Father's House Blog

It’s Christmas time and Christmas for me will always evoke memories of my father Philip Stibbe reading the opening verses of John’s Gospel by candle light in college chapel and cathedral carol services. Many times I heard him say the haunting words from John 1.10: He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.

John is highlighting the disturbing truth that only a few people recognized the significance of the Christ-child at his nativity two thousand years ago. A few shepherds came to the stable and recognized him as the Lamb of God. A few wise men came to the stable and recognized him as the Wisdom of God. But pretty well everyone else missed him. They failed to notice or understand the significance of the child in Bethlehem.

When I was putting together my compilation of the best Christmas stories, quotes and jokes (A Stocking Full of Christmas, see home page)I came across this challenging reflection about how so many missed who Jesus really was both at his birth and during his life.
The quote goes like this:

“They missed him! They were looking for a lion, He came as a lamb, and they missed him.
They were looking for a warrior, He came as a peacemaker, and they missed him.
They were looking for a king, he came as a servant, and they missed him.
They were looking for liberation from Rome, he submitted to the Roman stake, and they missed him.
They were looking for a fit to their mould, he was the mould-breaker, and they missed him.
Will you?”

Recently the well known atheist Richard Dawkins began a campaign to stop parents bringing their children up in their faith. The strap line for the campaign was, ‘Please don’t label me. Let me grow up and choose for myself’. The photograph showed two children smiling and laughing.

The only problem was that Dawkins didn’t realize that the two children used on the poster were in fact evangelical Christians! Charlotte (8) and Ollie (7) are both from one of the most devout of Christian families! Their dad is the drummer for the popular Christian musician Noel Richards.

Their father Brad put his finger on the irony here when he made this statement to the Press:
“It is quite funny, because obviously they were searching for images of children that looked happy and free. They happened to choose children who are Christian. It is ironic. The humanists obviously did not know the background of these children.”

He went on to add,

“Obviously there is something in their faces which is different. So they judged that they were happy and free without knowing that they are Christians. That is quite a compliment. I reckon it shows we have brought up our children in a good way and that they are happy.”

I think it is safe to say that Richard Dawkins and his team missed what the children were really presenting to the world!

Just as those at the time of Jesus missed what the child born in Bethlehem really represented.
They missed him.

Will you miss him this Christmas?