I was listening to a programme host on the radio recently talking about the meaning of Christmas. The real meaning of Christmas, he said, is ‘Goodwill to all men.’ And then he added - because he quickly realised that this sounded very sexist and politically incorrect - ‘and of course women and children and animals too.’
Well, I think the turkeys might have something to say about that; but then he added this. ‘For a week or so before Christmas we come over all fuzzy and altruistic; we come out of our mainly selfish shells and try to be nice to each other. But by Boxing Day the peace is at an end and war has once more broken out.’
Now I think there are three very important things to say about what he said on a programme heard by possibly tens of thousands of people or more.
The first is this. I don’t agree with him that all people are largely selfish for 51 weeks of the year, thinking only of themselves and no other: l know for a fact, as I am sure you do too, that very many people make not only small but often very great sacrifices for other people - and not just their immediate families - for many if not most days of the year. I can only assume that he has a very unfortunate circle of friends and acquaintances, and that life with the BBC has made him rather cynical.
Secondly – and I am afraid that he is quite wrong here - is his understanding of the phrase ‘Good will to all men’, which is a wishful thinking misunderstanding of the Gospel Reading we have just heard. What he has done - as many have before him and still do today - is to take the offer God made in Jesus to you and to me, and sentimentalise it into something we offer to each other - if only, as he claims, for a few days over Christmas.
You see, this is yet another instance of reading into the bible meanings that simply aren’t there but which suit agendas in which people can happily rule out God - because of course leaving him in leads to some very awkward and embarrassing questions – mainly about ourselves!
But Christmas is all about God; that in one of his forms of being God he chose, because he loves us, to come to us in human form so that we could understand him and believe in him.
Now if you look at what it actually says in the reading, at verse 14, you will see that not we but God is the author, the giver, of the offer; and that that offer is not just a wishful thinking ‘let’s all try to be nice to each other through our own efforts for a few days over Christmas’, but I, God, in the person of this vulnerable little baby, am offering all ‘on whom my favour rests’ to know real peace; a peace the world can never give. And my favour will rest on those who believe in this baby, in who he is, in why he came, and who then change their lives where necessary to accord with what he taught about humanity, and about our hopelessness without him.
The peace he offers, as he will explain to you when he is a full grown man and starts teaching you my ways, is the peace you will have when you know for sure the answers to your deepest questions about this life: it’s meaning, it’s purpose, and what will happen to you when this life ends for you. But above all it is the peace which comes from knowing for sure that you and I have been reconciled, that I have forgiven you for every unloving thing you have ever done, that because of him I have wiped your slate is clean - however dirty it may be or you may think it is, and that we are once more able to be in relationship. And it’s not because of you or anything that you are or that you’ve achieved, but because of everything he, Jesus, is and has achieved for you.
The mistake the radio host made was to make us the givers rather than the receivers: it is God’s offer and it is to be found in Jesus. And the fact is that when we truly believe that Jesus is exactly whom he claimed to be and put our faith in him as the unique and universal Saviour of the world, God’s chosen instrument of forgiveness and reconciliation, then we will find that he is in us helping us to bring the Good News of him, all that he is and all that he offers, to those who do not know him and who do not know what they are missing; in short, his personal ambassadors of his ‘good news’ for all – if only they will receive it.
No wonder the radio host – even with his ridiculously large BBC salary – sounded so cynical: he had misunderstood the ‘Good will’ offer entirely. Let’s not make the same mistake; but with humble and joyful hearts welcome his wonderful message, his unique and universal offer, welcome him personally as Saviour, Friend, and King. Accept and unwrap this present and you will never know a better one because you will have received the very best present anyone could ever receive.
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