Human beings, left to themselves, have imagined God in all sorts of shapes; but – although there were one or two instances, in Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, of gods being pictured as boys – it took Christianity to introduce the world to the idea of God in the form of a baby: in the form of complete dependence and fragility, without power or control. If you stop to think about it, it is still shocking. And it is also deeply challenging.
God chose to show himself to us in a complete human life, telling us that every stage in human existence, from conception to maturity and even death, was in principle capable of telling us something about God. Although what we learn from Jesus Christ and what his life makes possible is unique, that life still means that we look differently at every other life. There is something in us that is capable of communicating what God has to say – the image of God in each of us, which is expressed in its perfection only in Jesus.
Hence the reverence which as Christians we ought to show to human beings in every condition, at every stage of existence. This is why we cannot regard unborn children as less than members of the human family, why those with disabilities or deprivations have no less claim upon us than anyone else, why we try to makes loving sense of human life even when it is near its end and we can hardly see any signs left of freedom or thought.
And hence the concern we need to have about the welfare of children. As we look around the world, there is plenty to prompt us to far more anger and protest about what happens to children than we often seem to feel or express. In the UK this year there have been several public debates about childhood, as research has underlined the lack of emotional security felt by many children here, the high cost of divorce and family breakdown, the disproportionate effect of poverty and debt on children, and many other problems. We look forward to the publication here in the New Year of a nationwide survey about what people think is a ‘good childhood’ – sponsored by the Children’s Society, with its long association with the Anglican Church.
Elsewhere we see far more horrendous sights – child soldiers still deployed in parts of Africa and in Sri Lanka, the burden laid on children in places where HIV and AIDS have wiped out a whole generation, leaving only the old and the young, the fate of children in areas of conflict like Congo and the Middle East and the insensitive treatment that is so often given to child refugees and asylum seekers in more prosperous countries.
‘Though an infant now we view him, He shall fill his Father’s throne’ says the Christmas hymn. If it is true that the child of Bethlehem is the same one who will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, how shall we stand before him if we have allowed his image in the children of the world to be abused and defaced? In the week I write this, the British public is trying to cope with the revelation of the shocking killing of a very small child. Recently I accompanied a number of students and British faith leaders on a pilgrimage to the extermination camps at Auschwitz, where some of the most unforgettably horrifying images have to do with the wholesale slaughter of Jewish children – their toys and clothes still on display, looted by their killers from their dead bodies.
Christmas is a good time to think again about our attitudes to children and about what happens to children in our societies. Christians who recognise the infinite and all-powerful God in the vulnerability of a newborn baby have every reason to ask hard questions about the ways in which children come to be despised, exploited, even feared in our world. We all suspect that in a time of economic crisis worldwide, it will be the most vulnerable who are left to carry most of the human cost. The Holy Child of Bethlehem demands of us that we resist this with all our strength, for the sake of the one who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor, became helpless with the helpless so that he might exalt us all through his mercy and abundant grace.
With every blessing and best wish for Christmas and the New Year.
+Rowan Cantuar:
26 December 2008 at 8:02 am
Be in Christ in order to project and be a witness of Jesus Christ. No body can serve two masters. The AC is more concerned to preserve the hijacked system of AC rather then the respect for the “Word of God” in letter and spirit.
A meaningful message of Christmas has to be rooted in the Spirit of Christmas which focuses Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church and submission to Him by all offices of the present day Church.
I wish it was so.
30 December 2008 at 6:46 am
Here is a better Message—Christians called to abandon public education
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=84603
07 January 2009 at 11:12 am
The Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this…you will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.’ - Genesis 3:14-15
What does it mean to eat dust all the days of one’s life? It means that one’s efforts, one’s greatest achievements are futile. To crawl on one’s belly and to eat dust are images of total defeat! This is God’s verdict on the powers of evil. They may at times seem to be winning, but all their efforts gain them no ground, no advantage.
Wrapped into this verdict is the Gospel message that the Woman (not named Eve here) will bring forth a Son and the Son will crush the head of the Evil One and his host of demons. The promise is sure.
Even the heavens are set against the powers of evil. The stars, sun and moon orchestrate a celestial dance to proclaim the Son’s arrival in Bethlehem, as the Prophet Micah foretold. The more ancient prediction of Messiah in Genesis 49 tells us that He would come from Judah:
You are a lion’s cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? 10 The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.
This clarifies the connection between Jupiter’s regal behavior and the promise made to Israel, because the starry coronation—the triple conjunction—occurred within the constellation of Leo, The Lion. (See www.bethlehemstar.com)
Christians celebrate the birth of Messiah and trust that His second coming will bring that Kingdom of Peace for which our hearts yearn. But the battle still rages between Christ’s seed and the evil seed and many who are in Christ are suffering greatly. It may be that the Evil One has been unleashed for a time as foretold in the Revelation of St. John of Patmos.
The cruelest human rights violations these days are directed against minority Christians around the world: Christians in Orissa, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Jos, and Copts in Egypt. Let us pray for them even as we celebrate the coming of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings who is able once and for all to crush evil.
07 January 2009 at 7:21 pm
Very dear sister Alice,
I totally agree with you and would go on to say,
When the Lord punished (cursed) the serpent He also punished (cursed) mankind when He said to serpent that he will eat/lick the dust of the earth.
My understanding of the present situation leads me to think that the man is made from the dust of the earth and the serpent is eating/licking the man made of dust in what ever form the man is. He may be a member of full standing in the so-called church or one of its officials.
On the other hand all those who are in the body of our risen Jesus are also victorious over the curse/punishment. Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit and the earth could not along with the serpent eat/lick Him even when He was in the grave. All those who are born of the Spirit and preserved in the body of Jesus Christ are elevated Ep. 1 :3, 20 and Ep.2:6 as of today and are safe with Divine guarantee of everlasting life Ep.1:13-14.
This is the difference as laid down in Mt. 3: 12, between the true Christians and the so-called or legal Christians. Let the world know that these are two different entities.
07 January 2009 at 8:11 pm
Indeed, dear Bishop, the difference is evident in the fruits of the Spirit.