In their annual Christmas messages, bishops of the Church of England speak of the end of 2021 as a time of uncertainty and anxiety but say the message of the Christmas story is needed more than ever.
The Bishop of Lichfield, Dr Michael Ipgrave (see photo), refers to weeks of uncertainty about whether some Christmas celebrations should go ahead amid concerns about spreading covid-19, at the end of “another unsettling year for the human race, and us as individuals”.
But he adds: “Every Christmas we tell again the story of … God, who loves our world so much that he chooses to come among us – not because he is obliged to, not because we have asked him to, but simply out of grace.
“We always begin with grace, and we always come back to grace, shown in the sign of Emmanuel, God with us in Jesus Christ, born as a baby among us.
“No law, no government, no power on earth can cancel the wonder of that birth.”
In his message, the Bishop of Coventry, Dr Christopher Cocksworth, takes up the theme.
He asks: “If Christmas is about hope breaking into a hopeless world, why are we so quick to speak of Christmas being ‘cancelled’ under the threat of things such as a new variant?
“Nothing can cancel Christmas, even if circumstances mean that our celebrations are imperfect.
“Jesus’s birth, after all, was messy – an unexpected pregnancy, a young family on the move, a makeshift birthplace.
“What matters is that our Christmas celebrations this year – and I pray they’ll be easier than the last – tell us of the constant, unchanging reality that God is with us in every situation.”
The Bishop of Gloucester, Rachel Treweek, speaks about how recent events – whether refugees travelling to seek safety or the pandemic restrictions which affected where everyone could or could not go at different times – have shown the power of “place”.
The same thing is reflected most powerfully of all in the Christmas story, she explains.
“Over 2,000 years ago, God chose to come to earth in human flesh and live among us,” she says.
“I love the translation of John’s Gospel which says, ‘The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood’.”
She adds: “Wherever you are, whatever your story, God knows you by name and loves you, and Jesus Christ is present to be encountered in the places where you are.
“This Christmas may each of us be open to the hope and love and life of Jesus Christ in all the different places of our lives. God with us.”
The Bishop of Burnley Philip North, reflects that Jesus was born in the midst of great uncertainty.
“This will be an odd Christmas,” he says.
“I hope you enjoy yourselves and have a good time, but we are going to be anxious, it is an uncertain year.
“We’ll be watching the news and wondering what new restrictions are going to be imposed on our lives.
“So, in the midst of it all why not take some time to gaze into the manger, to look at Mary’s child, because in that baby we find the One in whom we can place all our trust.”