Celebrate the Alpha and the Omega
There are some of us for whom Christmas is so much more than a good time of the year.
Christmas is such a special time of year. Few are immune to the spirit of joy and togetherness that permeates the season. Many are drawn into the awareness of those who find themselves on the fringes of society.
Even those who have no real focus on the event Christmas commemorates get drawn into the celebration in some way. So, families (and various other groups) get together, have a special meal, and exchange gifts.
There are some of us for whom Christmas is so much more than a good time of the year. It celebrates a pivotal moment that turns everything upside down, inside out. Or rather, makes everything right.
It’s a moment that divides everything into before and after, when almighty God, whose hands hold the universe, is a newborn baby held in the arms of a peasant girl. I know it sounds ridiculous, and it is.
It is the sheer absurdity of it that makes it plausible, for who can make up a story this unbelievable?
That is why, every year, we return to that moment: we tell the story of Mary and Joseph, a manger in a Bethlehem stable, of angels, shepherds, and sages, all centred on a tiny baby. This helpless baby is worshipped and honoured by ordinary people and feared and intimidating to the powerful.
For that baby in Bethlehem is Jesus, the Word through whom the world was created, who lived among us, died on a cross, rose from the dead, is exalted in heaven, and will come again in glory.
We celebrate that one moment, because Jesus is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. We worship and honour all Jesus was, all he is, and all he will be.
My Christmas wish for you is: May Jesus enter your world to make all things right. May you have a story to tell of what Jesus has done for you. May you join our prayer for his coming to make all things new.
REV CASPER DE VILLIERS
Shelly Beach Methodist Church
