A few days ago, it was snowing. Not the nice even, gentle flakes of Christmas cards, but the driving almost horizontal snow of lake effect storms. Somehow, that seems appropriate. Christmas, for many of us, is not the fairy tale look of Christmas cards, but the storm and mess of family dynamics, the pressures of economics, the demandingness on our time.
However, all of that is exactly why Jesus came. He moved into the neighbourhood (John 1:14) – our neighbourhoods, our messes, our stresses, our anxieties, our trauma. He moved in, he took up residence among us. He moved into the neighbourhood.
For my friends in different places on the African continent, talk of snow may seem out of place. However, this is part of contextualising the gospel. In my Canadian context, snow is very much part of what we have made Christmas into. But the danger, in all cultures, is that we make the context more important than the message. When we do that,
The Jesus way is not political, although it includes politics.
It is not cultural, although it includes culture.
The Kingdom of God impacts and shapes how we think about everything: culture, education, politics, sexuality.
It was snowing hard a few days ago. It is still now. sometimes we mistake stillness for peace. It was on this still afternoon, that I misstepped while out for a run and slightly pulled my hamstring. Not on a bitterly cold day. Not on a windy, snowy day, but on a still day.
My prayer for you this Christmas no matter whether you are
However, all of that is exactly why Jesus came. He moved into the neighbourhood (John 1:14) – our neighbourhoods, our messes, our stresses, our anxieties, our trauma. He moved in, he took up residence among us. He moved into the neighbourhood.
For my friends in different places on the African continent, talk of snow may seem out of place. However, this is part of contextualising the gospel. In my Canadian context, snow is very much part of what we have made Christmas into. But the danger, in all cultures, is that we make the context more important than the message. When we do that,
- we reduce Christmas to a series of artificial stories, becomes more about parties and food and gifts than it does the Christ-child;
- we reduce Jesus to a cute little baby, rather than the Son of God who came to move into the messes of this world and redeems them and transforms them.
The Jesus way is not political, although it includes politics.
It is not cultural, although it includes culture.
The Kingdom of God impacts and shapes how we think about everything: culture, education, politics, sexuality.
It was snowing hard a few days ago. It is still now. sometimes we mistake stillness for peace. It was on this still afternoon, that I misstepped while out for a run and slightly pulled my hamstring. Not on a bitterly cold day. Not on a windy, snowy day, but on a still day.
My prayer for you this Christmas no matter whether you are
- in a season where things are coming down hard
- or in a season of stillness,
- or in a season that looks still but still results in pain
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