By: Gareth Fell
We recently went away with some friends to celebrate a friend’s 40th birthday. It was going to be a holiday to remember both because of the people we would be sharing the experience with and because of the venue. This was a once in a lifetime kind of holiday, the one you speak about for years to come. As expected, we got rather excited for this trip. I mean, it’s not every day you get to go away to a five-star bush lodge with a great bunch of friends. Now as you can expect with a holiday like this, we had to have a WhatsApp group set up for all attending. I mean what kind of holiday is it if we do not have a WhatsApp group? This only created even more excitement and expectation for an amazing time away. The venue was in a game park and as the time got closer friends started to share amazing sighting of what people were seeing there, from beautiful birds to elephants drinking out of the pool… this was going to be epic.
Having come back from this much anticipated holiday with friends, I can safely say that the experience did not disappoint. We shared a special time with friends and saw epic sightings in the bush. Memories that we will keep for the rest of our lives and talk about often. The sad part was getting home and slowly realising that it was all over. This holiday that we had been looking forward to and talking about for so long is now over. It was time to get back to normal life again and refocus on work and daily life. Supper is not going to make itself and yes you are going to have to tidy up after.
I had a thought the other day of what it would have been like if Jesus were born in this era. I cannot say I was thinking about the important things like where in the world this would happen or how political leaders would respond to this event. I was slightly more embarrassed to be focusing on whether Mary would have a WhatsApp group. It’s what we do when something important is going to happen right? We need to make sure everyone is involved and feels part of the excitement and occasion or at the very least is well informed about the occasion. I started to think about all the anticipation that would be shared about the King of kings being born. The Messiah, Prince of Peace, the Son of God who is coming to save us. How do you communicate this?
Jesus Born 25th December 10am
weighing 2,5Kg 49cm.
Both Baby and Mother doing well.
“And they will call him Immanuel (Which means ‘God with us’)” Matthew 1:23 (NIV)
How can we communicate the importance of what Christians celebrate over Christmas to someone? Just saying this is the time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus is only telling half the story. It would be the same as the amazing holiday we recently had. An event, but that is it. Something we all look forward to and share pictures and memes about but after a few months and sometimes days, it is forgotten. When we look at Christmas and the birth of Jesus, we must also look at his death. Please do not think I am diminishing the birth of Jesus. I am not. The importance of Jesus being born as a child to walk among us is amazing, mind boggling. Leaving his Father to come and live with his Father’s creation is massive and deserves a complete Blog, book, sermon all to itself.
What I am wanting to avoid is looking at the birth of Jesus alone. I fear for what Mary would have thought a little after Jesus was born. This massive event that both her and Joseph have been looking forward to for months. They have had angels speaking of the significance of this, history itself has spoken about the Messiah coming to save the world, but we have to remember that Mary does not have the luxury we do of seeing what was to come. For her at that time Jesus is a baby, small, helpless, and needing care. If it were me, I would be thinking, what now? Ummmmmm how is this little baby going to save us all? When will He start talking or healing people? But she had faith and obedience.
Over this Christmas period my prayer is that we do not just focus on the birth of Jesus. Turning our attention to the nativity scene and seeing Jesus as a small, perfect baby in his manger with wise men and some farm animals around. Let us not leave Him there. Let us also celebrate and remember that Christmas has meaning because of what we remember at Easter. The birth of Jesus has meaning and should be celebrated, but it remains only half the story.
Consider what you share this season on your family or friends WhatsApp group. I encourage you to remind people that the small baby in the manger is the King of Kings and will not only carry the sins of the world but defeat it, bringing us back into relationship with our Father.