Bishop's letters: December 04 +Graham CHRISTMAS AND COMING ALONGSIDE THE WEAKEST

We are so familiar with the Christmas story that we fail to notice how outrageous it is.


God puts a young woman into pregnancy, and her husband-to-be wants to end the engagement until an angel intervenes. In a country occupied by enemy soldiers, Mary has to travel miles in discomfort to Bethlehem and gives birth amongst animals. Joseph presumably cleans up all around the cattle; Mary places her new born in a feeding trough. But the mother of Jesus becomes by far the most esteemed lady in all history.

The first visitors come from those least esteemed in society, shepherds, known more for their roughness than their godliness. Hardly the sort of party Mary and Joseph would have planned!

So God took quite a risk in looking for someone to wear his plan. But Mary accepts that God has his reasons for bringing his Son into the world this way. It is just one great episode in the whole story of God, the God of love who comes alongside those whose dignity is most at risk in his world. He stands with them; and so must we.

And this is the point. The kind of world God is creating is a world in which the strong care for the weak.
The pain of the world

We are right to be appalled and anxious about Iraq. Its people continue to face terrible insecurity and suffering. Whatever force is needed in the short term, the story of Christmas points us to another way, the way of coming alongside with understanding. However we feel about the last two years, this is the kind of support that will heal.

In Israel, no good at all is served by continuing to make the Palestinians weaker. Crushing them repeatedly has already built up a hatred which will be hard to end. The USA with its allies needs to secure justice for both sides but especially for the weak. This more than anything else would pave the way for the end of terrorism.

And for us in the UK an election is not far away. Those who seek the kind of world God wants, look for government that protects the weak. As the psalm says about the good king:

‘He will deliver the needy who cry out. He will take pity on the weak; he will rescue them from oppression and violence’ (Psalm 72. v. 12-14)

Global society gives all the advantage and control to the rich and strong. But if we do not give full recognition to the peoples without economic muscle, we ignore the way in which Jesus came to us. We need a government which ensures that the wealth we create is well shared both nationally and internationally. This is a challenge to our all-embracing ideology of choice.

So Christmas is a time to worship, to thank God for taking risks with us and coming into our mess. Without him there is no hope. Human beings clearly cannot sort the world out. It is only Christian Faith which tells us that God loves us and has already come alongside us in our pain and difficulty.
 

+Graham Dow, Bishop of Carlisle