I have to confess that I struggle with some of the carols that we sing at Christmas. For example in the carol ‘Away in a manager’ we have the words ‘The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes’. As any parent will know, babies when they are cold, tired or hungry will cry, and I am sure that Jesus was no different. Rather than the cosy Christmas card images of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus surrounded by cuddly animals, I would prefer to see an image of a tired and harassed Mary and Joseph as they struggle to cope with the demands of a new baby because surely this must be closer to the truth of what it was like. In over sentimentalising the birth of Jesus, we are in danger of distancing ourselves from the reality of this most extraordinary event. That God should choose to enter the world as a small and extremely vulnerable child is truly remarkable and also truly wonderful, because in doing so God identifies with us. It also demonstrates that God does not work in the world as we would expect him to, he is a God of surprises. As we look forward to Christmas and the New Year, I hope and pray that God will surprise us with the things that he is going to do in the life of St Martin’s, and that we will encounter the real Jesus.
God bless
Simon
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