Entwined Stories

I had the great privilege of sharing at our (Church of Christ the King Watford) Christmas Service on the evening of last Sunday. It is always a difficult message to prepare as a Pastor because it seems that you need to make it fresh, or new, each and every year, even though it is obviously the same theme. Christmas is the only time of the year that there is a 'retained' inclination within the people of the UK to actually attend a church service, so it is important that each of us as leaders uses it as an opportunity to bring the gospel to the ears of those who do attend.

The theme that struck me this year was to highlight how the stories of Santa and Christ intertwine at this time of year in a way that actually muddies the water and destroys any clarity about what may be true and what is fantasy. The story of Santa is a fun one, even a good one. It is one that is meant to bring smiles, and expose us to a season of peace and goodwill, so that must be a good thing. But the joy does not last, in fact 'Experts' say that the last Tuesday of the month of January is typically the saddest day of the year. So you have 5 weeks to enjoy any good feeling that may have come with the Christmas rush.

The Christmas story of a Saviour born as a child is riddled with reports of peace to all men and goodwill. In Isaiah chapter 9 where the birth of Christ is foretold over 700 years before the event, we see some stunning phrases about the eternal reign of Christ, the peace that will last forever as the 'government' rests upon His (Christ that little baby) shoulders. This is the essential point of departure for the two stories. In fact, the way to see the difference is to imagine a world without either of the two stories.
A world without the story of Santa and his industrious elves leads to quite a mundane, even if less chaotic, end of the year without the hope of receiving that 'super gift.'
A world without the story of Christ... well that is a world without a hope; it is a world where the horrors of the World Wars; traumatizing stories like the murder of Baby P (see story) have no conclusion; and where there is nothing to deliver us from our own passion for genocide.

Think about it...

Simon