Toongabbie Anglican Church Blog

Weekly Blurb

Here comes the judge

Sunday 19 December, 2004 · Posted by Philip Bassett

I was amused to see on the TV the other night the great annual Santa Claus race in Scotland. Hundreds of portly gentlemen in red suits and beards went on a run for charity. Yes the Christmas silly season is here again. All my favorite TV shows are ended for the year. The cricket tests have started.

And the serious business of putting up the Christmas tree and buying the Christmas presents and sending the Christmas cards and singing Christmas carols and otherwise being full of Christmas cheer, not to mention Christmas food, is with us again.

Once again I ask myself just what is it that our society celebrates at Christmas. There�s been the debate over how Sydney should be decorated. The government is warning us about too much use of personal credit to buy Christmas presents and the retail trade association says �Yes, but..�

Just over two thousand years ago the mighty judge of the universe slipped into our world as a helpless baby. The problem with our society is that it wants to keep Jesus as the cute baby in the manger on the periphery of the secular celebration of Christmas. It doesn�t want to acknowledge that this baby grew into a man; that this man died for our sins; that he ascended into heaven; and that he will come again in glory to judge the world.

Would there be so much Christmas cheer if people stopped to ask if Jesus whose birthday they celebrate is truly their saviour, or is he their judge?

Christmas time gives us an excuse to talk about Jesus and if we can help people to look behind and beyond the festivities to the person who is the reason for the season, perhaps next year they can add the voices to ours as we sing with other Christians �Joy to the world, the Lord has come.�

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