Down to earth
It was Christmas
time. The youth group had made two banners for the festive season.
They were big and bold, hanging down vertically from the roof beams
on either side near the front – so you could see them as soon as
you went into the church. A matching pair, deep dark-blue fabric, a
big white and gold symbol at the top of each one, some words at the
bottom.
The symbol on the
left-hand banner was a star – bright, shining, radiating a burst of
white and gold. The symbol on the right was a cross – also bright,
shining, radiating a burst of white and gold.
I don’t remember
the exact wording, but the banner on the left said something along
the lines of: At Christmas heaven comes down to earth. And on the
right: At Easter we are lifted up to heaven.
Seemed to me that
together they pretty much summed up what Christmas is about. Not just
a baby. Not just family. Not just the joy of giving and getting
presents. Not just the food and fun and festivities. But God come
down to earth, living a human life, experiencing what we experience –
hurting, grieving, dying. But then rising again.
There’s a short
poem by Steve Turner that draws the contrast. It’s called:
‘Christmas is really for the children’.
The second verse
begins: Easter is not really for the children ... it has whips,
blood, nails, a spear and allegations of body snatching. It involves
politics, God and sins of the world. It is not good for people of a
nervous disposition...
At the end of the
poem he suggests that we might be prefer to enjoy Christmas without
asking too many questions about what Jesus did when he grew up or
whether there’s any connection.
But if we did that,
we really would miss the point.
