The Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-12-25, Page 19Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, December 25, 1985-3a
ChristrnasIs for All
By Father Ed Dentinger
St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church
During these weeks before Christmas we find ourselves inundated with Christmas
songs on the radio, Christmas programs on TV and Christmas promotions in , the
newspapers and in the stores. It is a beautiful tradition that we live out every year
buying gifts for loved ones, sending greetings to friends and getting together in a special
way with family and friends.
But there is a real danger here. A danger of putting too many expectations on
Christmas, on those around us and on ourselves. We hear the words "joy to the world",
"peace on earth "silent night, holy night", and we expect to experience all\of,this but
often we don't. If anything,• we feel a little numb from all the Christmas activity. •
In the Scripture reading we are told about Joseph, and Mary who was expecting a child.
Their peace and joy was not to be found in their surroundings: the long trip by mule, and
on foot from Nazareth to Bethlehem, a manger because there was no room for them at the
inn. Their peace and joy came from deep within them. We need to take a deeper look at
these words of Scripture and see if we can understand, feel and experience, the same
peace and joy that Joseph and Mary understood, felt and experienced on that first
Christmas.
At this time we hear the words of Scrpiture "she gave birth to a, son".`Mary had been
expecting. God had promised to send a redeemer; and now. the redeemer was born. This
action was God intervening in history as He had done so many times before. But this time
in a very special way: This time God became man. 'He became one of us, so that we could
better understand the mystery of peace and joy we all expect to find this time of year.
There is another phrase in the gospel that is very interesting which does not focus so
much'bn God's action as on man's response. It speaks of man's fear. Remember the angel
appearing to Joseph telling him not to fear to take Mary as his wife. Now once again the
angel appears,,this time to shepherds': and once again the angel said, "Do not be. afraid..
Listen, 1 bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by all the people." What is really
striking about these two passages is that our response at Christmas can be one of joy or
one of fear. There is a choice. Like the shepherds, we have a choice of being afraid when
"the glory of the Lord shone round them" Like Mary and Joseph we also have a choice of
peace and joy:
Sure, there is lots to be afraid. of - terrorists who attack innocent people, earthquakes
that kill thousands, volcanos that wipe out whole towns and deteriorating health. But we
can choose to; let go of our fears. Wecan choose to focus oui thoughts and feelings on the
essential good news of the Christmas gospel. That essential news is that God cares. God
has. taken, the initiative in reaching out to man. God not only created us. He became one of
us. Christmas means that God became man. Remind yourself that•God created you in His
image - free of conflict and perfectly peaceful. Maybe what we need to do this Christmas
is to 'awaken that child in us. A good starting point is to look at the Christ child,
understand that this child grew up to become a man' and .that peace and jov ispossible
even' in the midst of pain' and suffering. But, we have to choose it,not just once but
constantly. Expect it to happen because it will. May this peace and joy be yours at this
time and be a part of . your .life. This is my Christmas prayer for all people.
God bless you.
"4.
the Focus of History
By Dwayne F. Thlelke
Lucknow Christian Reformed Church' .
"Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!” That's the message in many of the cards
we send and receive at this season of the year. Probably most of us have not thought very
much about]"the close connection between our celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and
the changing of our calenders just one week later. But that connection is very important
and it has a great deal of meaning:
It didn't begin until the year 525. Then a Roman abbot, named Dionysius Exiguus,
calculated the years that had passed since the birth of Christ and introduced the practice
of numbering each new year from that event, Previously, the years hacj%been numbered
from the traditional date of the founding of the city of Rome, 1,278 years earlier. Similar
practices were common throughout the ancient world; as various nations and cultures
kept track of time by counting years from the beginning of this or that dynasty, starting
over each time a new king or family 'of rulers came into power.
But, sii;ce 525, the Christian world has been able to count time from the.birth of the
King of kings, Jesus Christ. In the eighteenth century, the practice became common to
date events before the birth of Christ in terms of years before Christ, ; or B.C. The
importance of these odd historical facts is that they point to Jesus as the center of history.
The coming of Jesus is central to our understanding of history, not only because of his
great influence on all that has happened since he lived on earth, but also becauseall of the
years before his birth were a time of preparation especially for him. A statement of the
Bible in the New Testament (Galatians 4:4-5) tells us that "when the time had fully. come,
God sent forth his Son, born of woman.... Christian students of history have often
pointed out that this "Fullness of time"„involved, God's preparation of the whole world to
receive both, his own Son and the good news of the Kingdom 'of God which he brought.
The world had been unified politcally under Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire
which followed. There was one language, one culture, a magnificent system of roads, and
the "peace of Rome” which gave security to 'travelers everywhere. The faith of the Old
TestamentBible, which included the promise of the Christ, had been carried everywhere
by the Jews,,-who'had been granted special favours by Julius Caesar, and whose religion
of high moral standards and God=conscieousness provided the new Christian faith a •
comfortable environment in -which to develop.
The birth of Jesus Christ is the center point ofhuman history, also, because in that
event,God himself entered, personally and humanly, into our history. 1Iis purpose was to
bring salvation, the solution; tothe basic human problem, to everyone who would believe
in Jesus. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus are the central events in his carrying
out that purpose. •
The birth of Jesus, is the focus of history because he is the Lord of history.. He was ..
prey nt at its beginning, at the creation, and he will direct its conclusion, when he comes
again at the end of time. In the meantime, he is before us -as the focus of history and as the
one who is over it and in control of it, it is HIS STORY and he gives it meaning.
This holiday season, we have the privilege, moreover, of entering personally into the
meaning of history and the purpose of God in it by welcoming' Jesus Christ not only into
human time but into our own lives by faith, Our celebrations and our lives will .have .real
meaning only if we make Jesus their center and focus and acknowledge him as Lord over
them. May your celebration of Christina$ be joyful because Jesus is at the center of it, and
may your New Year be happy because Jesus controls and fills it.
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