| Christmas Presents |
 Advertising isn’t what it used to be! Do you remember the days when you got the message loud and clear? ‘Hoover beats as it sweeps as it cleans’, for example, or ‘Go to work on an egg!’ or ‘Get ahead – get a hat!’ or ‘Put a tiger in your tank!’ or even, ‘Guinness is good for you’. They don’t make them like that any more! But did you see the television advert shown in the run up to Christmas last year? It was great – I actually looked forward to seeing it each evening. Against the background of a slightly off-key voice, singing to a honky-tonk tune, we were presented with a variety of way-out people, each displaying extraordinary hairstyles, clothes or make-up. These were followed by a series of equally unusual gifts – each matching one of the individuals perfectly. The punch line? ‘Know the person – and you’ll find the gift’. A Baby? Have you ever wondered what on earth God was doing when he sent a Baby into the world on the first Christmas Day? Given the shocking state of the world, surely we needed at least a macho man – powerful and influential – to right the wrongs and bring justice to the world? But God sent us a Baby! The shepherds left their sheep and hurried to Bethlehem, and there, in a stable, lying in a manger, was a new-born Baby! Let’s think it through. What did the advertisement say? ‘Know the person – and you’ll find the gift’. God evidently knew the situation very well. The essential problem with the world is not corrupt national leaders, dodgy organisations, or crooked politicians – but YOU and ME. So God sent a Baby Someone just like us, fully human, with human needs, into a world of conflict without privilege – to live the kind of life that we could never live. Why would he do that? So that he could save us from the selfishness, greed and our pre-occupation with this material world, which blights our lives and keeps us from enjoying God’s presence. So what did he do? He lived an innocent life from start to finish. Then, in his death on the cross, he offered his life as a payment for the debt of our sins. We know God accepted his sacrifice because he came back from the dead on the third day. Get the message? ‘Know the person – and you’ll find the gift’. God knows each of us so well that he sends us the Gift we really need this Christmas time: Jesus Christ, who died for us, and rose again to give eternal life to all who receive him. Michael Toogood |
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