Berita NECF Newletters

Celebrating Christmas in Uncertain Times

Celebrating Christmas in Uncertain Times

By Wong Siew Li

 

THE first Christmas was an ordinary day like any other. Women went about their daily chores. The men labored in the fields and elsewhere as they normally did. Children played as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. Quietly and unobtrusively, in a tiny manger in the town of Bethlehem, a new life had begun - a baby boy had entered the world.

The baby boy was special but only his parents knew. No one else around him had any inkling as to who he was. Wrapped in swaddling clothes in a smelly stable full of animals and resting on a pile of hay, the tiny child-so small and vulnerable-bore the hope of generations past as well as generations to come.

Signs were given to a privileged few. To a group of unnamed shepherds keeping watch over their flocks in the field at night, angels had appeared to announce his birth. To wise men from the distant east, a special star in the sky led them to the child.

The child was the fulfillment of promises made thousands of years ago, seared into the imagination of prophets of old at different times and in different places. He was God's idea from the start, from the time when humans proved they needed a Savior. Step by step, the God of the universe worked through the lives of individuals and the affairs of the nations to bring about this grand plan that culminated in this one day when Jesus entered our world.

Christmas is the celebration of God's love. A love meticulously worked through the details of our human history to bring about salvation. While the world waited, God worked step by step until the Creator of the world himself stepped into our world in human form. He entered our world with little fanfare under the most humble of circumstances. Yet his arrival marked the turn of tide for the created world. Freedom from sin, peace with God, fullness of life, restored relationships-the presence of the child and his message would bring all these and more.

In his coming, we celebrate God's faithfulness in remembering us and in saving the world. In his coming, too, we celebrate the depths of the Creator's love - a love that made him lay aside his majesty to be confined to the limitations of the world.

As we approach this Christmas season, we are forced to grapple with the uncertainty of our times. We are faced with the possibility of an economic recession, the struggles of nationhood and the challenges of religious freedom. But once again, we are reminded that Jesus has come. The transcendent God has entered our world and has intervened on our behalf. We rejoice, we celebrate and we continue to proclaim the good news. That one day in history has changed history for us. It has redefined the meaning of our lives from which we draw strength and courage for the future. The continuing message of Jesus' birth is that God is still at work in our world and Jesus will come again!

Wong Siew Li thinks that Christmas is both a lot more and a lot less than what we make it out to be.



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