Sean Major-Campbell | Has Christmas lost its meaning?

I received the following questions about Christmas.

Do you think there is less Christ in Christmas? Please state the reason. There can never be less Christ in Christmas. From a Christian perspective, there is no Christmas without Christ.

What are your thoughts on how some Jamaicans choose to celebrate Christmas? Different peoples across the globe choose to celebrate Christmas in their various ways of choice. They should be free to do so if they are not breaching anyone else’s right to celebrate in their way of choice.

How do you want to see Christmas celebrated?

I want us to understand that Christmas defies a dystopian mindset. Advent and Christmas defy the pain and ugliness of poverty, oppression, wars, and various manifestations of violence through hope, peace, joy, and love. I want to see Christmas celebrated as a call to freedom from injustice and oppression.

Do you think it is okay for religious leaders to wear Santa hats and participate in other secular Christmas celebrations? Please state your reason.

I think it is okay for religious leaders to wear Santa hats and participate in other secular Christmas celebrations. Secular is not necessarily the opposite of holiness or spiritual values. Religious leaders are human beings, too. Wearing party hats and having fun is a human experience.

What do you think is the true meaning of Christmas? The true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of the Christ, who comes to us every day. The birth of the Christ child in a context of oppression is a reminder that God acts in history to lead us from oppressive ways of being to victorious ways of being. The light shines in the darkness every time a child is born. The light shines in the darkness every time we allow ourselves to be used for the glory of God’s purposes in the home and the world.

What is your Christmas wish for Jamaica?

My Christmas wish is that more people will realise that the Christmas story is about all of us. God uses whomsoever God chooses to use. God’s work may be accomplished through you, regardless of your marital status, and regardless of whether you were born in or out of wedlock.

What message would you want to send to Jamaicans this season?

Although the Christmas season ends at Epiphany, January 6, 2025, let us remember that those we reached out to in nursing and children’s homes, and on the streets, will still need clothing, food, care packages, and love throughout the year. Still reach out to various charities. Let us beware of just soothing our consciences once per year, while ignoring our fellow human beings for 11 months!

At Christ Church, Vineyard Town, we do a weekly soup kitchen, a weekly youth and community outreach programme, an annual Christmas dinner outreach, and a weekly care package for the less fortunate. These are opportunities for helping and serving.

In church spaces, we do not have the luxury of waiting for next Christmas. People still come seeking help to fill prescriptions; seeking help for something to eat so that medication may be taken; seeking help because of domestic violence and loss of shelter; seeking help because they do not know where the next meal is coming from. A case of canned protein or a bag of grain or pack of milk, et cetera, would often make such a difference. However, many people are not moved to give without seeing the photos and hearing details about the suffering. We refuse to subject people to that indignity of parading their suffering.

Christmas has not lost its meaning. Christmas is a reminder that the light shines in the darkness. The Prophet Isaiah tells us in 9:2, “ On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”

May we be agents of light in a world where many families are unbale to make it to Egypt like the Baby Jesus with his parents. Let us pause and remember Ayman Al-Jadi.. He is one of the journalists killed in an Israeli Defense Force strike while he waited in the press-labelled vehicle parked outside the al-Awda Hospital as his wife gave birth to their first child. How may we be agents of light today?

When the Church meets for worship, the light is shining in the darkness. When the Church ministers with a carol service, the light shines in the darkness. When you reach out to our nation’s children, the light shines in the darkness. When the Church gives voice to those whose human rights have been violated, the light shines in the darkness. When we give to the poor in the name of Jesus, the light shines in the darkness. When the Church or any individual or group affirms the dignity and human rights of another person, the light shines in the darkness.

On this second Sunday of the Christmas season, we pray in the words of the collect for today:

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully

restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may

share the divine life of Him who humbled Himself to share

our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns

with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever

and ever. .Amen.