Christmas Message 2024

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” penned Charles Dickens in the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities.

The reality of what Dickens wrote is indeed reality today. We live with a relatively low unemployment rate, a shortage of skilled employment but an increasingly high cost of living which disadvantages so many.  We must admit that while there are advantages to some, there is a significant impost on family time for others.

Egalitarianism has always been an important part of the Australian ethos. We look at who a person is, rather than the circumstances they come from. Their race, age, or beliefs should never be a cause for discrimination. It is at the core of who we are as Australians to help out a mate and to lend a hand to someone who is down.

Regardless of our circumstances, Christmas is one time of the year we can stop and recognise the teachings of the Jesus whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. The values of equality, of caring for each other and living peaceably with others.

I would urge you to stop and put aside the trappings of a commercialised Christmas for a moment and look at the real meaning of the season. Let’s all take the opportunity to act with justice and care for the less fortunate and — the hardest of all — to forgive those who have wronged us. That is what the angels meant in Luke 2:14 when they proclaimed “Glory to God in the highest. Peace to all women and men on earth”.

May this Christmas be a time of blessing and peace to you and yours.

Rev Mark Wilson

National Ministries Director

Australian Baptist Ministries