Christ Church Moreton Hall

There has been much debate recently about whether the title “Christmas” should be dropped and replaced with “Winterval”. And whether or not the Christmas lights should be retained, and if they are retained who will pay for them – the Town Council, the Borough Council or even Greene King. It does seem to me unless there is some sort of focus to our Christmas celebration that is more than just having a party and spending lots of money the event will quickly die out. The recovery of the true meaning of Christmas is important for the event itself and what it has become as well as what it is supposed to represent.

At this point clergy will often turn to the biblical narratives and tell us the important truths that Christmas is about God coming in person to meet his people, it is about the significance of family live when Jesus was born into a family and they will also tell that it is of course to celebrate a miracle, the miracle of a virgin birth.

Now while these meanings are important and of course true, there is as always with any event involving God even deeper meanings. The first is one to do with vulnerability. It was not just that God came to be amongst his people but that he came in a way that entrusted himself totally to their generosity, common sense, love and kindness.

In Mary and Joseph he found two such people who though it was vastly inconvenient and indeed disgraceful to have him, nonetheless provided him with all the love and care that he needed. In an age when we are exercised by hundreds of thousands of unwanted pregnancies and how best to deal with the problem, it is interesting that Mary and Joseph show us an example of being prepared to change their life plans, their aspirations and indeed their social status to look after the one that was given to them by God himself.

The second point is to do with spiritual understanding. We live in an age when people are becoming increasingly disenchanted with the modern pattern of life. There has never been a time in recent years when there has been more interest in spirituality and getting in contact with your real self and trying to find a better way. It is very sad that people do not examine more closely the Christian message and particularly the story of Christmas.

For what it reminds us is that God himself exists and wants to be known and be with his people. More than that, the coming of Jesus Christ marked a new age. For when he died and rose again and returned to heaven he then sent his Holy Spirit to his disciples. True Christians are people who have actually received God’s Holy Spirit and they believe that he dwells with them and accompanies their own souls. The technical phrase is being baptised in the Holy Spirit which is an experience that follows after conversion or asking God into your life.

When this happens to you, you know that God is real and more importantly you know that God will answer your prayers and cares for you. This is what sets Christians apart from other people that God is with them and indeed “is somehow inside them”.

Before the coming of Christ, God was remote and encountered with great difficulty. After the coming of Jesus Christ, God was not only at hand he was inside our very lives. The whole of human history and personal experience of God was completely changed. If you want true spiritual fulfilment, if you want a lasting encounter with the transcendent God, if you want to find your true self then perhaps come home to your true Father and discover your true meaning in life.

Christmas is a great time to ask God back into your heart. It doesn’t matter what you have done or where you have been. God knows all about it. It does require that you be honest to Him about yourself, your shortcomings, and your failures but he can deal with that with his wonderful words of forgiveness. But the most important thing at Christmas time is not the lights, or the money, or the presents or the parties, or even the church services. The most important thing is you can encounter God for yourself and when you encounter Him it will change everything but it will change everything for good. At this Christmas time find out about God and find out about how he can change your life forever.