Something that I think many of us will have been interested in over the years, if not still now, is what the No 1 record in the pop charts would be at Christmas. I don’t know if other countries have the same kind of interest in the ‘Christmas No 1’ as we call it, but in this country, it does seem to have been something of a national fascination over the years.
I’m sure we can all remember at least some Christmas No1s, and I’m sure we’ll all have our own particular favourites, but in terms of sales and chart success, the Christmas No1, in this and many other countries as well, must be Do They Know It’s Christmas?
As some of us will no doubt remember, Do They Know It’s Christmas was first recorded in 1984 as a charity record to raise money for famine relief in Africa, something it did very successfully. But the song has also been re-recorded 3 times, in 1989, 2004 and 2014, each time as a charity record, each time it’s reached No1 in the pop charts, and it’s actually been the Christmas No1, 3 times, in 1984, 1989 and 2004. But in spite of it’s success as a Christmas record, does Do They Know It’s Christmas really have anything specifically to do with Christmas?
The song contrasts the Christmas we enjoy in “our world of plenty” as the lyrics put it, with the suffering in Africa and urges us to do something to help at “Christmas time” those in the world who are suffering. But we could express the same sentiments at any time of the year, couldn’t we? The gulf between rich and poor, the haves and have-nots, is with us always, not just at Christmas and, although Christmas is a time when people perhaps think more than is usual about those less fortunate than themselves, that’s something we should do always, not just at Christmas time. So there’s nothing specifically Christmassy about the song Do They Know It’s Christmas; or is there?
In the song, there’s a line that I think encapsulates what Christmas is really all about more than any other single line in any other Christmas pop song. The line says:
‘The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life.’
Life, in that line refers, I’m sure, to survival. In the minds of those behind the song the greatest gift the starving people of Africa could get was help in the form of famine relief to enable them to survive, for life to go on. But if we look at that line from a Christian viewpoint, it’s a line that does encapsulate the true meaning of Christmas because what is Christmas but the greatest gift we could get, the gift of life from God?
But the gift of life that God gives to us at Christmas isn’t simply about survival; it’s not about the simple continuation of biological life. The gift God gives to us at Christmas in the gift of a new life, a life lived to the full in loving relationship with himself and our neighbours. And of course, the gift of life God gives us at Christmas is, ultimately, the gift of eternal life. And all this is given to us through the birth and life of his Son, Jesus Christ. So what is the life that God gives us at Christmas?
At Christmas God gives us the gift of a life of peace. We could, I’m sure, be forgiven on hearing the angel’s message, of peace and goodwill among men, for asking, ‘Well, where is it then?’ because, as we look at the world around us today and at the history of the world since the first Christmas, one thing we certainly don’t see too much of, is peace. But the angel’s message wasn’t primarily about peace between human beings, it was about peace between us and God, given as a gift, in goodwill, by God.
During Advent we heard the prophecy of Isaiah,
‘Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.’
We can see the angel’s message as the fulfilment of this prophecy; the battle, the war between God and man is over. God, through the human life of his own Son, will pardon our sins so that we can live in peace with him. So the gift of life we received at Christmas was the gift of a life of peace with God.
God’s gift at Christmas is also the gift of a life lived in peace with our neighbours, or at least, it’s a gift that God offers us through the life of his Son. But we have to want that life.
I’m sure that, at some time, we’ve all received gifts that we’ve not really appreciated too much. Maybe it was something we’d already got or didn’t really want. No doubt we’ll have thanked the person who gave us the gift and perhaps said to someone afterwards, ‘Oh well, it’s the thought that counts.’ But, because we haven’t really wanted or appreciated the gift, it’s probably remained unused, perhaps even unopened. And that’s exactly the way we can treat God’s Christmas gift to us of peace between us and our neighbours.
Through his life, Jesus taught us to love our neighbours as ourselves, but how often have we, and do we, see our neighbours, other people, as opponents to be battled with, perhaps even as enemies to be defeated? How much peace have we lost in our lives because of that? How much peace has the world lost over the past 2,000 years because of that? God’s gift of life at Christmas does include peace between us and our neighbours. Through his Christmas gift of the human life of his Son Jesus Christ, he showed us how to have that life of peace. Is it God’s fault that we don’t have enough goodwill towards each other to appreciate and use his gift?
So through the Christmas gift of the life of his Son, God gives us a life of peace to be lived in loving relationship with him and our neighbours. But the greatest gift God gave us at Christmas is the promise that life is not simply a matter of biological survival for our time on earth. The greatest gift God gives us at Christmas is the gift of eternal life. That’s a gift we see fulfilled in the Resurrection of his Son at Easter, but it’s a gift that’s given in the birth of Jesus at Christmas and through the human life Jesus lived.
In the song Do They Know It’s Christmas, we find the lines:
And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time.
The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life.
We might get snow in our part of Manchester this Christmas time, but that really makes no difference whatsoever to the greatest gift we’ll get. The greatest gift we’ll get this Christmas, or any Christmas, is life. Not simply life as survival, but the fulness of life lived in peace and loving relationship with God and our neighbour. A gift of earthly life that leads to eternal life with Jesus in God’s heavenly kingdom. It’s a gift we first received on that first Christmas Day over 2,000 years ago. It’s a gift that’s renewed for us each and every day of each and every year of our lives through God’s ongoing presence with us in the Holy Spirit. It’s a gift we’re especially reminded of at Christmas. Let’s hope it’s a gift we’ll always appreciate and use because it is the greatest gift we’ll ever get, this or any other year.
Amen.
The Propers for The Nativity of the Lord can be viewed here.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 