The gospel writers Matthew and Luke provide us with an account of different reactions to the news that God’s Messiah (the promised one of Davidic descent) would be born. Mary responds very positively to the annunciation of God’s plan for her, but Joseph needs more convincing. We can say that Zechariah’s reaction to the Elizabeth’s pregnancy verges on the cynical, while we might identify the inn-keeper as ambivalent. King Herod allows his own insecurities to rule his violent actions and order the slaughter of the innocents. The ‘good news’ evokes a complete range of reactions in the biblical account.

What about the wider context in which the first Christmas is set? Luke tells us that Quirinius had ordered a census, so that families all over Judea had to head home to register. People were busy, they were on the move, they were preoccupied trying to get everything done; the lodgings in Bethlehem and throughout Judea were full to bursting. There were no vacancies anywhere. Who would have noticed Joseph and Mary making their journey to Bethlehem- not many?

What kind of reaction does the birth of Christ induce in people today? There are increasing numbers of people who forget the purpose and meaning of Christmas time. For many people the ‘reason for the season’ is lost. There is a prevailing tide of opinion that calls for the de-Christianising of Christmas or its replacement by a non-offensive, keep everyone happy, winter festival.

Yet the question that I have raised is much more specific. I have a deep pastoral concern for those who will join us for worship in the coming weeks. There is a broad range of responses from those who find themselves in church over Advent and Christmas. Perhaps some people come along with family members who are rarely in church at any other time. This is a glorious opportunity to communicate the gospel to agnostics, cynics and doubters as well as those who come to worship Christ in faith. I once encountered an individual on Christmas morning who continued to look through a book on mushrooms during the whole service of worship. Was it too difficult to honour Christ for an hour on Christmas morning? Was the service completely boring and irrelevant? Perhaps he was under pressure to deliver mushroom risotto for his guests that day. Should we offer people what they want at Christmas time or what the gospel tells us they need?

Certainly we must be faithful to the word of God and the totality of its message over Advent and Christmas. Our heavenly Father sends his eternal Son into the world as Saviour because it needs saving from sin and falleness. The world (and the whole of creation) cries out for forgiveness and the hope of restoration through him who was born in Bethlehem. That is why God sent him and that is the message that the Church is called to proclaim.

May you know the joy and hope of Christ’s birth in the coming weeks.
Your minister and friend,
Andrew