Pastor’s Message for this Christmas:

John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote a very popular song back in 1971. It’s called “Happy Christmas (War is over)”. It starts with a question: “So this is Christmas and what have you done?”

Chances are you have thought ahead about what to do on Christmas, where to go, with whom to spend, what to buy, what to cook, what to wear, which gift to give...What do you think: do people pay more attention and tributes to Santa Claus or to Jesus, the Christ? How about in your own family? Where is our focus and “worship”?

Every year it’s the same with me. When I walk in a mall at Christmas time, and all the shoppers are exposed to “holidays” music 24/7, I pay attention to the content of the songs that are going into the people’s ears, heads and sometimes hearts even if thousands of those frantic and busy shoppers couldn’t care less. There are always the two main categories for Christmas songs: secular and the real Christmas message about Jesus the Christ, where the word “Christmas” comes from. I confess that I enjoy some of the secular ones: they can carry a beautiful tune and a warm feeling of a cozy winter with “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” or beside a fireplace (if you got one) with a fine glass of wine or a cup of hot chocolate in the company of family and friends. But when I hear one of those beautiful Christmas songs (the real Christmas) in the malls and shops, I sometimes say a silent thank-you prayer. After all, they are heard in the entire mall and we all know how powerful the Gospel message can be when accompanied by uplifting music.

When Jesus was born, angelic messengers broke the still calm of a Judean night to sing joyously and proclaim: “This very day in David’s city a Saviour is born for you – God’s promised One, your Lord.” Glad tidings of great joy! Common shepherds were the first heralds of the promised Saviour’s arrival then, and today the joy in Jesus’ birth fills every corner of this season. The message still gets out there, after two thousand years! Oh yes, it’s all about that Jesus, the “reason for the season”!

We have to admit that sometimes our seasonal “busyness” and the commercial aspect of the celebrations in this part of the world seem to overtake the angels’ song and the shepherds’ joyous news. But such a majestic message of God’s salvation cannot be silenced. Some people may want to shush you when you talk and sing about the incarnate God, just as there were those who would later attempt to silence Jesus and his message of God’s remarkable, revolutionary mercy, even to the point of crucifixion.

We won’t bother with that because there will always be opposition to Christ. Come, my friend, let go of your inhibitions, join the angles in singing and the shepherds in exulting with unashamed joy: Jesus the Saviour is born!

“Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy.” “See, your salvation comes”. Isaiah 52.8; 62.11

As the spiritual father of St. Matthew Lutheran Church, but also your brother in Christ, I do hope to see you in all our Advent and Christmas celebrations! May God bless your family this Christmas and give you the true joy of having the true focus this year!