Bishop Chad Gandiya Christmas 2014 Message Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among those whom he favours! Happy Christmas to you all! I would like to invite you all to take a few moments this Christmas to reflect on the contrast and contexts between the kings or royalty (Augustus Caesar, Quirinius and Herod) mentioned in Luke’s birth narrative (Lk. 1 & 2) and the baby Jesus whose birth we are celebrating. Pay special attention to the dignity gap between them. Jesus entered this world with no dignity! He was born of parents who were not married – a practise despised and discouraged in most societies. His cradle was a feeding trough or manger. His nursery mates had four legs! He was wrapped in rags. He was born in a cave or livestock kraalr (Lk.2.7). Worse still, he was targeted for death from birth (Matt. 2.13-18). We can say that he was raised on the run! This is Jesus’ birth we are talking about. This is Christmas! As if that was not enough, he would later die with even less dignity – convicted on trumped up charges, beaten, bleeding, abandoned, naked and shamed. He certainly had no status. But, he was king! In contrast, Augustus in Rome was a “god”! In Judea was a king – Herod often referred to as Herod the Great. He was born of noble birth, leader of armies, King of the Jews – a title conferred on him by the Roman Senate at the age of 33 and was regarded as a friend of the Romans. He was a skilled politician and at the same time a great builder; but, he was also very ruthless – even to his family. Caesar could remark that (given the Jewish refusal to eat pork) it was better to be Herod’s pig than his son! Yet as king he had dignity and greatness. Christmas challenges all this. In this world full of treachery, murder, exploitation etc. the birth of Jesus challenges us to declare where we stand on all issues that erode human dignity. Do we stand with Herod in the slaughter of the innocent or with the magi in the pursuit of truth with respect and humility? My brothers and sisters in Christ, I am challenging you not to be blinded by the glitter and glamour of what we have made of Christmas which is far from what the first Christmas was really like. Do not get carried away by some of our beautiful Christmas carols that camouflage the context of the first Christmas. For instance, on the night Jesus was born, ‘all was not calm’ or ‘bright’. Did the little baby really sleep in ‘heavenly peace’ when Herod’s soldiers were slaughtering other babies? We sing, “O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie”, but was Bethlehem really still when Herod was committing these atrocities? In the ancient world life was ordered in a strictly hierarchical way. At the top were the gods, then the king and under the king were members of the court and priests, then the artisans, merchants, craftspeople and then the peasants and slaves. The king was semi-divine and he was the only one believed to be created in the image of the god. This was the dividing line between the king and the rest of humanity. Peasants and slaves were believed not to be created in the image of that god but created by inferior gods. This is the dignity gap – the farther you are down the ladder the wider the gap. That baby Jesus who came into the world with no dignity challenged and changed all that. He confirmed what Israel had always known for centuries before him that there is one God. He is good and gracious. Every human being was created in his image. John says that the Word became flesh and lived among us (Jn. 1.14). He restored human dignity. Christmas challenges us all to do the same. Restore other people’s dignity by not raping or abusing them, exploiting or discriminating against them but by respecting them, creating employment so that everyone fulfils their potential, working towards the provision of decent housing, clean water, electricity etc. for all and stopping all wars – for we are all created in the image of that one good and gracious God whose Son came to restore our dignity. Once again, Happy Christmas and Happy New Year! “The word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth”. +Chad, Harare Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Harare
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 09:13:09 +0000