Christmas can be too perfect to be true, says Archbishop
Perfect presents, perfect families, perfectly-cooked turkeys are all a far cry from the reality of Christmas, said the Archbishop of Wales today.
He said, “Christmas is not about perfection, viewed either from the human or divine perspective. It is not about a baby, born in pristine condition, into a perfect world. It is about God in Christ coming into a messy world, precisely because it is all messed up. And the trouble with us is that we are so hooked on looking for perfection, that we are in danger of failing to understand the true significance of this feast.”
The ideal of perfection is perpetuated everywhere, from snowy scenes in Christmas cards and sentimental carols to popular television programmes, such as the X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing, said the Archbishop.
In contrast, Jesus focussed on our imperfections and spent his time with those whose lives were racked with pain, suffering, doubt and grief. Today God is still with them – from the war zones to the ever-lengthening dole queues.
The Archbishop said, “Christmas is not about escapism into some perfect world – it is about the real world, God dealing with the world as it is where so much is wrong, where there is so much pain, suffering and anguish.
“God loves the world in all its brokenness – the awfulness of unresolved conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan; the desperation of Zimbabweans as they struggle against a tyrannical President; the trauma of all affected by the atrocities at Mumbai, the despair of the Congo on the brink of civil war; the hardship faced by many poor people because of the credit crunch.
“God, of course, cannot wave a magic wand and make it all go away but what He does is to come among us as He did in Jesus and assures us that he shoulders our burdens alongside us. He is to be found amidst the poor, marginalised and distressed, supporting and upholding them with His love. Through Jesus, He shows us and reminds us of what it is like to be truly human, living out a life of compassion, solidarity and love and refusing to use the weapons of retaliation and force. Through Jesus, he also shows us what divine love is like committed to this imperfect world and struggling to put it right.”
The full text of the Archbishop’s sermon is attached. For more information, please contact: Anna Morrell, 07919 158794
Sermon – Christmas Day 2008
Llandaff Cathedral
The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan
One of the daily papers, this month, had a feature on different ways to cook poultry under the title “Five Birds by Five Chefs”. I must confess I hadn’t heard of three of the chefs but that says more about me than about them. The sub text, of course, was “how to cook to perfection for Christmas”. And of course all the hype in the run-up to today is about the ingredients for having a perfect Christmas – cards posted to all the people you know in time; the house immaculately and tastefully decorated and exactly the right present for exactly the right person and all beautifully wrapped a few days before the feast. TV adverts picture perfect families in perfect contentment around a warm and cosy fire with a Christmas tree in the background.
Even some of the carols we sing seem to portray pictures of perfection. Take “Away in a Manger” – it’s a lullaby and the writer paints a picture of the baby Jesus surrounded by animals in a stable. In fact, such a perfect nativity scene that the writer does not want it spoiled by anything ordinary so he, or is it she, (no, on reflection it has got to be a he), writes, “the cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes”. A baby who doesn’t cry - there’s something abnormal about that and any mother would be worried – that’s why I think the writer was a man. Or take the carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. The writer paints a picture of a quiet and peaceful city. Yet we know that Bethlehem has never enjoyed that peace and tranquillity. At the time of Jesus’ birth, it was an occupied city which we are told was so full and busy, that Mary and Joseph failed to find a bed for the night. Today, it is a city that is torn by violence and uncertainty and that awful wall. Bethlehem is not a perfect town and it has never been such.
In one sense of course it is understandable that we want to try and paint a perfect picture of Christmas – it’s why the Bing Crosby song, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” is so popular. It points to an idyllic kind of world where everything is in place and all is well – perfect weather for a perfect season where we all enjoy wonderful food, presents that we want against a background of a perfect holy family sitting in total contentment in a stable that bears no relationship at all to any stable that I have ever come across.
And then Nigella Lawson, of domestic goddess fame, goes and spoils it all. She says that she would be happy to settle for chips and curry sauce over the festive period because, she says, many women feel under pressure to produce the perfect Christmas. “It’s ok”, she said, “to just string a few fairy lights over the mantelpiece and order in a pizza – don’t succumb to the pressure of perfection”.
While it may be too late for you this year to go for the Nigella Lawson solution, she has, in fact, highlighted a profound theological truth, perhaps unwittingly. Christmas is not about perfection, viewed either from the human or divine perspective. It is not about a baby, born in pristine condition, into a perfect world. It is about God in Christ coming into a messy world, precisely because it is all messed up. And the trouble with us is that we are so hooked on looking for perfection, that we are in danger of failing to understand the true significance of this feast.
So the “X Factor” judges regard as total rubbish anyone who is less than perfect in their eyes as they search for a flawless performance. “Strictly Come Dancing” judges couldn’t cope with John Sargeant because he couldn’t dance perfectly and never claimed to and “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” looks for a flawless celebrity able to withstand all kinds of humiliations without blinking an eyelid. T.V. shows reinforce this image of perfection that we seem to long for.
But this feast is about God’s love for the world as it actually is, not how He would like it to be nor how we would like it to be. Jesus was born in occupied Palestine, a country that had been crushed by many foreign nations and was now occupied by the Romans and they were harsh occupiers. He was born to poor people at the very edge of that vast Roman Empire. He spent his time, not in beautiful places or with beautiful people but with people whose lives were racked with pain, suffering, doubt and grief. He specialised in mixing with imperfect people judged imperfect because of their race, gender, health or religion – for as He Himself said, the healthy had no need of a doctor. He came to show God’s love for His world and those whom others found unloveable. He came to meet the world’s deepest fears and to answer its deepest longings. And it began in that Bethlehem stable where He was born, as we are all born, with all the tears and laughter, pain and joy, hope and uncertainty that accompanies the birth of any baby. Christmas is not about escapism into some perfect world – it is about the real world, God dealing with the world as it is where so much is wrong, where there is so much pain, suffering and anguish.
As then, so now. God loves this world as it is in all its brokenness – the awfulness of unresolved conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan; the desperation of Zimbabweans as they struggle against a tyrannical President; the trauma of all affected by the atrocities at Mumbai, the despair of the Congo on the brink of civil war; the hardship faced by many poor people because of the credit crunch.
God, of course, cannot wave a magic wand and make it all go away – that only happens in fairy tales – but what He does is to come among us as He did in Jesus and assures us that he shoulders our burdens alongside us. He is to be found amidst the poor, marginalised and distressed, supporting and upholding them with His love. Through Jesus, He shows us and reminds us of what it is like to be truly human, living out a life of compassion, solidarity and love and refusing to use the weapons of retaliation and force. Through Jesus, he also shows us what divine love is like committed to this imperfect world and struggling to put it right. That’s what incarnation means.
Incarnation is also a call to service for those who believe in Jesus. Having been assured of the divine love we are asked to live out the divine love to the world about us. A gospel which assures us that God loves us in all our imperfections surely implies that we too are called to love and serve a world as imperfect as we are, simply because it is God’s world.