wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] 'Good news of great joy..."

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8584 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

04543
December 14, 2004

'Good news of great joy..."

2004 Christmas message from the WCC General Secretary

by Samuel Kobia
General Secretary
World Council of Churches

GENEVA - The good news of Christmas shines forth upon the world like the
summer sun in the southern hemisphere, like a sparkling star in the wintry
northern sky.

	It shines brightly as "good news of great joy" in a world that
surrounds us with disturbing news.  It renews our faith in the promise of
peace on earth, and calls us once again to praise God whose glory extends to
the highest heavens.

	For centuries, the hope of peace inherent in Christmas has been a
central affirmation of the church's faith.  Each time that we celebrate the
birth of Christ, we commit ourselves to live out this hope.

	We celebrate the hope of Christmas as the promise of peace.  We
recall the birth of Jesus who came to us as a child threatened by violence,
as a refugee whose family fled due to the ambitions of the powerful.  In this
season, in this world, we offer our thanks and praise to God for the hope we
have in Jesus Christ, for the gift of God's love revealed in human
vulnerability.

	The good news of Christ's coming and dwelling among us is a source of
illumination in this world, for through his life and teachings he has shown
us the way that leads to peace.  Jesus said, "My peace I give to you.  I do
not give to you as the world gives."

	This world gives us walls dividing peoples, security strategies,
repressive laws and pre-emptive wars.  Jesus calls us to discover responsible
ways of living in unity as human beings.  Jesus Christ has given us the great
commandment to love and calls us to overcome the spirit of vengeance, hatred
and rivalry; he teaches us to pray for our enemies.

Jesus has instructed us not to pursue our own interests at the expense of
others, not to be envious when the disempowered are re-empowered, not to
obstruct justice when those who have been deprived are restored.  He has
called us to discern the face of God in the neglected and abandoned.  He
calls us daily to lives of obedience, through our faith and in our actions.

	We in the World Council of Churches have chosen to live together in
the light of Christ, the light that shines in spite of darkness, the light
that defies the encircling gloom.  We celebrate the hope of peace despite
continuing conflicts, despite fear and suspicion, hatred and warfare, abuse
and greed.

	Our world is pervaded by cultures of violence that exclude,
subjugate, terrify and violate those who are identified by their persecutors
as "different."  It is alarming that many who engage in this behavior attempt
to justify themselves in the name of "God."

	As we proclaim the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we celebrate
the hopes of 100 children at La Tablada Disciples of Christ Community Center
in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which I visited in November.  Together with 15
young people, also from the slums and broken homes, the lives of those
children are being transformed at the centre, whose ministry is inspired by
the love of Christ.

	Elsewhere in the world, the reality of Buenos Aires and La Tablada is
duplicated many times over.  We pray that God's light may shine on people in
difficult situations, helping them to identify forms of resistance that
promote positive change.

	We celebrate endeavors of cooperation and support among the
afflicted, interfaith initiatives for peace and harmony, people's movements
for peace and justice - and, in all these, we recognize yearnings for a
better world.

	Amid this world's divisions and destruction, the good news of
Christmas reminds us that God reaches out in love and calls us to a ministry
of reconciliation "in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."

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