The meaning of Christmas

Christmas is coming! The shops and ads shout it. Christmas is coming!

The decorations are up, there are Christmas parties and catch-ups. The ads on TV and the shops tell us to buy things on 60 months interest-free so the person we give the gift to on Christmas morning can be excited for 10 minutes.

We are told that without purchasing something our friendship, life and love are meaningless.

Of course, logically this is ridiculous, but we fall for it every year. If a friendship or relationship cannot survive the lack of a Christmas present, may I suggest it is not a real friendship.

And, of course, apart from the consumerism of Christmas, we are told we need to do things. We need to catch up, meet up, have coffee, go out for dinner. I always wonder what’s wrong with the other 11 months of the year.

The year always seems to me to race ahead to the line of Christmas Day, fall over it panting and heaving, and then get back to normal on December 27. And often I feel it’s a bit of a letdown. There is all the magical build-up of carols and songs and decorations and the TV shows and movies tell us what we should feel and expect.

Then Christmas Day is here and each year I seem to still get a surprise when it’s only 24 regular hours. I wake up on Boxing Day with some new underwear and a new book to read and wonder what the fuss was about.

Christmas is supposed to be a time of happiness and wonder and great joy and family time. But what’s the point if it’s only for one day of the year? If I don’t talk to my family the other 364 days, what makes Christmas a special day? If I don’t make the effort to make my partner feel special throughout the year, what’s the point of a huge present on Christmas Day?

If we don’t understand the meaning of Christmas, then what is the point of Christmas Day?

Christmas is of course inexorably tied up with Jesus Christ and his arrival into this world. It is the beginning of a story that would come to fruition 33 years later with a cross and an empty tomb.

The Christmas story does not end in the manger, but only begins there. It is in the person of Christ, his teaching and example that we see the reason we celebrate his birth.

Jesus said a lot of things, but he also led by example. He socialised with the outcasts and the untouchables of society. If a social or religious obligation or rule threatened to get in the way of helping someone, he ignored it. He healed people physically, mentally and spiritually, and said that if we could just be a little more forgiving the world would be a better place.

So why not this Christmas give a real Christ-mas present? Say hello to someone no one else will talk to. Give support for others who need a hand. Volunteer to help those who have fallen by the side of the road. Forgive someone who has hurt you. Say sorry and restore a broken relationship. Mend a broken heart.

See everyone as created equal in the image of God. Show compassion to those around you, even if the world or talkback radio tells you not to.

These presents of course are much harder to give, and not able to be purchased with MasterCard, but much more worthwhile than the juicer that will sit untouched in the cupboard for years to come, or the shirt that will eventually be thrown out.

Christmas is about the person of Christ being sent as a gift to this world by a God who made us and loves us. The greatest gift we can give to one another this Christmas is to offer a gift of love, peace and forgiveness, and in so doing take another small step towards peace on earth and goodwill to all who inhabit this planet, country and city we call home.

By Reverend Gavin Ward, pastor at Metropolitan Community Church Good Shepherd Granville. www.mccgoodshepherd.com