Every person is a complex mixture of strengths and weaknesses, toughness and gentleness, good points and not so good. We are delicate and fragile. Yet we are also capable of showing remarkable resilience. Everyone’s personal story, beliefs and viewpoints are so varied and different. As life is complex so are we.

At the heart of the message of Christmas, God is present in the middle of all our complexities. God isn’t present on the outskirts but right in the middle of whatever is going on for us. It may not be pretty, it may not be exciting, it may even be a huge struggle but that’s where God wants to be. God isn’t the cause of complexities but is most definitely the cause of a sense of purpose, hope, and a guiding force through these complexities.

Yesterday we marked the 3rd Sunday of Advent and it is called ‘Joyful Sunday’. In many churches it is represented on the Advent wreath by the lighting of a pink candle. It is a day to celebrate good news stories in our community and in our lives. On this day no apologies are made for highlighting our good news stories. It is crucial and important that we do. We have a natural tendency to lean towards negative and sad stories. The vast majority of news stories shared online and through media outlets feed and thrive on our hunger for such stories. There is nothing to stop this hunger as it is part of our makeup. But what needs to be addressed is the total lack of balance. We need to hear good news, we need to nurture good news and importantly we need to celebrate good news. We need to bring the balance back in.

Christmas can be many different things to people with lots of spiritual significance. Christmas can be rightly called a ‘Celebration of good news’ but especially of your good news. The message of ‘Joyful Sunday’ is that of course you are special and always worth celebrating. If we can’t do that, then there is no point having Christmas. Christmas celebrates you. You are special and always will be.