Two Questions for Chris Martin
“When you’re still waiting for the snow to fall, it doesn’t feel like Christmas at all”. Although, it is a sad song, “Christmas Light” by Coldplay is one of the Christmas tunes you want listen to at this time of year. If you know the song, I know you like it. This is not an advert but the opening sentence of this week’s article comes from that song, which leads me to want to ask Chris Martin (the singer of Coldplay) two questions that we are discussing and trying to answer at church in our Christmas Unwrapped series. Chris, if you are reading this, let us know the answers.
The first question is “What do you need in order to feel Christmassy?”
It is not so difficult to answer this question. Personally, walking in the streets I could feel that Christmas was arriving since the 1st of November. All the shop windows, the day after the 31st of October, already displayed Christmas trees, gingerbread man decorations, snowflakes and, above all, people you met between the stores’ shelves would say, “By the way, if we don’t meet again, have a good Christmas!” It is inevitable that you end up meeting that person loads of time before Christmas — and yes, the “if we don’t see each other again” phrase, will come up regularly. Every. Single. Time.
It’s not just in shopping malls and on TV adverts that you can feel the approach of Christmas either. I have been here in England since mid-November and since then I experienced the lights blooming like ivy around houses; reindeers made of LEDs grazing in the neighbourhood; gigantic inflatable Santas greeting you while you are driving down the road. Almost everything that surrounds you is constantly reminding you that you must feel Christmassy because “Christmas is here and you don’t want to miss it!” Yes, it has been here since November, can you feel it? Someone was telling me that Christmas time has the ability to stretch and multiply what your feelings of the moment are. If you are joyful, Christmas is the best time of the year, because you will feel that joy duplicate. However, if you are going through a bad period, Christmas stretches and expands it, and you feel like the clouds will never go away from your sky. You feel like it is a never-ending cloudy, rainy, dark, cold day and the sun will never come through. “You feel like it isn’t Christmas at all”. Perhaps Coldplay were trying to sing of this hopeless emotion with their song, but I’ll come back to that later on.
Christmas Unwrapped tries to focus on what makes us feel Christmassy by answering another question… “What is it that makes our Christmas?”
The first episode of the series, which was explored by Matt, is ‘the aroma’. How good is it to get up on Christmas day and smell the stuffed turkey roasting with the potatoes in the oven? Mamma mia! Far too good. (Yes, because of lockdown, last year I spent Christmas in the UK, so I know the feeling!) Matt reminded us that Jesus is the fragrant sacrifice through whom we can firmly say that God is with us, even if we are falling to pieces. Through Jesus, we can elevate our prayers as an aroma pleasing to God and, as Christians, we too are called to live a life pleasing to God (Gal 2:20). Smell is very important; is it not the case that a particular smell can remind you of a certain place, in a certain period with certain people? Think about mulled wine. Would you ever think about a dry, hot, sunny beach by smelling mulled wine? In the same way, Christmas should remind us of Jesus’ sacrifice to save us from our condition of sin.
The second ribbon to unwrap Christmas was removed by Joe, who reminded us that ‘the family’ is an essential feature of Christmas. The people whom we love make our Christmas. Love, home, family, friends, good company, good food make a good Christmas. It is not the case that when you wish a happy Christmas to someone you’ll extend the wishes to his/her own family too. In that wishing, there is the implication of spending Christmas with the family, with the beloved people. In our second episode of the series, Joe reminded us that, despite it having been tough, Joseph had been faithful to God by accepting the fact that God used Mary to give birth to Jesus. Through that birth, through Jesus, God is inviting us into his family, because everyone who believes is a part of God’s family. Everyone who believes in the name of Jesus has the right to be called a child of God (John 1:12). Church is nothing but a big wide family ready to welcome you with love, a place to be, and on Fridays we also provide you good quality coffee if you come along to the Café!
Ash will help guide us to unwrap Christmas on the third Sunday, which will be the 19th of December. As I am writing this, he has not yet done his preaching, however, I HAVE A SPOILER! The third inevitable item that characterises Christmas is… drumroll… gifts! Whether on Amazon or last minute Poundland, gifts are something that get a big part of our Christmas. And let’s be honest, there is much joy in both giving and receiving gifts. Probably Christmas sounds like the jingling of the bells, the carols in the streets, Bing Crosby (or Michael Bublé if you are less traditional) singing White Christmas and the noise of the paper being unwrapped. Gifts also appeared in the nativity, through the wise men who show us that even though the dream is good, the reality is much better. This is all I have about the third part of Christmas Unwrapped at Christchurch Xscape! If you want to know more about it, just come and see us on Sunday at 5pm, or join us on YouTube.
Finally, Paul will close the circle on Boxing Day looking at Simeon but I’m afraid I don’t have any spoilers on this.
Aromas, family, gifts. This is what makes us feel Christmassy at Christchurch this year. All of these things have in themselves something about Christmas. Earlier, I said something about the sense of hopelessness that is traceable in the lines of Coldplay’s song. I think it is true. What kind of Christmas is it if what you are waiting for, or the one whom you are waiting for (in the case of the song it is represented by the snow) does not arrive?
This is the second question I would like to ask to Chris Martin; “What does the snow represent for you?”
In a sense, this question can be rephrased as “What one thing is essential to Christmas for you, and why can’t you have Christmas without that thing?”
This is a very personal question. But probably, because of Christmas’ ability to stretch and amplify your feelings, you want your Christmas to be full of positivity. More than gifts, more than food, it must be about something more, something deeper, something hopeful. And let me tell you one thing, there is hope. The Old Testament, with its prophecies about a Saviour, tells us of this hope that people had even when the maker of that hope came on earth. Jesus is the hope. He is the one to look out for this Christmas. The hope that in this period of the year we remember, the hope that we could not have a Christmas without. Jesus is hope. Jesus is the one in whom we can find the meaning of Christmas and in whom we can feel Christmas. You don’t have to wait for him, but go to him and your hope will be alive because God loves you. If he didn’t, Christmas would never be a thing. This is the reason why you can “keep shining on”.
I hope there will be nothing that will hinder you from feeling Christmassy this year. I hope to meet you before the 25th and tell you “By the way if we don’t meet…”, but if that doesn’t happen, then I wish you a meaningful Christmas, rich of hope and joy. Come and see us on Sunday. We will wait for you. Happy Christmas. God bless.
Matteo Garofano
