Photo: Jeremy Mayes/ Getty ImagesChristmas reminds us that through incarnation the Eternal Word of God came to dwell with his creation as a human person in history and human culture, and to share with human experience so that man may come to get back his true glory and dignity. The eternal sinless Christ identified with sinful man.
This is the testimony to the eternal Logos, the Word and Wisdom of God about Himself: "The Lord brought me forth as the first of His works before His deeds of old. I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. When there was no ocean, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before He made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. I was there when He set the heavens in place, when He marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when He gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep His command, and when He marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at His side.” (Proverbs 8:22-30).
Christmas speaks of this mystery beyond human comprehension. Christmas is a time of wonder about God's unique way of dealing with man and his sin. This is the timeless central message about God's outreaching love and unmerited grace for man with the universal call for response to that divine love and grace to be manifested in a new kind of attitude to God and man. Norman Wesley Brooks aptly remarked thus: “Christmas is forever, not for just one day; for loving, sharing, giving are not to put away like bells and lights and tinsel in some box upon a shelf. The good you do for others is the good you do to yourself."
Christmas invites us to a life of faith, hope and love. By giving us His Son, God has not only shown but has also given us the model of selfless giving for others. Christ calls us to live this life and calling in our daily life, in our mundane as well as extraordinary affairs. Christianity has essentially a holistic message covering every aspects of life. There can be no dichotomy between what is holy and what is profane as such. True sense of holiness has to be holistic. Everything is within the purpose of the Creator. Everything has a meaning. God is concerned with every human person. French Journalist Raoul Fullereau observed: "Today all problems are universal. Only a universal spirit can encompass them, understand them, resolve them." Christmas exhorts us to have that sense of holism and universalism. Everything in this life is integrated.
We live in a world where greed and pride, horror and hatred, destruction and delusion, communalism and sectarianism seem to be so overpowering that human values continue to be sacrificed. Jesus Christ came to the world to give supreme value and dignity to man. But even with all the sublime teachings and injunctions of religions we see so many devilish things that man is doing to man. Religious fanaticism, bigotry and fundamentalism have also been besetting problems in the world.
In spite of all the glorious achievements of science and technology and use of the fertile imagination of mankind there is sectarian use of religion. Due to human greed for power, wealth and name and fame modern scientific and technological advancement has given us a culture which virtually makes human beings slaves to science and technology. Ethical values continue to erode. Advanced technology and secular morality push man to many morally and ethically questionable practices like genetic engineering, transplan-tation of animal organs into human body, abortion, half-abortion, euthanasia, test-tube babies, artificial insemination, surrogate motherhood, cloning, etc. There has been awful progress in militarisation, weaponry, in devices for killing man.
Undue intervention by rich nations in the internal affairs of the poor ones hinders the promotion of democracy in those countries. The web of globalisation appears to be a new way of economic colonisation of the developing countries by the technologically advanced nations. Globalisation, materialism, and consumerism have compelled the poor countries to enter into unhealthy business relations with the rich ones. Much of the earth's resources are being abused to feed those gods of materialism and consumerism.
People need to repent for the abuse of wealth and power. "Repentance" is a key-word in the Bible. This means change of one's hearts and attitude towards God, towards God's work -- His Creation. It is a complete turn-about from our worldly ways of greed, lust and pride, and helps to lead a godly life. The meaning of "repentance" is so deep and personal that John Calvin, a great theological thinker of the 16th century Church Reformation in Europe, said about it: "Unless our hearts are harder than iron, the remembrance of the great love Christ has shown us by submitting to death for our sake is bound to make us devote ourselves entirely to him."
We need to change if we wish to devote to and love God and His Creation. Mankind is in great need of healing and renewal: healing of its wounds, renewal of our relationships with God, within ourselves, with other people and also with all other creations apart from man.
Christmas comes every year with the cardinal message of grace and peace from a loving God with the challenge for change. So let it be true for us as we continue to live and celebrate.
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