggles, wiggles and the best of cuddles, it was a snip at only £25! Jack, being a little older and thus more sophisticated, had given a clear indication that he would be playing with a “Monster Rotary Excel Electric Blaster” with its super-fast power and 32 dart rotary cartridge, speed and accuracy to handle the toughest of friendly battles! It wasn’t that costly, only £40.
Lucy and Jack’s parents, were not the sort to over indulge their children, but my goodness it was very difficult to deflect acquisitive youngsters when they were bombarded with enticing adverts and the pressure of “playground” politics involved in the interaction of children and teenagers. The end of November usually coincided with the start of Advent. If the children were infected with a great sense of material expectation and fulfilment, then this was possibly a time to inoculate them by injecting a spiritual antidote. Everyone – for the sake of sanity – has to ask “what is the point of all the fuss and expenditure at Christmas?” The plastic “Baby Jesus” in the crib at home or the plaster one in church is no obvious substitute for what Santa might bring, but the story behind Santa Claus – Saint Nicholas – and the Birth of Jesus cannot be outdone by any amount of material things.
The journey to the decorated and brightly lighted shops or even exploring on line, the excitement of something new, the expectation of future happiness, all these elements are present in the great and wonderful story of the Nativity. The journey and search, the excitement and expectation. Saint Nicholas adds another quality – the importance of giving and not just receiving. Lucy and Jack’s parents bought some little Nativity figures and a wooden stable and the children set about creating a depiction of that forlorn scene first experienced in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago. In the stable at Bethlehem we all see the generosity of God – the loving gift of new life. We recall the journey of the shepherds and the Wise Men, a shorter journey for the Jewish shepherds, a longer one for the gentile Wise Men. The excitement and expectation of all invited to witness the presence of the Word made flesh. What does He mean for us? How is He present in our lives now? Can something that happened 2000 years ago have any meaning today? The answers lies with us. The gift has been given. Grace and Truth are offered to each one of us. If the Divine Life can be present in a baby, then rest assured it can be present in us and the whole of creation. It can be present in the form of bread and wine and given as flesh and blood by those who eat and drink.
That homeless couple and their new-born child, who later became refugees in a foreign county, have changed the world. Reliance and trust in the power of God means that Christ can be born in us. We are given the grace to change ourselves and the world, for the mercy of God is more powerful than the lure of material things, has a greater strength than any evil and a freedom that cannot be curtailed by any fear. The mercy of God is his gift of grace to us, and by that grace we become what Christ is by nature – we become sons and daughters of God and sharers of the justice and trust, the goodness and happiness of the Divine Life itself.
