Some weeks ago, as I was sitting in a coffee shop with a couple of colleagues, we were discussing the world situation. How morals are going down and how interest rates are soaring to new heights. How lawlessness and international terrorism is gripping the world. As we were getting pretty low just talking about it, someone said: ". . . then there's Christmas!" Funny, it didn't seem to "jive" in, what he was saying and what we were talking about, and yet ... it did!

We often imagine that the world Jesus came to was not complicated and its problems were not complex. But historians tell us otherwise. They tell us that the world Jesus came to was deeply disturbed and people faced the complexities of life with difficulty. They broke under the strain, they committed suicide, they sought ways to escape the problems that perplexed them. Crime was rampant and a good part of the world was under the heel of Rome. The coming of Jesus then didn't "jive" either, at least it seemed that way, and yet ... it did!

It really is an incredible idea on the part of God to come up with an event such as Christmas, and no small wonder that the shepherds were startled at that great announcement "For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:1 1). SEE ... how fitting?

SEE who it was who came: "Christ the Lord", the long expected Messiah, the God appointed and God anointed one, who would fulfil all the promises - to live, die and then, after having overcome all the enemies, to rule forever.

SEE how He came: "For unto you is born . . . " How this sanctifies human motherhood - in contrast with today's tendencies and non-Christian beliefs. It links God Himself with our race, it spans the gulf between God and man. Think of it: God, the Son, was born humanly!

SEE where He was born: "... in the city of David..." The city where David was born, amid the nearby hills and gorges where he had learned to play the harp and sing his psalms. It was David's Messiah - successor for whom all were waiting.

SEE why He was born: "For unto you is born ... a Saviour". Do you think the angels would have come with such joy and ecstacy to announce the birth of a statesman, a warrior or philosopher? No, nothing could have brought them from God's glory but the fantastic tidings of a Saviour born into this world, fit to save people from sin, death and hell.

SEE when He was born: "This day... " Some two thousand years ago. Significantly so, that we've set our calendars accordingly - and an earthly time indeed.

SEE unto whom He came: "For unto you... " Unto you the shepherds, unto you the people of Israel and unto you the people who on earth do dwell!

SEE what feelings should be ours in reaction to the joyous tidings: "For... "ties it to the foregoing which says: "Fear not" and "Great joy". How up lifing, "Making-it all-worthwhile" joy.

May we all possess this Joy now, during 1982 and evermore.