“The Church of England dictionary” defines xmas as “crossmass, a special time for arguments, the renewal of family feuds, the uncovering of old sores.  A time for sitting alone at home wishing you weren’t alone feeling angry and cross”.  While this definition is tongue in cheek it’s closer to the mark than many of us would like to admit.  While Christmas is a happy time for some people, for others tense family get togethers, work Christmas parties where a little too much “truth serum” is consumed or simply loneliness makes Christmas a sad and frustrating time for many people.  Christmas can highlight the fact that our relationships don’t always work out the way we would write the script.  Our marriages, our kids, our parents, our work places rather than bringing us joy can often bring us pain.  The Bible tells us that the most important thing in life is not money, possessions or success, but our relationships.  The most important relationship is to be at peace with God our creator.  The pain in our lives, in fact the pain among all humanity comes as a consequence of being out of relationship with the one who created us. 

The great news of Christmas is that God cares; Christmas is about God taking the initiative to fix that relationship.  Jesus is born as part of God’s rescue mission to not just teach us about God, to show us what God is like but to give his life in our place so that we might find forgiveness.  Christmas is more than just a few days of holidays, presents and parties; Christmas celebrates the beginning of God’s rescue mission.

Al Stewart
Anglican Bishop of Wollongong