The minister of Christ Church Ipswich UK writes

We must be facing the most depressing Christmas for years. Inflation is rising, house repossessions are on the increase, and unemployment is set to reach two million by the end of the year. In these circumstances it is going to be very difficult for people to forget about their problems and enjoy their annual festival of indulgence and gluttony. A cloud of uncertainty will hover over all our celebrations.

And that’s only thinking of the domestic situation. For conflict and violence are still part of daily life in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though they now only merit a few lines in the news. The crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the continuing political situation in Zimbabwe both cause our hearts to sink. And, although we haven ’t been hearing so much about them recently, those twin enemies of pollution and global warming haven ’t by any means, gone away.

In the face of all this gloomy news, we might well be tempted to ask, “Why should we bother to celebrate Christmas at all?” After all, we seem to be no nearer to universal peace and harmony than we were two thousand years ago; the intractable problems of injustice, hunger and war continue to haunt our planet; and not even Jesus ’ own land of Palestine dwells in

Tacket Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 1AU, United Kingdom

United Reformed/Baptist

The minister
writes...

‘Christmas

Cheer . . . ?’

anything like normality. Even if we do believe the Bible story of Christmas, shouldn ’t we just conclude that God’s great experiment of saving the world has failed?

But perhaps that is the wrong conclusion to draw. For did Jesus actually promise that his coming to earth would bring in a realm of peace, justice and prosperity, at least within a normal human timescale? The evidence of the Gospel story is to the contrary: for, in fact, Jesus sat lightly to politics and seemed remarkably uninterested in creating a better world during his lifetime. That was what so frustrated those disciples whose chief aim was kicking the Romans out of Israel: Jesus didn ’t seem to be doing much to further their cause.

It is, of course, true that Christians are called to work to improve the lot of their fellow humans. The tangible achievements of Jesus ’ followers are many and varied; without them the world would be an even sadder place than it is. (Having said that, one must not forget the bad things that have also been done in Christ ’s name). Nevertheless, the primary messages of Christmas must be both spiritual and future: God is primarily building his Kingdom in people ’s hearts and the glorious new creation is still the focus of our hope.

But at least we can hope. We must not forget that the birth of Jesus, the beginning of redemption ’s story, represented the fulfilment of centuries of Jewish prophecy. People had waited a long time for the coming of the Messiah: but he did appear eventually (even if many of those who had awaited his arrival failed to recognise him). I think that gives us confidence to believe that, one day, God ’s story will be brought to its wonderful conclusion as Jesus returns to inaugurate his Kingdom on earth.

Until then, we keep on waiting.



	We must be facing the most depressing Christmas for years. Inflation is rising, house repossessions are on the increase, and unemployment is set to reach two million by the end of the year. In these circumstances it is going to be very difficult for people to forget about their problems and enjoy their annual festival of indulgence and gluttony. A cloud of uncertainty will hover over all our celebrations. And that’s only thinking of the domestic situation. For conflict and violence are still part of daily life in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though they now only merit a few lines in the news. The crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the continuing political situation in Zimbabwe both cause our hearts to sink. And, although we haven ’t been hearing so much about them recently, those twin enemies of pollution and global warming haven ’t by any means, gone away. In the face of all this gloomy news, we might well be tempted to ask, “Why should we bother to celebrate Christmas at all?” After all, we seem to be no nearer to universal peace and harmony than we were two thousand years ago; the intractable problems of injustice, hunger and war continue to haunt our planet; and not even Jesus ’ own land of Palestine dwells in


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