As Christmas nears... Who/What do you expect to find there?

What are you going to Christmas to see? A reflection on expectation, hope, and the disturbing beauty of the incarnation 5 min read I've organised a lot of Christmas events over the years. Church services, community carols, school gatherings. One year, someone asked me to speak at a community carols event. I said yes before I knew what I was agreeing to. When they came back with the details, I realised what I'd signed up for. A town oval. Families scattered across the grass on rugs and camping chairs. Food stalls, rides for the kids, background music. And somewhere in the middle of all that, a stage. They wanted me to present "the Christmas story". I had two to three minutes. Two to three minutes to say something about the mystery of Christmas. I thought, okay. We'll see. What brought them here? I got there early and walked around the oval. Families were eating, kids were kicking balls, people were queuing at food stalls. There was music playing, but no one was really listening yet. It was just noise filling the space. I kept wondering: what brought these people here? Why did they come to a carols event on a Tuesday night in December? Eventually, I made my way backstage. The organisers gave me my instructions. Stand here, use this microphone, two to three minutes, no more. Other performers were warming up, tuning guitars, running through lyrics. Then it was my turn. I walked out onto the stage. The families kept talking. The kids kept running. A few people looked up, maybe out of politeness. I spoke for two or three minutes about Christmas. I tried to say something true about the peace and hope and joy that Christmas promises. I can't remember exactly what I said. Then it was over, and the MC moved things along. I wandered back through the crowd. Some people were watching the stage. Most weren't. They were eating, drinking, chatting, chasing toddlers. And I wondered again: what did they expect to find here? The backdrop that year was the 2019 bushfires. As the sky darkened, you could see the faint glow of flames in the distance. You could hear planes overhead, fire engines in the background. Were they hoping God would stop the fires? Bring rain? Were they hoping for something about their own lives? Or was it just a nice night out, a bit of community, some familiar songs? I know some parents have told me over the years that they come to these events because they want their kids to hear another side of Christmas. Not just Santa and presents and parties, but something else. Something deeper. They're not always sure what that something is, but they know it's there. What did you go out to see? This week's reading from Matthew is about John the Baptist. Last week, we heard about him down by the Jordan River, calling people to repentance, promising that someone was coming who would baptise with fire and the Holy Spirit. He was bold, dramatic, uncompromising. But this week, John is in prison. He's upset the local king and his new wife. She wants him dead. The king is afraid of him but won't release him. So John sits in a cell, probably awaiting execution. And from that cell, he sends his disciples to Jesus with a question: "Are you the one we're expecting, or should we wait for another?" I think John's question is one we all ask at some point. In the middle of chaos or stress or pain, we ask God: Are you there? Are you real? Should we trust you? Or is there something else we should be putting our hope in? Jesus doesn't give John a direct answer. He says, "Go and tell John what you've seen. The blind see. The deaf hear. The lame walk. The dead are raised. Hope is proclaimed to the poor. And those who follow in my way are blessed." Go and tell John these things. Then Jesus turns to the crowd and asks them a question: "What did you go out to see when you went to hear John? What were you expecting? Did you go out to experience God? Did you go out believing that God would change your life, turn it inside out and upside down? Or was it just a curiosity, a nice experience?" What did you go out to see? That question sits with me. What am I expecting to see in this season of Advent, in the lead-up to Christmas? Am I expecting God to arrive, to be present? Am I expecting to see God in the moments of life, in people, in the songs and stories and gatherings? Do I expect to see Christ in the stranger I pass on the street? A nice story or something more? We tell the Christmas story every year. Sometimes in quite simple, sentimentalised versions. The baby in the manger, little sheep and cows, angels in the sky singing. It's lovely. Then a bit later, some kings appear with strange gifts. It's a beautiful story. But is that all it is? A nice story, like the Christmas tree in the corner? Beautiful, covered in tinsel, but nothing more. Or the lights that decorate houses, bright in the night sky. Lovely to watch, but that's it. Do we go deeper into this story? Into Mary, this young teenager confronted by God, who says, "Yes, let it be as you have spoken"? A story so deep and profound and life-changing. Are we able to grasp the significance of this Christmas story? That this one who comes doesn't arrive to justify our nice lives or make them sentimental and sweet. He comes to disturb us. To disturb us until we're willing to see the mess and the chaos around us, in other people's lives, in our world. To disturb us into action. To be people of hope who proclaim a different way. Who turn away from making profits and accumulating power and climbing ladders and competing with others to get to the top first. Are we willing to embrace a way that is humble and gentle, that makes peace, that goes into those places of dark and deep and dangerous to bring peace, hope, life? To bring sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, so that the lame will walk and follow in this way, and the dead in life will be raised up and have new life. Because this is what Christmas is about. Jesus says, "John is a great prophet. No one is greater. But the least in God's reign will do more than John if you walk in this way." What are you going to Christmas to see? What do you expect to find? What do you hope for? And is God part of that? Based on a sermon by an unknown speaker