I had occasion to be in York for two days last week. We stayed with Linda’s parents, in the house where she grew up, where Christmas has been celebrated by the Elliotts for the past 42 years. I love being in York at this time of year. The Christmas markets are shiny with Christmas lights and wet flagstones from the inevitable rain.
We always have a glass of mulled wine, and I always buy some loose-leaf tea from Whittards to send to my parents, because there is a far greater range at Whittards than mum and dad can get back in New Zealand.
We all go into Waterstones, for the York bookshop is large with many interesting titles. This year I bought a number of items, including a number of books for my wife and children.
I had forgotten to bring a tote bag, so I got one of those too, as well as an Edward Hopper calendar.
But as I walked those familiar streets, and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the crowds, I felt some melancholy. For this year will be the last year we go to York for Christmas. Bob and Dot are selling their home of 42 years - the home of happy memory and wonderful location (just near the river, and barely eight minutes walk from the centre of town).
One of the memories I have is of Christmas Eve, 2005, the first Christmas I ever spent there, when I told Bob I loved his daughter and wondered how he would feel if I married her. He says I twisted his arm until he relented, my memory is completely different. He was ecstatic, shook my hand warmly, and said we must go out for a drink - but all the pubs were shut!
So we had to have one at home.
Earlier this year I asked my children what they thought the difference was between a house and a home. Tabitha responded immediately with ‘A home is where people love you, a house is just a shelter.’
I was thinking about all of this as we spent time in York.
Three things in particular struck me. Family, love, and home.
Christmas, at its best, is about family being together, at home, showing love for each other.
And it occurred to me that these three things are keys to understanding Christmas, because they explain why Jesus came. Our Lord came down from heaven to earth that we might know God as our Father, and be born again into his family. Not only do we become sons and daughters of the most High, but we also become brothers and sisters to each other.
Regarding family, the gospel says:
A crowd was sitting around Jesus, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
Regarding love:
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Regarding home:
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
A family is made up of a father’s children; love is what binds them together; home is the place where it happens.
And the good news of Jesus Christ is that even though the place where the family gathers may change; and even though the family may change (because some get married, and start their own Christmas traditions, and some die, and are remembered, but no longer present); love remains. And we are promised, that in the age to come, those who are part of God’s family will be reunited, forever, in that place which Jesus has gone ahead to prepare for us.
The eternal Family, filled with those who love us, starting with our Father in Heaven.
That eternal Love, that remembers no wrongs, that bears all things, that remains forever.
That eternal Home, that place, where time stands still, where work is done without hurry or hassle, because we love the work and those for whom we do it.
Home, where all of us, being members of the royal family are no longer paupers or orphans, but princes and princesses.
Home, the place where everyone serves but there are no servants, because he calls us his friends.
Home, where none are slaves, but all are brothers and sisters. For a slave inherits nothing, but the children inherit all things.
In our Father’s house there are many dwelling places, and one is reserved for each one of us, because without us in his house, then it is not complete, because there’s someone missing.
Family, Love and Home are God’s gifts to us this Christmas.
They come to us under a tree. The tree on which Jesus died, bearing our sins, that we might be dead to sin and alive to righteousness.
I pray you’ll enjoy those gifts this Christmas, and throughout all the years ahead.
For the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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