Good afternoon. The first item of business today is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Rev George Fiddes of St Nicholas parish church in Prestwick.
Good afternoon. It is a delight to be here with you this afternoon. We are well into the season of Advent, when we look forward with anticipation to the celebration of Christmas. At the heart of Christmas is the nativity story of how Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger. The story stands up just as a good story, at the very least, but it is more than that: it is the coming of the Saviour into the world—God incarnate, God wrapped up in flesh.
There are a lot of similarities between faith and politics and our political views: we look for something better—a better world and a fair and just society in which to live—and we have our plans and our vision of how we might bring that about. We ask people to believe that we can deliver on the promise that we can bring to fruition the plans and the promises—the vision that we have—but sometimes, no matter how much we believe or work and struggle, we cannot bring about what we want.
In Jesus Christ, we have the promise of God being fulfilled. The promise, of course, was that God would send a deliverer—a saviour or redeemer who would deliver his people. For all that it has been 2,000 years since the coming of Jesus into our world, there does not seem to have been a great improvement in things. Our world has changed. Our morality is based on the Judaeo-Christian tradition, but things move on and our society is different.
A story is told of two friends. One was a pastor and the other was a manufacturer of soap, and they had long discussions about the Christian faith and a need to believe. The common criticism of the pastor was that Christianity did not work. As they walked down the street, they spotted a dirty child. The minister turned to the soap manufacturer and said, “Your soap doesn’t work.” In his defence, the soap manufacturer said, “The soap has to be applied—it has to be used.” The Christian faith has to be applied. We cannot leave it in a book or in a building. It must be part of our communities and our lives. This is why Jesus came.
I hope that you all have a great Christmas and that you celebrate and rejoice, and eat and drink too much. Be assured that you have the prayers of the Church. We ask for God’s blessing on your work here in the Scottish Parliament.
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