Christmas And Flickers Of Hope

Sunday, December 25, 2022, is Christmas. It is the day set aside by Christians all over the world to celebrate the remarkable event of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Saviour of mankind. His notable life of virtue, teaching and sacrificial death on the Cross of Calvary form the very foundation of the Christian faith.
The essence of celebrating Christmas is that Christianity wants people to know that the world can be a peaceful and tranquil place to live and grow. Christmas is celebrated to teach people that by instilling faith and following the teachings of their Creator, they can become righteous. It is also a time to heal wounds with neighbours and those we have wronged to rekindle a new life.
There are concerns that love, the solemn meaning of Christmas, is getting lost in the consumerism and greed that have come to define the season. So, Nigerians should imbibe the spirit of love anew. This should be a time for charitable work, for the pursuit of the common good; time to pursue peace among one another – between colleagues, neighbours and fellow citizens, of eschewing evil thoughts and deeds.
Christians should, therefore, think about the compassionate way of life and the instructions of Jesus Christ and apply His teachings to their ways of life. Through His love, Jesus manifested God’s forgiveness and mercy to mankind. In this way, Christians should constantly show compassion to all in their communities with works of gift and charity that touch the lives of those around them.
In a larger world that advocates for models, Nigeria plays a special role in this deficiency. The soul of the country seems misplaced and put under the yoke of leadership at every level, far from being exemplary and definitive. Consequently, a blessed country looks cursed and rudderless in the ocean of life.
This year has become significant for the overwhelming presence of poverty and deprivation, the mindless annihilation of lives, the unparalleled height of insecurity because of the unrelenting insurgency and the continually more audacious criminal exploits of kidnappers and those referred to as bandits across the country.
Particularly frightening is the appalling state of life in much of Northern Nigeria, where dare-devil terrorists and bandits control vast territories, massacring, hacking and abducting citizens virtually on an everyday basis, and where state authorities are, now and again, having to pay considerable ransoms to criminal gangs to secure the release of their abducted citizens.
Yet, we enjoin Christians in Nigeria to put up a heroic front in observing the festival because the event itself is the herald of glad tidings, for the Prophet Isaiah says regarding the Messianic age which the birth of Christ inaugurates: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Isaiah 9:2, KJV).
Christmas commemorates the birth of the Messiah, the anointed one whom Prophet Isaiah declares will announce the good news to the poor, will bind up the broken-hearted, will comfort the sorrowful and declare freedom to captives and release to prisoners, and will declare the Lord’s year of favour.
As we celebrate, the precarious state of our nation remains deeply entrenched in the unconscious minds of Nigerians. The level of hardship hardly needs to be reiterated. A few have lost close relations to the pandemic. Some have been traumatised by criminal gangs, operating freely throughout the country. The worsening economic situation has humbled others. But an imminent intervention from God is the good news about Christmas.
Nigerian Christians must rise during this festive season and be animated by the hope for transformation that the incarnation represents. At the end of a trying year, Nigerians do not need to mourn forever over the misfortunes of their country. It is worthwhile to take a reassuring look at the future rooted in the good news that Christmas celebrations represent for us and humanity.
If we must dwell continually on the miseries of the day and not take time to reflect on the prospect of emancipation, it would always weigh us down with a depressed spirit. Truly, we may be weighed down with a myriad of daunting challenges, competing for survival amid a menacing fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, and struggling to discover our stability in the face of starvation, joblessness and life-threatening insecurity.
Although our beloved country may be afloat with monumental corruption and administered by a clueless, incompetent leadership, Nigerian Christians can stride forward in faith and hope and work towards developing a juster, more secure, more tranquil and more robust society, using sacrificial love, mercy and kindness, such as are illustrated in Jesus Christ.
The Christmas season should challenge every Christian to progress beyond pious wishes and empty sloganeering and to make their Christian commitments with more passion. It is time for Christians to live out their vocation as “salt of the earth and light of the world.” Every Christian should take up the challenge of illuminating the light of hope for a country that is tormented by multiple forces of darkness.
This is the moment for all Christians to express their gratitude for the many blessings they and their families have experienced throughout the year, despite the challenges of the day. Christmas is a time to guard against negativity with positive thoughts and narratives of personal transformation and national renewal. Is this not what the splendid Christmas Carol is all about?
We challenge Christians to once again live up to the core values of their religion and to have a positive impact on their socio-cultural and political environment. We equally admonish them to repudiate the prevalent cult of greed, eschew the widespread cult of pleasure, turn down the predominant cult of money and go all out to lead wholesome and purposeful lives dedicated to the improvement of the common good. This is another season of eternal hope for a better Nigeria.
Merry Christmas!