What makes Christmas work?

This time 40 years ago, I attended a Christmas carol service at what was then called the Solihull Library Theatre. The event was hosted by the Renewal Christian Centre but was, in fact, interdenominational insofar as there was a Salvation Army brass band and the chap who gave a short talk was a Baptist minister.

The latter’s message was so simple that a child could understand it - I was 27 at the time. I can still remember it because it proved to be pivotal to my life. In a nutshell, it went something like this…

The minister held a torch which, when switched to the ‘on’ position, failed to shine any light. He asked his audience, in particular the kids, why this might be so? Joining in the spirit of the occasion, they called out, ‘It’s got no batteries’ to which he responded, ‘Yes it has.’ ‘It’s got no bulb,’ said one. ‘Oh yes it has,’ said the minister beginning to sound like a pantomime character. ‘It’s broken!’ offered another small voice - ‘No it isn’t.’

Indeed, the torch wasn’t broken, it had a bulb and it did have batteries. It turned out that the torch required three batteries but it only had two within its cylindrical body! The minister went on to say that you might have nice Christmasy feelings from the tinsel, glitter and fairy lights (battery number one). You might have Christmas joy from the giving and receiving of presents (battery number two). If, however, you don’t have Jesus then the whole thing won’t work.

Now, up until this time, I had heard a bit about God and the Bible and I knew that there was a man called Jesus mixed in there somewhere. Never before, however, had I been presented with this Jesus as being in any way essential to anything. The notion caught my attention and, as I left the theatre, I took a small booklet which was being offered at the door; I think it was entitled Journey into Life by Norman Warren. For me, that Christmas carol service did prove to be a gateway into a journey with Jesus.

If we will turn and fall into step with Jesus, we will come to realise what God is like, what his purpose for us humans is, and what he has done to make that purpose a reality for those who trust in him.

The Christmas carol O’ Little Town of Bethlehem includes the line, ‘Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.’ That third battery, which was needed to make the torch work, represented Jesus who not only makes sense of Christmas but, for many, all of life too.

#trust #Christmas #denominations