Christmas in Perspective

By Auriol Farquhar

Christmas Time – a time of expectation; a time of joy and a time of wonder. A time of gifts – both giving and receiving. A time when we all celebrate and probably eat and drink far too much. But what are we expecting? What are we celebrating? How long does the joy and wonder last?

When I was a child, I remember waiting with excitement for Christmas Day to arrive. For the first five years of my life I lived in a small Welsh village: a place called by my Belfast-born mother “the last place that God put breath into and forgot to finish”. Times were hard in those days of the early 1950s. We weren’t poor, but money was not plentiful and, as it was for many children of my generation, presents were few and far between.

So waiting for Christmas was full of expectation – would Father Christmas arrive? Had he read my list of presents? Would I get some of them? Would I get any of them? For you had to be ‘good’ and well-behaved in those weeks leading up to Christmas if you were going to be rewarded.
I’m not quite of the generation who says, “When I was young we were lucky to get a sock filled with an apple and an orange and a few nuts.” But many of my contemporaries were lucky to get one gift. I remember waking up on one Christmas morning to find a rocking cradle, with a fabric canopy, containing a very tall doll. She was lovely, with a sweet face and a beautiful blue dress. I absolutely adored her. I’m not sure how long I kept her – but probably she went to dolly heaven when her wig fell off some years later.

Now, you may be wondering what has all this wittering about my old memories got to do with a reflection on Christmas Eve. Where’s the message?
For me it’s all about the value that we put on Christmas gifts today; not their monetary value, but their worth to us. Whether it was a mandarin, a packet of sweets or a lovely big doll – in times gone by, people did not get many presents, so they really valued and respected what they were given – even handkerchiefs or socks! As our society, certainly in the western world, has grown more affluent – we get presents at many times during the year. Bryan and I find it quite difficult to buy each other presents for Christmas because if we need something, and we can afford it, we buy it there and then. We don’t wait until Christmas.

How many Christmas presents these days, especially for children, end up being discarded by Boxing Day or even broken by the end of the week? How many of us receive toiletries that we put into a drawer for ‘special’ as the packaging is so nice, and then forget that the items are there, until we open the drawer twelve months later. It is amazing how many ‘Gifts for Mothers’ are in fact last year’s Christmas or birthday presents! And again, how many presents end up eventually at the Op Shop – not really needed, or something that the receiver didn’t like or couldn’t use?

Which brings me to the place where I ask the question – why are we celebrating Christmas? What is so important about giving and receiving presents? And therein lies the crux of the matter. According to the authorities found on the internet – we give presents in memory of the gifts that ‘the magi’ brought to Jesus. Also, apparently as Christianity replaced other older religions, the time chosen for celebrating Christmas was set at the same time as an old festival where presents were exchanged. But what about the greatest presents that God has given to us. He gave us so much more than gold, frankincense and myrrh. His first gift way back in time was giving life to the Universe and this planet that we find ourselves on; and then he gave his Son – knowing that this child would later be killed in a most horrible way. This Son who would live on earth as a human being and show us how we should act if we want to create a loving, peaceful world.

And how have we treated these gifts from God. Well, we only have to look around to see how we have broken the present of the earth – unfair use of resources, creating mountains of rubbish and discarded ‘presents’; destroying other species, fighting each other and being unspeakably cruel in order to increase our wealth and power. In the proportion of time that human beings have been on Earth, we’ve certainly ended up trashing that gift.
And what about God’s Son, Jesus Christ, born to Mary; born as a saviour of the world? Mary certainly appreciated her gift. She was filled with joy. The shepherds were filled with joy; and many of us here will be filled with joy over this Christmas time. But do we make good use of this wonderful gift? Do we come to church (some people only at Christmas time), sing carols, listen carefully to the readings, share our prayers for the world with each other and enjoy the Christmas Story – and then forget about the gift by the end of the week? Do we place it in a drawer to be forgotten about until next year? Or do we continue to value it; to learn from it; to put into practice what the gift teaches us?

Because Jesus was not a one night or a one day wonder. He spent the days of his short time on earth teaching us how to create a society that was loving, a society that cared about everyone; a society in which fairness and justice were important. His message was simple. It doesn’t require learned theologians to interpret it – love God and love your neighbour, as yourself. The hard part is putting that into practice, but it is the only way for us to create a better world. And, in the end, in His death Jesus gave us the gift of eternal life.

I have to admit that I’m not sure what the form of that will be. What does eternal life look like? Feel like? But I’m not going to spend my life worrying about that, or trying to earn brownie points to achieve a passage to heaven. For me the message is all about how we create heaven, God’s Kingdom, here on earth. It’s only possible if we cherish the present of that first Christmas.

So, when we leave here tonight let’s look forward to a wonderful Christmas Day, enjoying the company of family and friends, or even the TV if we live alone. Let’s relish the Christmas baking and the celebratory drinks and watching people unwrap their gifts. Let’s laugh and rejoice. Let’s pray for those who are not so fortunate as us at this Christmas time. Let’s remember those loved ones who have left us or who are far away. BUT … let us also remember, not just tomorrow, not just until next week or next month, but at all times, that God gave us such a special gift; we should never forget that. Jesus is not a once-a-year plaything – Jesus is forever. So revere the gift, learn from the gift, love the gift and love one another at all times. That is the real spirit and joy of Christmas.