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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

True challenge of Christmas

 

CHENNAI, DEC. 25. Celebrations could be the right word to

describe the mood of the festival. The rise in activities

centering on the event of the birth of Christ over the years has

seen romanticisation of the event leading to the underplaying of

the contemporary relevance of the message of Christmas.

Traditional, cultural and commercial motifs have taken precedence

over the Biblical motifs. Restoration of the original spirit of

Christmas can be achieved only if there is a sincere attempt to

submission of oneself to the incarnational experience whereby one

seeks to internalise the Spirit of Christ while emptying oneself

for others like Jesus.

 

Self-emptying spirit enables us to discover God's gracious act of

love in taking the human form. Further, one realises that it was

God's desire that none should perish, that He became man - an act

necessitated by our spiritual poverty. Realisation of our

unworthiness alone, guided by the Spirit of God, by emptying

ourselves of all evil helps us to experience this supreme act of

God becoming flesh 2,000 years ago. It produces a spirit of

gratitude for ``God had been mindful of man''. Self-emptying

spirit produces songs of thankfulness in praise of this unending

love of God. As one approaches the event with a spirit of

spiritual unworthiness, the magnitude of God's love comes to the

fore, the act of the self-emptying of God Himself. Through this

act, God's plan to reconcile humankind to Him comes to

fulfilment. Therefore, the price of Incarnation was life itself.

The Babe of Bethlehem was God gifting Himself to humanity, ``an

inestimable gift''. Thus self-emptying challenges us to

demonstrate God's love afresh to those in bondage of death and

darkness.

 

Christmas also reminds that through Incarnation, God had made His

permanent dwelling among humankind. The other name given to Jesus

was Immanuel (Matthew 1:23), meaning ``God with us''. The

response of those who encountered the birth of Jesus was one of

rejoicing at the fact of God becoming man to live with them

forever. Experiencing the nearness of God through Christ gives an

assurance of God's eternal presence. It also offers a permanent

accessibility to Him through Christ. Further, God through Christ

had made Himself available to all people at all ages. Humankind

thus recognises the faithfulness and might of God. The powerless

is thus empowered to hope amid hopelessness. Therefore, Christmas

presents ``Jesus, as our Eternal contemporary''. May the peace of

God through Christ Jesus be yours always.

 

Rev. N. G. Mathew,

 

Presbyter-in-charge,

 

St. George's Cathedral, Chennai.

 

 

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