The elephant in the room
CAROL SERVICE MESSAGE
The elephant in the room
(Barry is wearing a large blow up elephant on his head!)
In just 8 short minutes I intend to bring you, at no extra charge, a very brief, but special, Christmas Poem, a personal challenge not to ignore “the elephant in the room”, and, tell you how to pick up for free, a gift that could just make this the best Christmas you ever had!
First the poem. Written by Paul Curtis, it’s called “Happy Christmas Auntie Peggy” though I must warn you up front it is probably not entirely politically correct and those of a nervous disposition might just want to cover up their ears. Here goes:
Happy Christmas Auntie Peggy
For Christmas I bought My Auntie
A brand new wooden leg
I didn’t have it specially made
I just bought it “off the peg”
You may say it’s not a nice gift
Or even that it’s a killer
But it’s not her main present though
It’s just a stocking filler!
And now for that “elephant in the room”. Whether you want to accept it or not, I want to tell you this afternoon that there is a rather special “elephant in the room” this Christmas.
Now I happen to think, that ignoring elephants in the room at Christmas has become something of a national pastime over recent years, so much so, that Christmas has become almost entirely “elephant free” in many homes and schools all over the country. But I hope you’ll bear with me for just a moment as I intend to boldly set this elephant free.
Wikipedia tells me that the phrase “the elephant in the room” refers to “an obvious truth that is going unaddressed”. It’s an important subject, which everyone present is aware of, but which no one is ready to discuss because it might be personally challenging or uncomfortable.
So what is this elephant in the room this Christmas that so few are ready to discuss? Well the clue folks, is in the name – “CHRISTMAS”. Christmas is of course, the time we celebrate the birth of Christ. So for some at least JESUS is the elephant in the room!
There are some pretty strange things happening in the world right now to try to side-line this particular elephant. DJ Chris Evans let slip the other day that his youngest son had started off his theatrical career by playing Robin Hood in his school nativity which he said he still couldn’t understand – and neither, frankly, can I. And in America apparently, for a long time now there are places where “Happy Christmas” has had to give way to “Happy Holidays” as a kind of collective amnesia has swept aside the OBVIOUS fact that Jesus is the reason for the season.
But just WHY is Jesus the elephant in the room? Well, to listen to some folk you’d think it must be because Jesus seems to them to be a kill joy, a spoil sport, someone who will cramp our style and wreck our fun. In short, they feel that Jesus is someone to avoid, rather than someone to seek.
The reality though, as those prepared to risk even the briefest of glances at the elephant in the room will tell you, is that Jesus has only the very best in mind for every one of us. He has no intention of making our lives a misery, but instead as the Apostle Paul wrote to his young protégé Timothy, putting our hope and trust in Jesus allows us, in the words of 1 Timothy 6:19 to “take hold of the life that is truly life.”
And here’s the rub, for those who doubt his motives and fear that Jesus may not have our best interests at heart. Christmas is really all about US. It is about God restoring the relationship that was, and is, lost to us if we reject God’s way and choose our own, by seeking to make ourselves the centre of our universe.
Because of the birth of Christ that we recall at Christmas, and His sacrificial death that we remember at Easter, He has made it possible for us to be the people He always intended us to be and to enjoy, not only an amazing future but also a meaningful, useful and totally blessed present, by living a life, like His own, that puts others, not ourselves at its heart.
For behind what is for many just a charming story of a baby born in a stable in Bethlehem long ago, is the life and death reality of a heroic rescue mission for a literally hopeless and helpless humanity.
With this gigantic first step of being born on earth, Jesus, the Son of God, was responding out of love, and with total obedience to our Heavenly Father’s need for a perfect sacrifice to pay the price for all the wilfulness and disobedience of all who live here on planet earth, so that we may be forgiven and enjoy a new transformed life in Christ.
To escape the self-centred, self-indulgent life we often choose, and to be the best that we can be, living life as God intended it to be lived, we do ALL need to take a long hard look, for ourselves, at this elephant in the room this Christmas.
Now it’s probably a fact that all “elephants in the room” eventually do have to be faced up to, and usually the sooner we do that the better, so this is where that free gift I mentioned comes in.
If as you’ve listened you sense the need to look more closely for yourself at Jesus, the elephant in the room, or you just want a short surreptitious glance in His direction, do PLEASE claim your free copy of Nicky Gumbel’s excellent booklet – “Why Christmas?”.
It simply and clearly explains just why Jesus is uniquely placed to transform our lives and open a door for us to really “take hold of the life that is truly life.”
So, before you leave today, do pick up a copy, either from me or from the table in Reception after the Service. It can’t hurt, and maybe it will bring you a blessing that will really make this a Christmas to remember.
Finally, a big personal thank you to all of you for coming out this afternoon to share in our Carol Service. I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and hope to see you again in the New Year.