I drove into our local town yesterday for a simple opticians appointment, I'm glad I was a bit early because the place was absolutely heaving with people and it took me ages to find somewhere to park. Once in town I was overwhelmed by the number of people laden with huge bags of shopping, but what struck me more was the atmosphere, it was grim, yes it was a cold wet day, but I usually encounter a measure of Christmas cheer in folk this time of year...
This area has been hard hit by unemployment, and applications for help from the local food bank have more than doubled, as a church we are applying to open a Christians Against Poverty Centre. Yet here were hard pressed people thronging the shops to buy bargains (almost everything was on sale in some way). Everywhere the world tells us what we need for a perfect Christmas, the best turkey, excellent wine, chocolate cakes and Christmas puddings. Add to that the constant stream of chat shows talking about the perfect gifts..
While none of this is new it seems particularly poignant in a world where news of recession and cuts, job losses and uncertainty are a daily occurrence. Wants and temptations aren't anything new either, people have always battled with their desires and tried to maintain a level of self control, but at Christmas time the temptations and the guilt if we don't manage to produce a pile of gifts and a banquet can easily overcome us.
It seems to me that more and more people are world weary, and that as a Church we have a real opportunity to show a different way of being, the joy and peace that knowing and being known by God through Christ can bring even in hard times. The thing is that we have to live that out, we have to dare to live differently, for I suspect and I only say this because I feel the pressure of it that many of us find that difficult. For a number of years now we have tended to give charity gifts to grandparents and aunts/ uncles, and have given ourselves a limit of £15.00 to £20.00 to spend for each close family member. That said we struggle with the level of simplicity we would like to display, and though it should be easy to put this into effect it very often isn't.
I am reminded of the words of Timothy Dudley Smith's Hymn "Lord for the years" for it includes the lines:
Lord, for our land in this our generation,
spirits oppressed by pleasure, wealth and care:
for young and old, for commonwealth and nation,
Lord of our land, be pleased to hear our prayer.
And Jesus call;
Matthew 11: 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
And so I find myself turning to prayer;
Lord may all who are weary and burdened by the pressures of the season begin to sense your peace, may they sense your Spirit flowing through even in the canned music of carols played in supermarkets and shopping malls. May people everywhere be filled with a desire to connect with you, to find the incarnate God in Christ standing with and beside them.
In Jesus name.
AMEN
