Christmas Message THE WAY TO PEACE INA QUEER WORLD

Press, Volume C, Issue 29702, 21 December 1961, Page 14

Christmas Message THE WAY TO PEACE INA QUEER WORLD

(By ths Archbishop of York, the Most Rev. DONALD COGGAN. DD.I

“AU the world’s queer, save thee and me; and even thee's a bit queer, sometimes." So the old saying ran. Nor was it far wrong—except ui the implication that "I'm th? only one who is right.” We do live in a queer world—so lovely, yet so full of fear: so plentiful, and yet so beset by poverty in many parts. There is one aspect of our -queerness” on which I want to touch in this Christmas message. It is this: that we all talk about and long for peace, but so few of us are prepared to pay the price for it. That the longing for peace is universal, few would deny Most Russian parents, like their British opposite numbers, long for a peaceful world in which to bring up their youngsters. All of us fear the immediate effects of the detonation of atomic bombs, not to mention the possibility of nuclear war. Peace —the word is more than a debating point for politicians: it is the longing of every human heart. Stupendous truth Now the Christian religion holds that God is deeply concerned also for the peace of His children. So concerned, indeed, was He that He sent His only Son, that we who have become estranged from Him might find our peace with Him, and so our peace with one another. That is an affirmation of stupendous proportions. If it is true, it is the most astonishing fact in the world. If it is not true, then Christianity is a deception on a colossal scale. That is the "either-or” by which thinking men are faced. One would imagine that any man in his senses would say: “This is the claim of Christianity. Obviously it

has incited millions down the years to face it and decide. I will do likewise. I will face the facts, if such they be 1 will test the claims. I will consider the results of accepting them or rejecting them. And 1 will make up my mind for or against. But I will never subscribe to the folly of refusing to face the claims too much is at stake for that.” As a matter of pict, multitudes every year do just that. They treat the claims of Christianity seriously. But—and here is the “queer” thing that I mentioned just nowmultitudes do not do that. They would not think twice about paying a guinea for a dinner or for a theatre ticket, or for a few boxes of cigarettes. But they have never spent that aum on buying a copy of the New Testament in the up-to-date translation of the New English Bible, where the basic documents of the Christian faith are to be found in plain English. They spend many hours a week in viewing television programmes or in filling up football coupons, but have hardly given an hour to the consideration of the truth of the Christian claim. Queer? I venture to think it is crazy! Fiddling while Rome burns? That is putting it mildly! Way to Peace Let us get this straight. Peace is a by-product It is a by-product of righteousness. Righteousness is “right-ness” with God. Not till we get right with God shall we have peace—either peace with Him whom our sin has offended, or peace with one another, or peace in our own hearts. But we cannot, by ourselves, "get right” with God. We.haven’t got it in us to do that But God has provided a way. This it is of which Christmas speaks. In the Babe of Bethleham, I see God with

DR. COGGAN, who Is SI. became Archbishop of York in September after gve years as Bishop of radford. A former Principal of the London College of Divinity, he is one of the most brilliant scholars of the Church of England

us —in our need. In the Christ of Calvary. I see God for us —bearing our sin and sorrow. In the Christ of Easter and Whitsun. I see God in us — empowering and equipping us. This is a Gospel. This is Good News. This is dynamite This is the power of God at work among us making for our peace, if we will be receive it. The trouble is that we have taken this tremendous Christmas story, and surrounded it. with Insipid words like “pretty.” or "nice,” or “sweet.” We have even made it dull! Danger of Sentiment Yet, as Dorothy Sayers wrote about the story of Jesus, "If this is dull, then what, in Heaven’s name, is worthy to be called exciting? The people who hanged Christ never, do them pustice, accused Him of being a bore; on the contrary, they thought Him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround Him with an atmosphere of tedium ... To those who knew Him. He in no way suggested a milk-and-water person; they objected to Him as a dangerous firebrand.” Let us beware, this Christmastide. of sentimentalising the story of the greatest event in the world- Let us get beyond the tinsel and the trappings, the cards and the food, the “pretty” and the petty, and take a steady look at what <t was precisely that God did for us men and for our salvation that first Christmastide. Then, and only then, shall we see what He is willing to do for us to-day. and our cry tor peace will begin by our coming to terms with Him in Whom alone is our peace. Then, and only then, when we have put first “glory to God in the Highest.” shall We nave "peace on earth and f£od wi ” among men.”— (All rights reserved; Central Press Features).