Christmas message from the Anglican Church

What are you hoping for this Christmas?

As we approach Christmas this year, I wonder what it is you’re hoping for. Perhaps Christmas itself is the thing you’re hoping for, the chance to eat lots of food, sing carols, put the tree up, be around friends and family. Maybe you’re hoping for a rest at the end of another big and tiring year, to switch off, forget your responsibilities and have a break. You might be hoping for a fresh start, or for something to change, for things to improve.

In the book of Isaiah, the people of Israel were desperate for things to improve. They are described as rebellious people who have turned their backs on God. They are facing his judgement and their future seemed full of gloom and despair.

But Isaiah then presents an unimaginable hope. A hope where there will be no more gloom or darkness, where there will be light and salvation.

Isaiah 9:6 says - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

It is a child, a son that will bring this hope for Israel. But this is no ordinary child. It is a child described as a Mighty God, a Prince of Peace.

Isaiah goes onto describe this child as the righteous king, the one who has the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the one who knows God and acts justly. He is the one who will bring justice to the poor and the oppressed and will rightfully judge the wicked.

And this king will ultimately bring universal peace. Isaiah 11:6-9 says - The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

What an image this is! What a picture to hope for. A wolf living with a lamb, a lion with a fattened calf. Predators with their prey. It seems unimaginable, and yet this is what God promises for his people.

And we have the joy, we have the hope of knowing this peace, and knowing the Prince of Peace that brings this image into reality. Jesus is the child that was to be born, he is the one who cares for the poor and oppressed, he is the one who saves.

And we can have this peace because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. You see we are no different than the Israelites in the book of Isaiah. We are just as sinful, we are just as rebellious, we have all rejected God in one way or another, and we all deserve the punishment of God.

Nevertheless, there is hope, there is salvation because of Jesus. As Jesus came into the world as a child, as he grew up to live a perfectly obedient life, as he was obedient even to death on a cross, the only innocent, perfect human, took our sin on his shoulders. He bore the punishment of God’s wrath that we deserve, so that we could be made right with God, so that we could have forgiveness, so that we could have life.

And so surely this is what we hope in this Christmas. If you haven’t trusted in Jesus as your Lord yet, then this hope is available for you today. Why not come to church and find out more this Christmas. Jesus has come as the promised saviour. He has died and risen to offer you life eternal, to take you out of darkness and despair, into his light and hope. When the hopes of this world fail us, look to the Prince of Peace for true hope and salvation.

Matthew Hearne, Minister of Barraba Anglican.