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MCZF UK Christmas message

By Acting Chaplain Revd Dr Clement Matarirano

Introduction

Christmas time means different things to different people. It is a time of great and redeeming memories for some and it is a time of pain, hurt, and mourning for others. What this simply means is that Christmas brings with it the division of memories and experience and therefore, its occasioning cannot have a monolithic essence. Be that as it may, it is noteworthy that for the community of faith, although Christmas brings a plethora of diverse experiences both good and bad, there is a way in which Christmas has some universal significance. Below is an exploration of some of that universal significance.  

In God, there is no separate other

Christmas story is a regathering story. It is a story that yearns for the inclusion of every created human being. It is a story that concerns the aristocracy from the house of David. It is also a story that involves the priests as represented by Zechariah the father of John the Baptist. It is a story that includes ordinary women as contemplated by the inclusion of Mary the mother of Jesus. It is a story that recognises the importance of the shepherds who were outright outcasts during Jesus’s time. It is a story that includes those at the centre of society as represented by wise men. The latter did not only represent wisdom and education, but they also represented the universality of God as they came from the pagan Ancient Near East.  It is also a story of poor women as represented by the voice that was heard in Ramah, Rachel crying for her children. (Mathew 2 v 18) These are the women who are made to endure the death of their children who die at the hands of the ferocity of the empire. As a result of the excesses of the empire, many Zimbabweans find themselves in the UK and South Africa in search of better opportunities. In the same vein, it is a story of all the children whose futures have been destroyed by those controlling the levers of power. Christmas event is a bold message for everyone.  Try and imagine the message it brings to you and your household.

Everyone has a divine spark

The Christmas story assertively affirms that every human being was created with a divine spark located within that individual. Who would have thought that the pagan wisemen could be committed to the star and travel all the way to worship a strange God? The shepherds were known for wild living, cruelty, and dishonesty but they were at the very centre of God’s divine project. The song of Mary tells us that even ordinary people are imbued with a spark of the divine.  This Christmas do not judge others too harshly, in their limitedness lies their very divinity. Do not judge yourself too harshly either, for inside you there is a spark of the divine that awaits to be ignited for you to do great things.

 The sacred and the profane must coexist.

Christmas time is a time that gives room for the divine and the profane to coexist. It seeks to allow the bad and the good to stay together in the same world without the two being confused for each other or without the good being contaminated by the bad. The baby Jesus was born and raised in the world of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They tried to pollute him, but the fragrance would not stick. Christmas time is a reminder that our origins are divine and therefore we must run our race and fight a good fight and above all keep the faith.

Conclusion

May we take time to reflect upon our journeys as Christmas comes by and go? May our imagination be raised beyond personal circumstances of loss, pain, joy, and gain. We need to start seeking the grand and overarching purpose of Christmas. What is its universal task? What is its divine purpose beyond the eating, parting, and fellowship that it is often characterized with? This is God Emmanuel, and its role is purely theological. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.