Do something to bring them joy

A Christmas message by Dean of Gibraltar Canon Ian Tarrant.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

Exactly 50 years ago, the Christmas no.1 record in the UK was ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by the group, Queen. It was an unusually long single with a pastiche of musical styles, and words reminiscent of the 19th century nonsense poetry of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

These opening words challenge us today in the new era of Artificial Intelligence computing. AI software is capable of creating text, music and video. You can converse with this software as you might speak with a friend – and some people become dependent on their virtual companion, for lack of real human beings with whom they can share their life. AI software can compose music and lyrics, even movie scripts, threatening the livelihoods of musicians and writers. AI software which can create video imagery, putting flesh on the bones of your wildest fantasies.
It’s easy come, easy go.

If today’s fantasy doesn’t suit you, you can pick another one tomorrow. It fits a culture where truth is what you choose it to be – rather than solid reality.

But Christians say, if you think that the whole universe came about by chance, then you too are living in a fantasy. Or if you think that the human race is a product of a random evolutionary process, in which the fittest survive and others perish; or if you think that the only truth that matters is the one you choose for yourself – then the same is true.

In your fantasy you might be superhuman, dodging the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, but then reality makes itself felt with one of those hard knocks that life delivers from time to time – a road accident, betrayal in a relationship, a cancer diagnosis.

When you’re caught in a landslide, there is no escape from reality.

The Christian faith brings order out of chaos. In the pre-modern world where rivers and forests were haunted by unpredictable spirits, where every sphere of human life had its own minor god or goddess, then every new day dawned with uncertainty and anxiety. There was no telling what might happen; no security. On the other hand, Christianity was built on Jewish foundations which asserted a creator God overseeing every aspect of their creation. Not just a creator who set the wheels turning and left them to spin, but a creator who remains intimately involved in the universe. A creator also who cares about the well-being of their creation and creatures. Jesus taught us that each member of the human race is valuable to God.

The birth of Jesus two thousand years ago was God’s call to open our eyes and see. You or I might have organised things differently, but God chose to become a human being, a poor boy from a poor family, living the real life, face to face with human beings who could and would kill him. Not by putting a gun against his head, but by nailing him to a cross and leaving him to die.

‘Now he’s dead’, said the Roman soldiers - but Jesus rose again to prove that the power of love is greater than the power of hate.

Queen’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury, sang, ‘it doesn’t really matter at all’.

This is where Christians must disagree. Those words give up on the rationality of creation, and the divine purpose behind it.

It matters to God, and it should matter to us, what we believe and how we live our lives.

It matters to God, and it should matter to us, when big business exploits little people.

It matters to God, and it should matter to us, when big countries try to control or destroy small ones.

It matters to God, and it should matter to us, when civilians are killed or maimed in a pointless war.

God came to meet us face to face in Jesus, to show us a better way, and to be a sacrifice for the sins of humanity.

Let’s ditch the fantasies, opt for the real life, and face the truth.

Let’s meet real people face to face and share with them the power of love.

In this Christmas season, can I invite you to reach out to somebody, a real person, to wish them a happy Christmas, and do something to bring them joy?