Luke 2:8-14
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah,* the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,* praising God and saying, 14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’*
In the current climate of unrest, uncertainty, hardship, crime and violence for many, the cry for the voice of the Church to be heard is mounting with each passing day. What is the Church saying? What is the Church doing? Where is the Church? In other words, what is the message of the Church to a hurting and increasingly desperate society and people?
It is a valid question directed at not only the leadership of the Church but to everyone who professes to have faith and belief in God, especially as revealed in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. It is a question that profoundly speaks to the many opportunities being presented to the Church in these times to fearlessly proclaim the good news of our salvation in Christ. What an opportune time for us in the Church!
This good news is echoed in the words of the angel to the shepherds quoted above:
10But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah,* the Lord.
These simple verses capture, in a most insightful manner, what the message of the Church is in these vexing times. The answer the Church must give to the questions posed above is to be found in the very message it proclaims at this time of the year. At Christmastime we boldly proclaim that the saviour of this world has come. The solution to our problems; the release from the fear that grips most of us; the peace and safety we long for; the desire for a healthy respect for life and property we daily lament for; the sense of purpose and hope we so desperately need to survive, the validation of us as persons created in the image of God so sadly lacking in many instances: is to be found in a life lived for Christ and with Christ.
What we must not lose sight of is the fact that that beautiful and cherished scene with ‘a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger’ was later to be transformed into the scene of a man who walked the shores of Galilee, preaching a radical message to the powers that be and to an oppressed people, and dying an awful death as a result, that was to change the historical course of humanity for good.
The message of the Church to our civic leaders, to our religious leaders, to all who exercise leadership and authority in the land, to all who care for and desire a better future; is quite simple. The message is this: Turn to Jesus, heed His counsel, find in Him the example of a life-giving relationship with God and our fellow human beings, and trust Him at His word.
It is quite simple, but the challenge lies in having the desire and the will to do it. And such desire and will come primarily from an enduring trust in the truth of Jesus and His message. It holds us well to note that in the passage from Luke’s Gospel above, in the message of the angel to the shepherds, the good news is not that a child would be found in a manger – that was merely the sign. The really good news is that the Saviour of the world was born – a Messiah who is Lord. He came to save us from our sins by showing us who God really is, and inviting us to inculcate the implications of this knowledge into our daily lives. He himself said it: the greatest call on human life is to love God with our whole being, and our neighbours as ourselves.
I hasten to add that our failure to do this, our failure to live by faith in the Lord whose birth we so joyously celebrate each year at this time, will only result in frustration in our efforts to change and make Belize the wonderful gem it was meant to be. Despite the horrific scenes of murder, violence and the like that grip us almost daily, we in honest reflection must admit that the root cause of what we witness lies in the heart of the human person. It is a matter of the heart. Until we tackle the problem at this level we will forever feel as if we are on a steep uphill climb whose end is uncertain.
Jesus Christ came to renew the heart of humankind with a message of unconditional love. Such a love became incarnate in the child in the manger. Such a love also grew and matured in the man Jesus who changed the world. Such a love continues to make a difference when it resides in the heart of humanity.
This is the message of Christmas. This is the message of the Church for these troubled times.
Carla and I wish each and every one a most blessed Christmas Season and the best for 2011.
