Christine Bryant, Lay Minister, St John’s.
A generous friend phoned me yesterday to ask if she could help prepare food for one of our Christmas services. We got to talking about who she and her husband would celebrate Christmas with.
“The family is all coming here”, she said; “I’ve already started to prepare”. She then told me that she had also invited a distant relative
plus new partner because the children of them both would not be with them for Christmas.
“I couldn’t let them have a sad, lonely Christmas!” This clearly reminds me of Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem with nowhere to stay.
It was Joseph’s ancestral village, his marae, but no distant whanau invited them in. It was left to the innkeeper who was already full up to show them to a stable area where they could shelter.
Little did he know that the Son of God would be born is his stable that night. More than any other time of the year, Christmas is about being generous – not with material goods – but with time, hospitality, love and caring.
“Te harinui” said the angel; “I bring you good news”. The Son of God came to bring love and peace. Whilst Christians everywhere pray for peace among peoples, especially between Israel and Palestine, also Ukraine and Russia, on behalf of all at St John’s, I wish you peace in all your homes and whanau. And I ask: Is there room for one more at your inn this Christmas? – Lay minister Christine Bryant
