Love came down at Christmas

This message on the above theme was given to the congregation of Bakau Methodist Church, on Christmas day.  

Eric is a 16 year old youth who is currently  attending Marina International School. He delivered this message eloquently. He obviously took the trouble to do some research on the topic which was meaningful and well thought out.

It was such a good address that Bijou Peters decided to reproduce it for publication. Good morning, Christian friends, my theme this morning is: “Love came down at Christmas”.  God is love and love is the key to peace among nations. On this day our saviour Jesus Christ was born.

It was a spectacular and unique day and his birth was recognised generally as a very special occasion. The wise men saw a bright star  and they knew that a king was born and decided to follow the star to discover where it led to.  King Herod ruled that region and on their way the wise men visited the king to give him the news and to ask where the birth had taken place. The king was filled with hatred and jealousy for this newly born baby. He told the wise men to go on their way and when they had found him they were to return to him so that he too would pay homage to the infant.

The wise men continued on their journey, following the star until it  came and rested over the place where the baby Jesus  was with his mother, Mary, and Joseph, his father.  They went in, worshiped the infant and presented gifts to him, gift of gold, myrrh and frankincense. They were warned by an angel in a dream not to return to Herod, so they departed by another route.

There were also shepherds watching over their sheep in the field when suddenly the heavens appeared to open and they heard and saw angels singing and praising God. That must have been an amazing sight.  Imagine being one of those shepherds viewing a host of angels filling the  air  with songs of praise.  Heaven came down to the plains of Bethlehem where Jesus was born. The angels had told the shepherds of Baby Jesus’ birth and they too went to see the baby and to worship and sing praises to God.

Love is the key to peace throughout the world, without it there can be no peace. On Christmas day we do not only celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ but we also celebrate the love of God to mankind by sending his only son to die for our sins and save us. At   this festive season people decorate their houses, buy new clothes and so on.  

Here in The Gambia we paint our houses and do a lot of shopping for foodstuffs and other   luxuries. Christmas is like streamers of warmth and wonderful family memories of images that we treasure and hold dear and wrap around ourselves to keep us warm as it were when Christmas comes round. It keep us warm, comfortable and hopeful.  We normally invite friends to share in our warmth.

We tend to give red roses to friends we care for on valentine days, birthdays and other social occasions.  What does the colour, red, signify - it represents love, affection and care. On this day we do not only spend money on clothes and dress but we ought to demonstrate love and care for others and the less fortunate.

The interesting thing about Xmas is that it wasn’t celebrated for the first 300 years or so, but today it is the biggest industry in the world and the occasion has been highly commercialised because all kinds of gifts are sold at this time, including apparels, which we spend money on to look nice. This is not the essence of Christmas. We ought to remember that we should all learn about the importance of humility which is what the christ child came to teach us about. He was born in humble circumstances in a manger and not in a golden bed and luxury.

This indicates that Xmas should not only be celebrated outwardly by spending the time at parties and enjoying ourselves, it is more than that. We are expected to prepare our hearts for Jesus to enter in. If you cannot afford new things, do not take anything on credit or be tempted to steal in order to get something that you cannot afford. God does not look at the clothes you put on, the shoes you wear, or your status in life. So do not let poverty get in the way of your celebrating Christmas, because your heart is pure and free from evil thoughts.

This is what matters to God.  Now to the young ones, do not bother your parents for this, that and the other, if they really cannot afford them. Your parents do love you and want to get you what you need. But remember that the greatest gift of all is that Jesus has been planted in your heart, a wonderful and precious gift indeed.  Let us not forget the essence of Christmas.

Some people stay out late, enjoying themselves, and they begin to make excuses when it comes to going to church on this special day to thank God for his mercy and love for us. We must not allow worldly things to choke us as occurs when crops are choked by weeds and tares, and prevented from growing well. As we worship God at the services, we must put aside any thought which might choke us from receiving God’s word.

Giving is another worthy attitude and we must inculcate it during Christmas and other days. As the saying goes, giving is living, we should give and do so with our open and charitable hearts and not to give because we expect to receive something in return. When you give, you feel good because you have helped someone in need.  

When we give let us give like Abel did, something worthwhile and good, unlike Cain who did not give of his best. God will certainly bless the cheerful giver. Christians, we must celebrate Christmas in our  hearts not only on Christmas day, but throughout the year. Christmas brings hope and strengthen our faith in God.

The Christmas tree is recorded to have originated from Germany. But why is it a Fig tree?  This tree is an evergreen tree and indicates that as the fig tree remains green throughout the year, so should our faith grow all the year round and remain fresh.
 
Christmas is not about parties, not about dresses, not about colourful decorations, not about Christmas trees, it is all about love and we thank God that we know about Christmas and its significance because love came down to us as tidal waves.