Have you also noticed that Christmas seemed to start a little earlier this year? It’s not just me; some commentators are highlighting that we are feeling extra anxious this year and looking for some early cozy comfort and Christmas cheer. When the world around us feels uncertain, gathering around a tree with cookies feels like an antidote.
It reminds me that the first Christmas was also a scary time.
The Roman empire was in full occupation of the land of Palestine. Jews, including Mary and Joseph, were forced to migrate to their hometowns to register in a Roman census. People were on the move. Religious leaders spent a great deal of time arguing about the best approach forward, without doing much to create change. For most of our human history, in fact, we have lived in uncertain times. That knowledge, however, provides little comfort during our current moments of uncertainty.
For most of us, including myself, it is far too easy to fall into the cynicism of predicting that things will only get worse and then to live into self-fulfilling prophecies where the only recourse is to double down and seek cozy or go shopping.
When the angel appeared to the shepherds that very first Christmas in a blast of light, they were, in fact, terrified.
The angel’s very first words were a command. “Do not be afraid!”
Do not be afraid. What a statement for our anxious and uncertain word! Sometimes that bright light of the angels is not the climax of our all-too predictable nightmares but the revelation that the world is not exactly how we see it. That doesn’t mean that horror is absent or that tragedy is not unfolding around us and within us.
The angel doesn’t stop. “Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy.” Not only are they to move out of their fear, but the shepherds are also asked to reorient their understanding of the world. In the midst of very real darkness, the good news of comfort and joy is also present, embodied in the most unexpected and uncertain way possible: a tiny baby.
The Christmas message that I am focusing on this year is the same message the angels sang to the shepherds: to not let my fear and uncertainty blind me to the good news and tidings of great joy that could be happening in the barn next door. I want to see the world with Jesus-centred eyes and , despite the very real hard, to also notice what could be good and joyful, and to find comfort in God at work in real and often surprising ways, in the world around me.
With that in mind, I’ve challenged myself to look at the past year with good news eyes. Just like a baby who both embodies the here and now, and also the possibility of change for the future, I’m trying to pay attention to both present good news and seeds of future hope. Here are just a few of the elements I’m noting.
Welcoming new members to our Peace & Justice team this year and seeing the possibilities, both now and into the future, for enhanced advocacy work for peace, justice, and human dignity.
The thousands of letters all of you have sent around Gaza and the slow change of the government around Canada’s positions. While horror continues to unfold, care, concern and solidarity are also present, creating the possibilities of change. Paradoxically, a renewed global focus on ongoing human rights violations reminds us of its importance as a concept to all of us.
The passing of Bill C-266, a law to address environmental racism and to advance environmental justice.
MCC Executive Directors travelled to Ottawa this May and heard about the important role Anabaptists play as peacemakers in Canada from Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum.
MCC's partners in Myanmar have been living and working in active combat zones. The good news is that they were able to gather in Cambodia for a week-long retreat. The theme of the gathering was "Staying hopeful through difficult times." Partners were able to a be in safe space to unwind, be listened to and replenish their strength for continued service.
Every application to sponsor a newcomer family and the possibilities of mutual transformation that exist within that process.
Mennonite World Conference Creation Care Taskforce monthly meetings that lead to equipped and empowered global churches taking climate action.
Peace conferences and peace camps and peace games and peace trains and peace social media.
Investment in clean energy globally has overtaken fossil fuels. In fact, renewable energy is now cheaper than new coal and gas in most major countries.
All of you, our MCC supporters, sending us emails and affirmation, hosting events, using our climate postcard, talking climate and practicing peace, donating to our program, and asking us to do more advocacy.
The shepherds didn’t stop with a feeling of awe or comfort. After the angel left, they went to the barn. They worshiped. They went out to spread the good news in a world still gripped in fear and anxiety.
Great joy is not found in only hearing good news. It is found in the actions that we take, with one another, that fully allow us to be transformed into bearers of the gospel, as we learn to see the world differently.
Fear and uncertainty are very real, yet our calling is to be people of good news in the midst of fear.
This Christmas season let’s spend time seeking comfort and joy with our loved ones, perhaps around a tree with those cookies. As we do so, let’s also not lose sight of the very real good news working within us and in the world around us and ask how we can join in.