Yet there is another and more subtle problem with buying into the fantasy on offer at this time of year. The God of the Bible seems to prefer to work when things aren’t perfect. In a phrase, God seems to be present in messes more than successes.
Consider the first Christmas. Has it ever struck you that, from the human point of view, Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem is a mess?
There’s a bullying tax demand from a thuggish occupying power, an extremely awkward pregnancy at a time and place when society knew exactly what to do with bad girls, accommodation so rudimentary that you were as likely to call the vet as the midwife. And just when everybody present might have thought that things couldn’t get any more undignified than a baby in an animal food trough, in shuffle a rustic bunch of shepherds complete, presumably, with rural smells and country muck. Oh the first Christmas was a long, long way from perfection. In fact, there’s only one place in the Bible that’s messier than Bethlehem, and that’s the cross.
The messiness of Bethlehem is no accident. It’s in the messes that God is most able to help us. Perfect people in perfect situations all too easily overlook the fact that they need God. Jesus said, “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matt. 9:13).
He might as well have said, “I didn’t come to call those who have got it right, I came to call those who are in a mess.” Those whose Christmases—and lives—are in disrepair are those most likely to listen to God.
This great turning-everything-upside-down principle of Christmas is actually the heart of the message of Christmas. It is in fact announced in the very first chapter of Luke’s Gospel where, in what has become called the Magnificat, Mary sings this of God:
“He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has pulled down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty” (Luke 1:51-53).
Christmas is a time when the have-nots can rejoice over the have-everythings; when those with flawed lives can find themselves more blessed than those with apparently perfect ones.
I wish you the very best possible Christmas and the best possible 2016. May your Christmas tree lights work the first time, may you get every present right, may this Christmas give you happy memories that will endure for a lifetime, and in the New Year may you get all of what you hope for and none of what you fear. But if things aren’t as perfect as you would like, be comforted. In Christ, God comes to us at Christmas and in the long run—and no long run extends further than eternity—it’s no bad thing for events to force us to turn to Him. After all, God’s reality is better than the best Fantasy Christmas.
J. John (Rev. Canon) lives in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, in England. He is married to Killy, and they have three sons and one daughter-in-law. Evangelist, minister, speaker, social activist and writer, J. John has a remarkable gift for communicating the truth in an engaging, stimulating and practical way. His passion for storytelling enables him to bring the gospel to life in a fresh and contemporary manner.
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