Merry Christmas to one and all
Let the truth of Christmas live in you long after the tree and lights have been put away and the presents opened
In the face of South Africa’s everyday crises of racial suspicion, political corruption, economic instability, etc…traditional faith narratives must seek to deliver an authentic message of peace and hope. Christmas is one such opportunity.
It is no secret that the original Christmas story has nothing to do with Santa Claus, public holidays or mistletoe’s and wine; it has everything to do with a new social order that would change the universe forever.
Approximately 700 years before baby Jesus was born to a virgin woman and her carpenter husband in a smelly animal stable, the prophet Isaiah prophesied that God’s Son would be born and ‘the government would be upon His shoulders’. The night of the birth, three kings (wise-men) followed a star from the east to come and worship Jesus, but the local king (Herod) viewed the divine birth as a direct threat to his throne and sought to kill the baby. Subsequently Jesus escapes as a baby and grows into adulthood declaring his mission to save the vulnerable.
Jesus is eventually executed by the corrupt authorities who accused him of being ‘King of the Jews’. The manger thus becomes a fore-shadow of the cross, and Christmas the precursor to a new generation of people who will labour for peace and justice for all by challenging oppressive and corrupt systems of dominance.
Therefore let Christmas 2018 serve us as a reminder that all power is accountable before God, and that even in the face of adversity – there is divine hope for all people. The gospel of Christmas is always good news to the marginalised and any gospel that is not so is simply not the gospel of Jesus. Since his birth, Jesus was meant to change the whole world, and he called ordinary people (like you and I) to join that change by beginning with their own lives. So let the truth of Christmas live in you long after the tree and lights have been put away and the presents opened.
Warm Christmas Blessings!
Wesley Pillay
Methodist Church
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