Under the Circumstances
This year many people will celebrate Christmas under tough circumstances. People have lost loved ones, lost jobs, lost income, endured loneliness in lockdown, experienced massive stress and felt the ongoing uncertainty of a changed world - especially with the arrival of a second wave of infections. This is real for our family too as my dad has been in hospital for 4 weeks with an aggressive form of leukaemia and we are now not allowed to visit him in hospital. 
It seems hard to think about "peace on earth and mercy mild..."
But the truth is that Jesus was born in the midst of very very difficult times and circumstances:
- He was born under the oppressive Roman regime that ruthlessly taxed, ruled and punished its subjects. Life was cheap and tensions ran high.
- His parents were forced to travel to a distant down to register for a Census - and, in spite of Mary's pregnant state, they were forced to go. They were bullied by bureaucracy and powerless to withstand it.
- According to scholars, Bethlehem was a "little town" and was overrun by census-visitors. Mary and Joseph could find no accommodation and even her impending labour could not get them any preferential treatment except a shelter for cattle. And so Jesus was born into the kind of poverty where one has to depend on the kindness of strangers who will have to come up with a makeshift plan with the little they have...
- Even the gifts he received (myrrh) spoke of His destiny - that he was born to die. Shortly after His birth, an assassination attempt was made on His life and He had to become a refugee as they fled to Egypt.
So Jesus comes into a painful, hurting and broken world and even before He was born, He was bullied by bureaucracy and then He was the target of violence and experienced the reality of fear and flight.
We've had a year where we've felt oppressed by lockdown and bullied by rules (some of which were wise and necessary and others which were senseless and maybe even underhanded). We've lost loved ones and experienced financial, emotional and societal strain as never before.
But... Maybe this year, more than ever, we should recognise that His coming is not ivory tower stuff, but the relentless determination of a God who comes to find us where we are - in the midst of our gritty and grimy circumstances to offer us:
- understanding (I know where you are)
- guidance (I've walked this road too)
- peace (I will be with you)
May this be a Christmas in which you experience God's closeness more than ever...
| In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke2:1-7) |
