And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Luke 1:67-79
In an age when Christmas becomes more and more commercialised each year, it is surely a natural reaction for the Christian to be concerned that the good wishes he expresses should not be merely formal or matter-of-course, and that the greetings he sends should really be something more than a 'duty' exchange, something in fact which conveys a sincere and grateful spirit of remembrance and thanks to those to whom he sends them. We should be grateful for friendship and what it means to us, and for the many good things that association and fellowship with one another have brought to our lives, and it is good that we should have opportunity to say so. And if this be the spirit in which greetings are sent (and what is written in cards will have been chosen with this in view), then it is surely right for us to treat each card or other greeting (however many we receive) individually as a personal expression, and give it due regard as such, with suitable thoughtfulness and appreciation. This would take longer, one might think, at a busy time of the year, but Christmas would be immeasurably enriched for those who take the trouble to do so.
An even greater problem for many people than the commercialisation of Christmas is the seeming contradiction between what the story of Bethlehem proclaims - peace on earth, goodwill among men - and the continuing disorders and turmoils that convulse the world as we know it. How are we to think of it in relation to the atrocities and violence that have shocked and appalled our hearts in different parts of the world? The situation seems to be getting worse, not better; is the song of the angels nothing but an idle dream, unrelated to the grim realities of modern life? It might seem so; but for one decisive fact, namely that the kingdom of God is meantime hidden, and perceived only by faith.
One of the loveliest ‘words’ of Christmas is found in the Benedictus - 'The Dayspring from on high hath visited us' (Luke 1:78, AV). The word Luke uses here (‘Sunrise’ ESV) means 'the dawning of a new day', and this in fact is what Christmas means.
But how does a day dawn? Not with a sudden blaze of sunlight, but with the faintest streak of grey on the eastern horizon, so slight that you would almost think your eyes had deceived you. So it is with the kingdom of God. For those who have ears to hear, the hour of dawn has struck, and the darkness is about to pass, and daybreak will come at last. The gloom of the night may stretch far into the morning, creating an annoying half-light that is neither light nor darkness, but a time will come when it will be seen that the darkness has been conquered once and for all.
It is for this reason that we must always at Christmas time think also of the Coming of Christ that lies in the future, for this alone makes sense of the Christmas message. We stand, as believers, on the borderline between two worlds, and we must not be surprised that the encounter between them should be marked by conflict, nor should we allow this to undermine our confidence in the ultimate victory of light over darkness. For the promise is sure, and the prophecy 'Peace on earth' will be fulfilled when He comes to reign. The best of Christmas is yet to be, and in the meantime we celebrate it, as we do the Sacrament, 'till He come'.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Matt. 25:31-34