Won't You Be My Neighbour?

Every week, the affable Mister Rogers would sing the same simple refrain: "Won't you be my neighbour?" Slipping on his slippers and sweater, his gentle voice would welcome millions of children into his home neighbourhood for a half hour of song, learning and, of course, make believe.

To be honest, I never much cared for his show. My mother will tell you I was always more of a Mr. Dress-up devotee.  Never-the-less, Fred Roger's song has stuck with me. All these years later I could sing it along with him. You probably could too. 

So what's this have to do with Christmas?  It's all in this word, "neighbour". Or, as Fred would have it, "neighbor".  In Eugene Peterson's translation of the Bible (The Message) he begins the book of John with these wonderful words:

The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.

We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.  

John 1:14

That's it. That's what Christmas is.  It's God, in his son, answering a call to be neighbour. It's the king of the universe, moving into the neighbourhood. A neighbourhood at once filled with both joy and hope but also sickness and pain.  And to both of these, Jesus came.  The one he came to amplify, the other to heal.  

This Sunday we celebrate God moving into the neighbourhood. We celebrate, "Emmanuel", God with us. As you rejoice in God with us, may you have both what he amplifies and also what he heals. May you have the fullness of Jesus.  

The peace of Christ as you celebrate, in your neighbourhood. 

Christmas Eve/Day (Christ Candle) Readings:

Isaiah 9:2-7

Psalm 96

Titus 2:11-14

Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)