'Making out' at Christmas

I wrote this for the local newspaper (pity they edited out the last half!):

How much of your Christmas is about ‘making out’, you know, sustaining a level of ‘make-believe’?

I remember growing up, wondering if Father Christmas was real, and trying to catch my parents out. I always had my doubts. Is it all ‘make-believe’? One year they went to extraordinary levels to maintain the ‘make-believe’ by even staging an argument as we got into the car to go to a Christmas Eve worship service. One of them stormed back off into the house, while we sat quietly in the back seat (we sat quietly because we didn’t want to get into trouble with our parents already in a bad mood!). When we got back from church, the presents were ‘magically’ under the Christmas tree (put there when they had run into the house after the ‘argument’)!

In a similar way I remember gathering with extended family such as grandparents, uncles, aunties and cousins, ‘making out’ we were all peaceful, happy, content and actually getting on well. Normally we got on well with each other (I have many fond memories of these times), but there were times we’d smile and laugh at each other, privately wishing we could be somewhere else.

The ‘making out’ of Christmas, and the façades of peace and joy and contentment don’t last long. There’s work to be done again soon. We can only be on our best behaviour for so long before our true self lets loose again. If we’re suffering in our health, we can only make out for so long everything’s ok. For many people there’s an empty seat at their Christmas celebration, which can’t be wished away by ‘make-believe’ – the reality of grief is too strong. The reality of families in conflict burst the bubbles of fantasy and well-wishes. Even the shiny Christmas wrappers and decorations will be packed away again. The ‘make-believe’ of Christmas doesn’t last.

When God came to earth as a child, he had no intention of ‘making out’. He came because of the reality – the reality that our relationship with him wasn’t right, the reality that we don’t always get along with each other, and the reality that death or the dying process scares us.

Jesus came into a real world – our world. He came to live among and save poor people, hurting people, sick people, wicked people, injured people, grieving people, and dying people. He could have come and said “Let’s pretend everything’s ok”, but he didn’t. The reality of our corrupted lives and broken relationships is too strong to ignore. He came to heal, restore, reconcile, forgive, and to give life and hope. The hope is real, not make-believe.

When the angels announced ‘peace on earth’, this wasn’t a ‘make-believe’ peace, but a real peace – a peace that leads to true contentment and joy; a peace that drives out fear. He reinforced the point when he announced many times during his life “Don’t be afraid” or “Peace be with you”. This is real peace, but you can’t talk about peace without talking about war. You can’t talk about forgiveness without talking about sin and wrong. You can’t talk about eternal life without talking about death. You can’t talk about the reality of faith without talking about the reality of no faith. We could make out death and sin and pain and suffering and war doesn’t exist, but it does. Make-believe doesn’t last forever.

You see, God came as a human in order to put things right. He came to forgive. Since all forgiveness comes at a cost, he paid the cost by his sacrifice for us. We did the crime, but he did the time. Despite the high cost, his forgiveness is a gift, better than any wrapped present we might receive this Christmas.

He fought the war against death so we might live. He rose again from death so that we know death is defeated. This is the hope we have through faith in Jesus – real eternal life where death doesn’t exist. The story of his life and suffering and death and resurrection isn’t made up. It’s real. We receive the benefits of his life and death and resurrection through trusting him – a real trust, not a make-believe one. Through trusting him, we receive peace and hope and forgiveness and life.

God came among a broken world in the real person of Jesus, born in Bethlehem; born to face our reality, born to give us real forgiveness, real hope, real peace, and real life. Really.