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In these days leading up to Christmas there is a contrast between what is going on in the outside world and in church life. In the commercial world, Christmas is underway in shops and other businesses, with carols providing background music. Some frown at the “commercialisation” but it provides fun and enjoyment for people and especially children, and brightens dark winter days.
Things are more restrained in church life because this is the season of Advent, a penitential season, a time to reflect on the meaning of Christmas and how it impacts on our lives and the challenges we face as human beings. Christmas needs that deeper connection if the celebrations to come are to have any substance.
Tomorrow’s readings set the scene. The prophet Zephaniah dares to speak of hope in a world of uncertainty and despair. He anticipates a time that will be different from the world as it now is, a world where the neglected and unwanted are welcomed and given a fair share. In today’s terms he is talking about those countless millions of men, women and children across the globe who are deprived of basic human rights such as work, food and shelter. The prophet speaks for God: “I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.”
In the gospel reading we are reminded that hope makes demands in the here and now.
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John the Baptist tells the people that they don’t have to be part of a system of oppression and exploitation like that represented in his day by Pontius Pilate, Herod and Caiaphas, an alliance of self-serving political, economic, and religious interests. When his listeners asked, “What shall we do?” he tells them to share with those who have no coat or food, to give up money-grabbing and be satisfied with their wages. In other words, they can make a difference however small.
These readings highlight a dilemma faced by anyone concerned about global suffering on the one hand, and on the other the plight of the marginalised encountered locally – areas of concern versus spheres of influence. Global issues are areas of concern and as such largely beyond our reach as individuals, so we rightly expect governments and international organisations to address them, and we should urge them to do so. A fairer distribution of Covid vaccines is a case in point and in everybody’s interest.
Local issues however are nearer to hand and within our spheres of influence where we can make a difference. These past weeks almost every postal delivery has included glossy catalogues offering all sorts of “must have” goodies to make Christmas enjoyable. One of them even suggested making “Christmas amazing for everyone” – a nice idea but not very likely. As well as catalogues there have been appeals from charities seeking support for good causes like famine relief in Africa, medical aid in war torn Syria and, closer to home, the care of terminally ill children and homeless families. Such charitable organisations do wonderful work on the frontline of human need for wounded and deprived people who, as Jesus pointed out, can either be ignored or abandoned on the other side of a modern-day road to Jericho. Responding to human need is a core Christian duty.
The philosopher Bertrand Russell said: “The root of the matter is a very simple and old-fashioned thing, a thing so simple that I am almost ashamed to mention it, for fear of the derisive smile with which wise cynics will greet my words. The thing I mean – please forgive me for mentioning it – is love, Christian love or compassion. If you feel like this, you have a motive for existence, a guide in action, a reason for courage, an imperative necessary for intellectual honesty.”