Jesus comes to us at darkest time of year to bring light

Archbishop Stephen writes in today's Daily Express about the Christmas Story and how it can be our story as well.. The article follows in full

Not every Christmas is happy. 

We can look at the same thing and see it differently. Do the same things and experience them differently.

At one and the same time, the classic nativity scene we know so well – the stable, the animals, Jesus lying in the manger, Mary at his side – is an idyllic scene of joy and peace. But it is also a scene of fearful desperation. A teenage pregnancy. Nowhere to stay. A birth in the outhouse at the back of a pub. A poll tax summons, and the fury of a tyrant king raging against the birth of a rival.

Christmas will be very happy for some people. But not for everyone. Families come together, but often it is the ones we love who hurt us the most. And some families are broken. And some people will be alone.

And whether it’s loneliness, the loss of a loved one, distressing memories of the past, difficult family relationships, bills that can’t be paid, expectations that can’t be met, or the struggles with physical or mental health that accompany these things, Christmas for some people will be a lonely and painful day.

So, what should we see? 

Forget our troubles and focus on the idyllic, Disney Christmas of the cosy stable? 

Or the horror story of a young woman giving birth in a cattle shed? 

Or something else which is both these stories and another even more amazing story. 

The story of Joseph’s great faithfulness, sticking with Mary when he had intended to break things off before God intervenes in a dream, and he finds the strength to face down the gossip and the judgement from his neighbours in Nazareth. 

The story of Mary and Joseph’s tenacity and perseverance, travelling from Nazareth to Bethlehem, Mary now heavily pregnant, a slow and exhausting journey of about seventy miles. 

Then, because there was nowhere to stay, the story of what it means to receive the hospitality of strangers. 

And the story of humility, having to lay their first-born child in a manger – an animal feeding trough. A story of putting the needs of the vulnerable first. 

Then fleeing for their lives, the story of becoming refugees in Egypt.

This is a beautiful story, a distressing story, and an inspiring story and a very human story and a story of God sharing what it is to be human, then enabling us to see and find God in all the hurts, confusions and sorrows of our lives with all their muddles, setbacks and tragedies. God in the midst of us.

Jesus is coming to our world at Christmas. This is the message of this season of goodwill. 
Jesus comes at the darkest time of the year and draws near to us in our darkest moments. He has experienced hardship, poverty, exile and sorrow. He is with us when we have to experience these things too. We can learn from him.

So if you know someone who might be finding it hard this Christmas – it could be a friend, a family member, a colleague – take a moment to send a message, to pick up the phone, to take that bit of time to let them know that they are cared for, and that they are not alone.

And if you are finding it hard yourself, seek comfort in this story of God come down to earth and look out for what is happening this Christmas in your local church. You will find there the comfort and the joy of this story.

Not every Christmas is happy. But not every Christmas need be sad either. When we reach out to the Christmas story, we find it can be our story as well.

This is what the shepherds did. They went to the manger at Bethlehem. They saw the story in all its beauty, hardship and inspiration. They left rejoicing. We can too.