Fenwick's Christmas Message
Thoughts and Christmas Greetings
from our Synod Moderator
Christmas shopping is the seasonal activity I most dislike. Yet, right at the beginning of December, I found myself surrounded by the jostling crowds of Northumberland Street and struggling with bags of shopping. I was, quite frankly, feeling more than a bit fed-up at the need for city centre shopping, wanting nothing more than to be home with a cup of tea, when I caught a glimpse of Fenwick's window. You may have seen it too. The depiction of the Christmas story - starting with the angel telling Mary she is to have a baby and ending with the familiar crib scenes in the stable - puts Jesus right into the middle of modern Christmas commercialism.
Fenwick's has put the baby Jesus Christ right into the heart of Newcastle. For Christians this is what Christmas is all about - God come amongst us to show how much we are loved.
The Christmas story is a mix of the ordinary with the extraordinary: a young unmarried mum, being cared for by her man, when the occupying army forces them to travel. The baby is born in a stable - and when the ruling puppet authorities threaten their new born child's life they have to flee the country. It is an ordinary story, one that people in the North East can relate to. Yet it is also an extraordinary story because it shows God coming to us, as one of us, to show us that we are completely loved and forgiven.
The baby Jesus was God's gift to the world and the presents we exchange at Christmas are symbols of that divine love, and nothing, ultimately to do with the gifts we give and receive being the coolest or most expensive. Likewise, the feasting and celebrating remind us to rejoice in God's coming to us and the carols and concerts are to lift our hearts to the God who has given us so much in creation and in our lives.
As our churches celebrate the coming of God in Jesus as a baby to the heart of our cities, villages and lives, may you recognise that Jesus was born for you and that you are loved by God.
Rowena Francis