A Baptista Világszövetség karácsonyi üzenete

Elijah Brown, a Baptista Világszövetség főtitkárának karácsonyi üzenete angol nyelven.

Kelj fel, tündökölj, mert eljött világosságod, rád ragyogott az Úr dicsősége. Bár még sötétség borítja a földet, sűrű homály a nemzeteket, de fölötted ott ragyog az Úr, dicsősége meglátszik rajtad. 

Ézsaiás 60,1–2

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.” Isaiah 60:1-2

To Baptists around the world during this Christmas season, Christmas is the miracle of holy God fully embracing frail humanity. As the first cry of Jesus pierced the night, it was the glory of eternity rising through the darkness as a light to all peoples. In his name, salvation is present and all oppression will cease. Christmas is neither accidental nor incidental but the joyous surprise of God’s intentional mission. The mission of God is embedded in relationships. Christmas is a call to welcome family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers from cultures and customs different from our own, into our simple homes and messy lives. Never before have so many around the world been as lonely as they are today. Jesus welcomes all who are lonely. Let us join Jesus at Christmas as we embrace mission as relationship lived through the gift of friendship.
Friendship is what Jesus offers to all people in all places facing all circumstances. Wrapping the majesty of heaven in swaddling cloth, Jesus came on a mission for us. It was a mission born of thousands of years that required a life to express, and it will take all eternity to explore. Even as God’s mission lay incarnate in the cradle of a stable, leaders from other countries were drawn in worship and shepherds were sent out “who spread the word.” (Luke 2:17) We too are to live as missionaries of light who witness that Jesus has come for all people in all places. Let us join Jesus at Christmas as we embrace God’s mission to proclaim that we have found the Messiah.
A Messiah who was born not with a triumphal entry of might but a vulnerability that grasped the outstretched hands of Mary and Joseph, Jesus did not choose political power, military conquest, privilege protection, religious nationalism, or cultural conformity. Rather Jesus chose “to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1:79) Jesus “made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:7) Jesus’ brother James admonishes, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) Jesus himself teaches us, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14) The mission of God is lived in humility. Yet it is easy for us to trade the truth of humility for that which promises empty praise in commodified pride. Let us join Jesus at Christmas in the embrace of humility.
In Christmas, the glory of the Lord has appeared with us. God is on mission with us. God is on mission in the world. This Christmas will we join Jesus in intentional mission that embraces relationship, witness, and humility?
On behalf of the Baptist World Alliance and Baptists in 130 countries and territories, Merry Christmas.