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December 2000, Page 2.
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(December 2000)
Vicar's Letter,
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Genuine Christmas
Cast out our sin, and enter in; Be born in us today
(from "O little town of Bethlehem")
“Christmas is all about being born again” said a lady at a church I once attended. She had become a convinced Christian believer at the service of nine lessons and carols, and she wanted others to find Jesus too.
At the time we had a new baby in our house, and we knew how this can fill a family with anticipation and new resolutions. The birth of Jesus meant the beginning of a new relationship with God for the whole of the human family, and Christmas is a good time for making this personal.
The words of the carol (above) ask us two questions:
First, are we born again? Has Jesus been born in us? “Born again” sounds pure Billy Graham, but really it’s pure Jesus: he coined the phrase. It’s not just the label for one kind of Christian. Jesus taught we all need to be born again.
What does “Born Again” mean? It means understanding: grasping the abstract “Christ died once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God”, and realizing it means me: Christ died for me, to cancel my sin and bring me to God. It means accepting a free gift: God wants to give me his power and his strength to live a new life, but he won’t force it on me and he waits for me to open the door of my heart to him. It means decision: inviting Jesus to occupy the driving seat of my life, and resolving to go his way rather than mine.
How does a person get to be born again? It is the gift of God, but it cannot happen without the human heart’s response. Have we, who call ourselves Christians, responded?
Second, are we eager for others to be born again? Statistics say that about a quarter of the adult population of Britain come to church during the Christmas period - far more than go to football matches. Of course, some of those visits may be to concerts or school events where there may be no Christian message of Jesus coming to earth - but many will be to services where Jesus is explained and the lives of his followers demonstrate his power. Are we taking advantage of the chance for our friends and neighbours to hear about Jesus for themselves, so that they can begin weighing up whether they can believe in him, accept him, and decide to let him make a positive difference in their lives?
John Hartley