PASTORAL LETTER - December 1999

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. . . ." - John 3:16 [NIV]

This is probably one of the most familiar of all Bible verses. If you belong to an older age bracket or have come from a particular Christian tradition you certainly memorised it as a Golden Text in Sunday School. It encapsulates the very essence of the Gospel. It pinpoints what the Good News from God is all about. What better thought on which to focus in this last Christmas of the 20th century, the final Christmas before the millennium? With all the hoopla and razzmatazz about the Millennium - with all its weird and extravagant events planned, so many of which are being cancelled - one wonders how many people do in fact realise what this famous Millennium event is actually celebrating. Setting aside all the disputes about when the millennium should properly be celebrated, or about the true year of the birth of Jesus, it is still his birth which divides history to before and after. Before it became so politically incorrect to do so, we talked about BC - before Christ, and AD - the year of our Lord. How many of our fellow citizens caught up in the extravaganza and hype of millennium fever that the heart of the millennium is two thousand years of Jesus Christ?

1. Incarnation: Christmas is about God sending his one and only Son into the world and of his becoming a human being. John in his Gospel cuts through all the familiar elements of the Christmas story - Caesar's census, the journey to Bethlehem, the birth in the stable, the adoration of shepherds and wise men, the angel host singing praise to God - to the essence of the reality - "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us . . . . . . full of grace and truth" [1:14]. Previously God had sought to reveal himself through the teachings of great leaders, Moses, Joshua, the Judges and prophets of the Old Testament. The ultimate, concluding factor of the divine revelation is the person of his Son. He shows us what God is like - through his words, deeds, attitudes and relationships. He demonstrates compassion and concern in touching the leper, feeding the hungry, giving sight to the blind, making the lame walk, having warm relationships with outcasts, sinners, gentiles, women and children. When the disciples asked, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us", Jesus' response was, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father". He was God in human form. He was the Servant-King here on earth on a sacred mission to do the Father's will and complete the work the Father had sent him to do.

2. Atonement: However, this so familiar verse has other connotations. God loved the world so much "he gave his one and only Son", refers not only to his coming as a baby into the world. The great coming of Jesus is not only about Incarnation, it is about Atonement - about our being brought into a right relationship with a holy and loving God. The Good News includes not just the crib in Bethlehem but the cross on Calvary. Remember how in the context of this conversation with Nicodemas Jesus states quite categorically "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" [3:14f]. The lifting up of Jesus is a concept John repeatedly refers to in his Gospel. It links his suffering and death physically on the Cross, and the significant proclamation of the Good News metaphorically to his being glorified. It anticipates the Day of the Lord and the consummation of the Kingdom in all its fullness, when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that "Jesus Christ is Lord" to the glory of God the Father. Thus the Millennium about to be celebrated has its significance in the person of Jesus Christ and includes both the crib and cross, together with the full significance of both these "shorthand" Gospel metaphors - not to mention, in anticipation, the crown which belongs to him as King of kings and Lord of Lords.

3. Love: In the face of so much misconception and misunderstanding about the Christian message, we need to spell it out. The message and truth of Christmas is driven by love. The message and truth of the cross, Calvary and Easter is driven by love. The heart-core of the whole Jesus-event is love. To revert to our Lord's conversation with Nicodemas, "God so loved the world . . .". Here is the clear motivation on God's part. Further, in view of our all-too-upside-down way of looking at the Gospel and Christian truth, Jesus explicitly tells him, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him" [3:17]. This note is repeatedly struck in the Bible. How can we not see it? Why do we constantly misunderstand it? We are told that God loves us like a father should his family, that God cares for us like a mother looks after her children. It is at the centre of both of Jesus' most famous parables. The loving Father runs to greet the returning prodigal son from the far country, and goes out plead with the angry elder brother to invite him into the celebration. The loving, compassionate good Samaritan goes to the help of the injured traveller on the Jericho road. Ultimately it has nothing to do with "dos" and "don'ts", with petty rules and regulations. The Father and the Son are not working at odds with each other, but rather in glorious, gracious harmony and unity of purpose. "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" [2Cor 5:19]. They were working together in Bethlehem and on Calvary, through the cradle and the cross to bring us savingly home to God. To this same end the Holy Spirit works in the world still. This is why the true mark of the follower of Jesus in every age has been that we "love one another" as God loves us. There's the rub. That is what sets it apart from the self-seeking, ego-tripping, me first lifestyle which so often sadly characterises our contemporary society. The love of God, shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, is deep working, life-transforming, other-serving and costly. It springs from the grace we have received.

These are things the world needs to hear, know and experience about the true meaning of the Millennium. Together and personally we need to play our part in making it possible. It doesn't seem to have got through that the Millennium is a celebration of who Jesus is, what He has done and what He offers us. In addition, do remember those who are less fortunate than ourselves this Christmas. Once again, we commend to your generosity the Christmas Appeals on behalf of Christian World Service and TEAR Fund. Additional envelopes and promotional materials are available on the cross aisle tables. Envelopes may be returned at any of the Services. God bless you all this Christmas

Yours very sincerely,

J O EVANS