The Revelation of God
Christmas Day, 25 December, 2001
Fr Neville Connell
Assistant Priest, St Peter's, Eastern Hill
There has been much darkness in this past year, above all on 11th September;
but also in other parts of the world. Tensions have been rising between Israel
and the Palestinian people, the conflicts in Sri Lanka and Sudan seem no
nearer to resolution, and East Timor is only very slowly recovering from
its painful road to independence. Perhaps we in Australia have been sheltered
by comparison, yet our road toll in Victoria is up by 10% – 40 more
people killed this year and no one seems to care much apart from the police.
Tragedy often visits families at this time – people are upset because
it shouldn't happen at Christmas. We know really that these events, however
painful, are not unusual, even if different in some ways. But we need to
remember that last century (which already seems so long ago) saw two World
Wars, in which tens of millions of people died. It is the human condition.
This human condition, human frailty, can lead to anger, frustration, despair
and rejection of belief in God, or of any religious belief. Or, for some, a
turning to religious commitment. At such times, all of us will ask, "Where is
God in all this pain and turmoil?"; "Where is God in the meaninglessness and
alienation in our world?".
Nonetheless, we gather this morning to celebrate God's action in our world.
Our Christian religion is a religion of revelation, not something made by man
to answer a need; a way of life revealed, given to us, shown to us by God –
God out there, shall we say. Yet, as we celebrate today, God-with-us, Emmanuel.
Our Reading from St John's Gospel reminds us that we are people of eternity
so that we must see all things in the context of eternity. The Birth of Jesus
at Bethlehem was the greatest moment of revelation to us, we believe, but not
the only revelation. The Creation itself was an act of revelation, revealing
the mind the heart of God. The call of the Hebrew people was another, during
which, over the centuries, God revealed more of himself as they, through the
Prophets, were able to understand and grow. The struggle to be faithful to
God was, in itself, a revelation from God, as he helped them to know themselves
honestly in their faithfulness and their failures – the human condition.
Into this ongoing life with God came the great revelation – the birth
of Jesus at Bethlehem. A humble birth in very humble circumstances. Jesus'
birth in a stable was not so much a rejection by the society of his day, as
an irrelevance – it was just another birth. "He was in the world that
had its being through him, and the world did not know him" (John 1:10). Does
this not say something to us today about what we consider to be important:
if the birth of the Son of God could be so ignored?
How are we to understand God's revelation? Where are we to look for God's
revelation? Elijah found it in a "still small voice"; perhaps we are looking
in the wrong place for God's action today. Perhaps God is very much at work
revealing himself today, but people cannot see. A priest in New York City,
chaplain to the Fire Brigade, simply doing his work (and who died doing it)
comes to mind.
How have we come to know Jesus? Who has revealed him to us? Where were we
at the time? St John writes "All that came to be had life in him and that life
was the light of men, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness
could not overpower." (Jn 1:4-5), and, "The Word was the true light that
enlightens all men." (Jn 1:9). Who has brought the light of Jesus into our
lives? Who revealed Jesus to me? And having had the light of Jesus shine into
our lives, must we not pass it on? Yes, because we are people of eternity.
This is the light of Him who was with the Father from the beginning, Jesus
the Son of God. How then do we pass it on? By following in the way of Jesus.
His life was one continuous revelation, summed up in the word, love. He loved
people by teaching them, healing them, suffering for them – for us –
dying for them, for us.
This is our way of revelation. For some this will lead to holiness. For
most of us it will be a struggle – two steps forward, one step back,
and sometimes the reverse, often the reverse. Sometimes we will reveal the
love of God by our failure and humiliation, as may be happening to our Governor-General at this time. Or by our apparent irrelevance, just like
Jesus' birth at Bethlehem.
But you see, our failures, humiliation, irrelevance, as indeed our joys
and happiness, are all part of eternity. God will take them, use them, remake
them even – though we may never know how – just as he took Jesus'
broken body on the Cross and remade it for eternal life. And so he will do
for us, which is why the birth of Jesus is Good News, which is why Christians
are people of hope.
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