Christmas message of hope from City Rector in troubled times

"Only when it is darkest can you see the star," said Martin Luther King in what turned out to be his final speech in April 1968.

He was reaching for hope, the world around him was full of complexities and fears, intractable problems and violence. He knew that despair is the enemy of good resolutions, and he encourages his listeners to look up and look forward.

In December 1967 he had said: "This Christmas season finds us a rather bewildered human race. We have neither peace within nor peace without. Everywhere paralyzing fears harrow people by day and haunt them by night.

"Our world is sick with war; everywhere we turn we see its ominous possibilities."

The world may feel rather similar to that of 1967 (or indeed many years through the centuries). It has been a bewildering and tragic time for so many; the horror of world events has affected attitudes and mindsets close to home, and this has been alongside our own struggles and griefs.

King was always aware of the danger of despair (in himself as well as in the community). Despair can lead to inaction and resignation, to a lack of commitment to improve the lot of one’s neighbour or oneself.

In that 1967 Christmas sermon, he had followed the Bethlehem narrative into Easter, describing it in one of his favourite phrases: An eternal reminder of the fact that the truth crushed to earth will rise again.

Christmas reminds us of our essential calling to be people of hope.

A baby reminds us of new beginnings and opportunities, of love and commitment that can bear great fruit. In the 1970s, that remarkable era of Christmas songs, Johnny Mathis reminded us that “When a child is born” always has significance. The flipside is that we react with shock and horror strongly, and should do, when we see children suffer.

Back to Luther King’s 1967 sermon: "Man is more than a tiny vagary of whirling electrons or a wisp of smoke from a limitless smouldering. Man is a child of God, made in His image, and therefore must be respected as such."

A path to hope is always to try and see the value in our neighbour, near and far, to believe in them, to want the best for them.

To believe that new beginnings are possible. At the heart of Christmas is the baby in Bethlehem, do we have the courage to believe in new beginnings, to be people of hope?

Babies are small, and so was Bethlehem. Another part of this narrative is the valuing of the little, of the ordinary.

Mary and Joseph, scandal-hit and made to move homes at an Emperor’s whim, suddenly become rather important.

Bethlehem, whose glory days were long, long, past, suddenly is the centre of attention. It is a reminder that, even when we feel small we still matter, we are part of a much bigger story.

Bishop Ken Untener wrote: "This is what we are about.

"We plant the seeds that one day will grow.  We water the seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.  We lay foundations that will need further development.  We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

"We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realising that.  This enables us to do something and to do it well. 

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.  We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker."

People in the Bethlehem narrative played their part, as so many have done so in Oxford this year, giving time and energy to do the right thing, to explore and find out more. Mary and Joseph, Shepherds and kings are on the move.

The only character who does not move is Herod, and his reaction is to try and crush the story of new birth and new hope.

Perhaps there is a challenge for us, as we take care in 2024 to build and encourage, to travel with hope and help others to do so.

In St Michael at the North Gate we have a Christmas Tree and a pile of cards. People write notes of thanks or concern, appreciation or anxiety, and hang them on the tree.

Some are prayers, some are comments. These become the decorations, moments in people’s lives being remembered and honoured. On Sunday we sang about Bethlehem: 
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

Whatever our hopes and fears may be, a happy and hopeful Christmas to us all.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

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