EYCE Christmas greeting
Dear members & partners of EYCE, dear friends!
Do you know when the hour has come? Christians in the early stages of Christianity were eagerly anticipating the coming of the Lord and the end of the world they lived in so that God’s new creation would come into being. Time has moved on since then and few of us are similarly awaiting the end of times. We rather got accommodated in the world we live in and want to hold on to things that we know. Nevertheless, in the past year news could make you believe that the end of the world as we know it is near. The financial and economic crisis challenged societies throughout Europe and the world and seemed to turn the world upside down. Democratic movements in the Arab countries and elsewhere led to political shifts and new perceptions of these regions. The tsunami in Japan and the following catastrophe, especially in the nuclear power plant of Fukushima, questioned the long believed security of the structures created by us. As we experience it, the world we live in is fragile and ambiguous. By coming into this world in Jesus Christ, God has started to build a new world as his kingdom and invited us to participate and be transformed by God’s grace. In this new world, human beings are freed from their distance to God, as it is bridged through Jesus Christ, the saviour. This is why the Apostle Paul writes to the Romans:
Besides this you know the time that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. (Romans 13, 11-12)
No matter how we celebrate Christmas, this is the core of the promise made to us and our faith. The coming of God into this world and the promise to free us from its works of darkness and to accompany us into the light enables us to wake up and live as Christians in the presence of God’s gift of justification and salvation. However, we are called to putting on the armour of light not only between Christmas and Easter, but in all that we do towards our neighbours and to live in anticipation of a new Creation everyday anew. I wish that you may unpack this gift of God to you on Christmas day.
May you spend a blessed Christmas with your families and friends and discover (again) together what the new born baby means to you.
EYCE wants to thank you for your contributions throughout the year to the life of EYCE and wishes you a happy and blessed start into the year 2012. We are looking forward to meet you and work with you in the coming year and to fill EYCE with life!
May the confidence in the Lord be with you in 2012 to strengthen you and give you peace!
We thank you for your support and the strong fellowship during this year and wish you a blessed Christmas!
Yours in Christ,
Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe