As I write this article, the snow is beginning to fall outside. Across the way at number 60, LED lights fluoresce excitedly; green, blue, red, yellow. In a second floor window, a bearded Santa figurine sits merrily, sack of presents in hand. In many ways it’s the archetypal Christmas scene. Yet beyond the snow, the lights and the festive tat, it isn’t a ‘normal’ Christmas at all.

For all of us, 2020 has been a challenging year. A few festive gimmicks don’t change that. Today, as in past months, families across the country are grappling with grief, loneliness and frustration. Many face poverty and unemployment. Coronavirus has shattered the status quo.

Many books will be written about the ‘COVID year’; the government’s response; the damage done to the economy; the challenge of rebuilding society and dealing with the fallout. I don’t intend to give my thoughts on these things. Instead, I’d like to consider an overarching theme I have perceived in the last ten months and explain how the message of Christmas addresses it head on.

The theme that has become increasingly apparent to me since March and the first national lockdown has been that of ‘security’. With the influx of the virus, many areas in life that we previously felt secure in have come decidedly under threat. Those of us who are fit and healthy perceive a risk to that health and vitality – a virus that is indiscriminate. The comfortably employed face a risk to their jobs. And the support of family, friendship and community is now challenged as citizens are barred from meeting one another in the flesh.

If we learn anything from the experience of the past few months, surely it should be this: that there are no guarantees in life. Whether it is health, employment, or life itself, things can change in a heartbeat. Who would have envisioned this awful pandemic in January this year? A pandemic that shatters lives, jobs and relationships? And yet it’s here, it’s real and it isn’t going away. Even in the prosperous West, we are not immune from its effects.

How do we respond to this? There are two applications that I can see. Firstly, it teaches us not to take things for granted in life. There is an old Christian adage: ‘Count your blessings. Name them one by one’. If we didn’t count the blessings of health, family and employment before, we can do so now with added aplomb. The experience of 2020 will stay with us and cause us to value the blessings of life in years to come.

Secondly, it teaches us that these blessings – health, income and relationships – are not ultimately dependable. Tragically, many people today are grappling with the loss of these things. Perhaps all at once. The loss of security begs a deeper question – one not usually asked until suffering occurs – where does our hope lie if not in these things? Or to put it another way, where do we turn when these things are taken away? For those grappling with these deeper questions, Christmas provides an answer.

The message of Christmas is a message of hope for a broken world. On 25 December, we mark the birth of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, who came to earth and died an atoning death that those who place their trust in him can gain eternal life. This world is fallen. It is marred by sin. We encounter suffering and loss. Yet for Christians, the birth of Jesus marks the beginning of the end. Through him it is possible to be reconciled to God and gain the security of an eternal future with him, in glory.

As Revelation 21:3-4 states: “He [Christ] will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 

What a wonderful promise this is. An unshakeable future, free from viruses, free from pain and free from death. This is my ultimate security in life and the security of millions of Christians across the world. It can be your too. Believe in Christ and be saved.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

John 3:16-17