A reflection
Christmas past and Easter to come
I was moved by Bishop Harrower's account of the Christmas Parade (Tasmanian Anglican, December 2009). As one who has long viewed human nature through the lens of faith, I was not surprised that the 'Best present of all' rated no mention in the media.
When facing examinations, some students exhibit 'approach-avoidance'.
Peripheral issues become inflated - it becomes important to organise. Notes are filed, texts opened, and untidy clothes put away in the cupboard or the laundry. The bed is made, the dog washed, music is on, coffee made, and it suddenly becomes important to phone a friend. Finally, all procrastination and excuses are over.
Such behaviour substitutes the easy for the difficult. The onerous is replaced by the entertaining; it avoids a daunting task by substituting trivial and less important ones. Why does something similar happen at Christmas?
The biblical narrative of Christmas is seriously confrontational.
The Saviour does not avoid the world, but confronts it as Word made Flesh, and within the manger lies the shadow of the cross. Jesus confronts, because God is present in His world. It is not easy to face the Word made Flesh, so to sidestep the hard issues, a secular world engages in 'approach-avoidance' by substituting a narrative which avoids facing the Christ Child.
Enter Santa! A fat, jolly, avuncular, and completely non- confrontational hybrid of a corrupted version of an obscure medieval saint, conflated with the pagan Yule and a 1920s American Coca-Cola advertisement. Angels and shepherds are replaced by elves and reindeer; 'Hark the herald Angels' by 'Jingle Bells' and the lowing cattle by red-nosed Rudolf.
This happens because the Christian community has been asleep at the wheel, and allowed the message of the Incarnation to be sidestepped.
How do Christians speak to a worId intent on avoiding the central issue?
The answer is as always: with both witness and ministry. The Christian festivals of Easter and Christmas are authentic, not concocted, quasi-pagan fantasies.
The Jesus of the Gospels is the only Jesus there is. There is no Christmas without Him. The Incarnation is real. Santa and Rudolf are a fantasy.
It is time for the childish secular world to grow up. There is no Santa Claus.
There are easter eggs in the shops - and Ash Wednesday is yet to come. There is no Lent without Jesus in the desert, and there is no Easter without the Cross and Resurrection. The Easter Bunny is a pagan fantasy, and we need to say so; insistently and unselfconsciously.
When we witness to this, we also minister to those who have an aching void, and who suspect that there must be more to these festivals than drunkenness, shopping, strap-on antlers, chocolate eggs and early decorations in the shops.
The peripheral issues are gone, the excuses are over. It is time for confessing Christians to minister to the lost, and to witness to the Main Game.
Nico Bester