At Christmas we seek solace from the tumult of politics and the darkness of the world. We take comfort in magic and sparkle, mountains of food and festive movies. On the Christmas adverts, it’s at all times snowing outside and sparkling inside. Windows glow, children are rosy-cheeked and presents are expertly wrapped.
Even though most of us probably never actually experienced a Christmas like this – we can have memories of family awkwardness, arguments or absences – we would like to recapture a fabricated nostalgia, a way of belonging and contentment.
And I fully immerse myself in all this. I at all times look ahead to dipping into my collection of Christmas DVDs. Nestling on the shelf between It’s a Wonderful Life and Elf, there’s a movie of the nativity.
But is that this really just one other nice story to look at alongside the same old feel-good fare? Can we tell the difference between fact and fiction? I think that if we take the claims of this story seriously, we are going to truly find the sense of belonging all of us seek.
We cannot know every detail of what happened that first Christmas night in Bethlehem, however the gospel-writer Luke gives us one account. And he desires to persuade us that these events really took place. He makes clear that he has “rigorously investigated every part from the start”, including eyewitness accounts, in order that his friend Theophilus “may know the knowledge of the things you’ve been taught.”
Christmas tells us that we’re all a part of God’s story. By breaking into history as a tiny baby, God has invited us to affix the circle of wonder gathered across the manger. We gaze in alongside the shepherds and sensible men, sharing with them and all our fellow humans an understanding that we’re all sinners, saved by grace through this baby who grew up to vary the world. Whatever you make of the New Testament accounts of his birth, life and death, Jesus Christ is essentially the most significant person in world history.
You could also be delay investigating the Christmas story by the church itself. Terrible acts have been carried out in God’s name over the centuries, culminating in revelations of sickening abuse scandals and cover-ups. Christians often get it terribly improper. We are flawed and broken. But Jesus got here to avoid wasting flawed and broken people.
Or possibly you discover the Christmas story itself to be offensive. Which is comprehensible. This story tells our culture – which places ultimate value in personal autonomy – that in point of fact we will not be our own; we cannot save ourselves, we owe every part to Another.
The other gospel author to record the Christmas story was Matthew. He speaks of the sensible men visiting Herod to ask him in regards to the latest king that they had seen foretold in the celebs. Herod felt deeply threatened by this baby. He had power and was eager to hold onto it. He feared the prophecy and tried to stamp it out.
Political landscapes around the globe are stuffed with Herods, attempting to cling onto power. But as Assad has present in Syria, all human power is eventually swept away.
Perhaps all of us have a few of Herod’s tendencies in us? It’s not the role most of us would want in the college nativity, but all of us have things we cling onto, things we put our faith in, whether or not it’s profession, relationships, status, identity or the need to manage our own lives. We may feel threatened by the story that tells us we want saving from ourselves, and that we are able to as a substitute find our security and meaning within the person of Jesus Christ.
The Christian story tells us that Jesus got here to us as a helpless baby, and as a person he freely gave up his power and autonomy on the cross. He did this to supply each of us a present of affection and charm that is totally undeserved.
If the story of the newborn within the manger is true, it means there’s a God and we all know his name. If it’s true, it’s one of the best news anyone could ever hear, and so surely we must consider it.
The Christian faith doesn’t tell us how one can vote or what policies to pursue. But it teaches us to forgive others because we’ve got been forgiven, to hunt justice with love and compassion, and to affix together within the hope that Jesus will someday put the entire world to rights and cope with the darkness and chaos once and for all.
Luke also tells us about an old man within the temple called Simeon who held baby Jesus and declared: “my eyes have seen (God’s) salvation”. His eyes saw not a lifestyle, not an ideology, not a algorithm, but a human. Salvation is an individual. Jesus himself later said : “I’m the best way” not “that is the best way”. He claimed to be the one and only human being who won’t allow you to down.
Perhaps you’re feeling uplifted at the moment of 12 months by candlelit carols in ancient churches, adding your presence to the worship and wonder that has taken place there for hundreds of years.
Don’t be afraid this Christmas to let yourself be captured by the awe of the shepherds at nighttime fields, confronted by the brightness of angels. Or the determination of the sensible men, travelling a whole bunch of miles to hunt the promised king.
Don’t be afraid to gaze into the crib this Christmas, like Simeon, who looked beyond the newborn to the hope that he brought. You might find something wonderful there that may last long beyond the New Year.
Tim Farron has been the Member of Parliament for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005 and served because the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party from 2015 to 2017. Tim can also be the host of Premier’s ‘A Mucky Business’ podcast, which unpacks the murky world of politics and encourages believers across the UK to interact prayerfully. He is the writer of A Mucky Business: Why Christians should become involved in politics.”
