Jonathan has been saved solely by the blood and the cross of Christ! He is extremely long-winded, and is in the last stage of his vocational training; his future job will roughly be equal parts clerical work, night security guard, and doing odd-jobs. He knows Daphne from campus and considers it a blessing to know her. He also hopes that you have yourself a very Merry Christmas!
---
Confessions of A Christmas Skeptic
Jonathan Sng
When Daph first told me the idea of guest blogging and the ability to select a date (!!), I was intrigued. But alas, she was talking about the temporal date and not the social, so I chose dates which were pretty close to Christmas.
Let me confess that I’m sceptical about Christmas. I’ve never Really Liked Christmas, even as a confessing christian; it has always seemed so spectacularly… Average. Before I get flamed, or denounced as a heretic, let me clarify what I mean. I do believe in the historical event of Christmas, and in the birth of our saviour. However, in terms of Christian holidays, it ranks second to Easter in my heart. In terms of celebration and festivities, Chinese New Year is slightly more exciting. For personal reflection, watchnight service/New Year’s Eve seems more appropriate. (Though arguably it is still the 6th/7th day of Christmas). Some people claim that Christmas is overhyped; some claim that its origin has nothing to do with Christianity; others claim that calling it Christmas is insensitive. I’m not going to debate about all these issues, but the reason why Christmas has never been a soft spot of mine is because it all seems so… irrelevant.
So I’ve been thinking about Christmas and its meaning. (Being pretty worldly,) I started thinking about the stuff that I was going to do during Christmas. To my horror, I realised that I had work on 26th of December. I am going to work full-time soon, and my job will need me to work on weekends and public holidays. I got to thinking about how terrible it was to work on a public holiday, and then I thought about people who were “in the same boat” (like the bus drivers and nurses and the people who keep your electricity/gas/water running and taxi drivers and basically everyone who needs to work on weekends.) Then I remembered guiltily that I had agreed to write this piece for Daphne.
But suddenly a mental connection was made, and I felt emotional. I would’ve liked to be more descriptive; but it was a mix of emotions, shock, disgust, joy and horror all rolled into one.
I started thinking about foreign workers and the incarnation.
Let’s start with foreign workers first, as it’s easier to explain. If you know daph (and I would assume so, since you read this blog), you would probably know that she has a heart for social justice and concerns, and in my interactions with her, she’s mentioned foreign workers and their plight in Singapore a few times. So as I was thinking about working on Christmas, I remembered the foreigners who are working in Singapore. I mean, I really wonder how many maids or construction or shipyard workers will get an off day during this festive season! I don’t have any friends who are foreign workers (to my shame), but given the shift-work nature of their jobs, I cannot imagine that they will get/want much time off.
I don’t know about you, but suddenly I saw parallels between the Christmas story, and these unlikely people who are amongst us. At the outset, I was disturbed. How could I possibly identify these foreign strangers with the holiness of the Son of God? Then I remembered Jesus; that He himself was hated, an alien, an outsider. That he experienced dereliction, isolation from his Heavenly father. That he himself identified with the weak, saying “I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'” Then I remembered Christmas, that supreme act of condescension, the fullness of God clothed in frail humanity. I remembered the circumstances of his birth, the reality of the nativity scene: Not just the joy at the saviour of the world, but the fear and the uncertainty of Mary and Joseph, the real human feelings.
Then Christmas became more real to me: no longer a mere historical story, but the raw reality of the situation coming into life. The events that I once glossed over as a single line in scripture “Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” became almost overwhelming.
Then I thought about the way I treat people who are different from me - especially foreigners. How we as a society treat people who are different or strange or “other”, and the cruelty we inflict on them for no reason other than the fact that they are different or strange. Worse yet, the cruelty we inflict because we are the majority, because we feel entitled, because we feel that we deserve something. I remembered the stories that I had heard from my friends: A construction worker who suffers a work injury and is shipped home before he can claim reparation; another foreign worker who is diagnosed with cancer, and is quickly sent home once he is stabilized so that he is not a financial burden to our society. Maids shipped to Batam who are ensnared by debt and sexual traffickers due to a desire by their employers to save on airfare, and a contractual loophole to send them back to their “Country of Origin” (i.e. batam), and not their location of origin.
If this is not societal injustice, then justice has no meaning. If Christ died to show us this sort of grace which we show, then grace has no meaning.
The most galling thing perhaps, is that I am equally, if not more guilty of this hate. Of this unreasoned odium against people who are different. That I am guilty of looks which kill, and words which wound. Of actions which distance and not bring closeness. Of sly glances on public transport, a slight shift in body weight here, a subtle shuffling there, all conveying a message that “You are not wanted.” Of hushed tones, or discriminatory terms, fuelled by the madness and hate contained in my soul.
Most galling perhaps, because I know this to be true: That it was my sins for which Christ died for; my very real and tangible sins! That even as I think accusatory thoughts of others, the darkness within my own heart condemns me. That I am guilty, and that if I had lived during the time of Jesus, save for the grace of God, I would be right there in the crowd baying for his blood.
But what grace it is! So this Christmas, even as I meditate upon the notion of Christmas, I cannot escape the cross of Christ. But I am reminded that the work that had its completion at the cross of Calvary had its beginnings in a manger in Bethlehem. That the God who has set me free and has taken my guilt has identified with my pain and humanity.
So maybe I was wrong, maybe Christmas IS relevant, maybe Christmas IS a season of giving, of love, of remembrance of grace. Maybe it becomes applicable when I choose to remember the sacrifice of the ones (and the One), who gave so I can enjoy this season.
Here’s wishing you a very Merry Christmas and hoping that you remember the ones around us as well!
---
"life and society" will feature various people from different walks of life and various parts of the world. New posts are up every Monday and Thursday at 6pm (GMT +8 / Singapore time) through the first week of 2012. On Thursday (Dec 22), I'll be featuring Suanne Chan, one of my best friends at this point of time in my life now. Best in every sense of the word. She is a prophetic poet and very smart student with a very gentle and strong heart!
No comments:
Post a Comment