Rev. Shourabh Pholia :
Today the whole world is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. The Christian community believes that on this day the Almighty showed His love for the whole world by sending Himself to earth through Jesus Christ. Therefore, Christmas is a time to receive and share the Divine love of God with Him and with one another. It includes everyone in this world. In the Holy Scriptures, in John chapter 1 it says,
“14 So the Word [Jesus Christ] became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.16 From His abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.”
Christmas is a time of joy. In the Holy Scriptures it is written, “But the angel said to them, do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”(Luke 2:10).
It’s a time of great joy because we are blessed to receive and have the tangible, concrete Person of God among us, born as a baby. In the Holy Scriptures, it says, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God with us'” (Mathew 1:23). The broken relationship between the Almighty and humanity, which was caused by Adam and Eve’s disobedience, became restored and healed through Jesus Christ. From Jesus Christ’s life on earth, we have received the opportunity to be in close relationship with the Almighty once again as Adam and Eve had that privilege in the beginning. By Jesus Christ’s incarnation we can receive freedom from our broken relationship with the Almighty. The Holy Scriptures say, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” (Luke 4:18).
On 16th December we celebrated Victory Day and on 26th March we celebrated Independence Day – these days remind us as Bengali people the source of our freedom, and so we celebrate. So also during Christmas we remember the source of our freedom from all bondage. He has freed us from injustice, sins, weakness, bondage, torture etc., which are evil in us and in our society. The Almighty is just and holy. He wants us to be holy so that all can have a meaningful and fulfilling life.
Christmas is a time to receive a gift. During Christmas God gave us His special gift, the sacrificial gift of love by God Himself coming to earth through Jesus Christ. It is a mystery, a divine relationship of heart and mind, which goes beyond blood relationship. It is a divine-human relationship where oneness, with-ness can be tangibly experienced. To sacrifice someone’s son or daughter for another person or a country is not easy unless he or she has love for that person or country. Being Bengali we know this very well, as we experienced it in 1971. Many loved the country and so they laid down their lives for it. Also, many parents sent their children to fight for our country’s freedom. Therefore, we human beings can understand God’s love for us in our limited way which He has showed to us by sending Jesus into our world.
Therefore, Christmas is a time to receive the gift of love from God and to share that gift with many through our lives. It should not be limited only to distributing cards and decorating Christmas trees with artificial gifts, but it should be a sacrificial love from our hearts. This love should be shared with the world, especially where there is no love and sacrifice for one another. God’s love shown to humanity by sending Jesus Christ should be visible in a loveless world where people are suffering under the unjust structures of our society and systems. It should be visible where the poor and downtrodden are suffering, where adivasis are homeless, where refugees are crying for shelter, where children and innocent people are dying in ceaseless wars and terrorist activities, where fundamentalism is suppressing minorities, where women and children are abused and tortured, and where consumerism depletes the earth’s resources and pollutes God’s beautiful nature. Let the message of Christmas help us to share His love with all those who are in need so there will be joy throughout the whole world.
(The writer is Secretary, Bangladesh Bible Society and Priest, Church of Bangladesh.)
