Notes to growing Christians

Many of us find ourselves with mixed feelings about Christmas.

On the one hand, it should be a time for unstinted celebrations, as we remember how God broke in to our history of time and space, with the beginning of the fulfilment of his great eternal plan for the salvation of the world. Unto us is born a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord! Yet on the other hand, the annual celebrations of Mammon, which began way back in early October, reach their manic climax, in an avalanche of must-haves, must-dos and must-gives, which leave us on the wrong foot. We don’t want to be Scrooges, negative and ungenerous; we don’t want to withdraw into a holier-than-thou piety; but we don’t want to be drowned in the tidal wave of the winterval festival which is Xmas.

Read, mark, learn

By way of solution, everything will depend on our personal relationship with the Lord. We tend to judge our devotion to Christ, even the state of our relationship with him, by our own subjective feelings. There is sentimentality about the popular concept of Christmas, which centres on the sweet, defenceless baby for whom there was no room at the inn. And we can want to feel a warm glow in our hearts, as we bring our gifts to offer to the Christ-child. But it’s hard to feel like that on Christmas Eve when ‘Once in Royal’ is sounding out from the King’s College carols and you are stuffing the turkey, or baking yet another batch of mince pies, or struggling through the traffic.

The answer is not in manufacturing the ‘perfect Christmas’, or looking deep inside ourselves for renewal, warmth or excitement. The answer lies in giving time to read Scripture, mark, learn and inwardly digest its objective realities, so that the real Christ is at the heart of our hearts. Like everything that really works about Christmas, it needs to be planned. Why not put in your diary now a slot just before or during Christmas, when you will get on your own with God and think through just what it is all about? You’ll need to book it in, for a realistic length, at a workable time, as your Christmas treat for yourself. But it will enable you to be an authentic channel of God’s love to your family, friends and further afield.

What it cost him

Let me suggest a structure. Think about the situation of the world, the prevailing darkness, into which Christ came. It is a present darkness too, which we can see all across the globe wherever Christ is unknown or rejected. It manifests in nations, but its locus is the human heart. That means ‘us’, before God’s grace in Christ rescued us. Passages like Ephesians 2.1-3 and 11-13, will help, as will Psalm 51, at a personal level. The more we understand what we have been rescued from, the more we shall love the rescuer.

Think about the reality of the incarnation, that the eternal Son of God took to himself a human nature, that the Word became flesh so that we might become children of God. Take time to read and chew over John 1.1-14, or Philippians 2.5-11 Consider what it means that ‘the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me’. (Galatians 2.20) or that he became poor that we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8.9). Try to grasp what it cost him to leave the glory of heaven for the manger and see who is lying in a bed of straw — the one who ‘flung stars into space’. And remind yourself that it was for us he came to this poor world below. The heart of the incarnation lies in his fathomless love for us.

Deep gratitude

The more we come to know the depths of this love that passes knowledge, the deeper will be our gratitude, our joy, our love and our devotion. We shall sing the carols with new insight and rejoice freshly in the reality of the events which still transform the lives of all who receive him. From this centre of inner love and joy, which is Christ dwelling in our hearts, he will give us the ability to be channels of his grace and truth, as the good news is shared in every way we can.

David Jackman is the past President of the Proclamation Trust.w

Redeeming Christians

Read, mark, learn

What it cost him

Deep gratitude

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