wfn.org | WCC Christmas Message 2001

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release, PR-01-43
For Immediate Use
20 November 2001

Christmas Message 2001

Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser
General Secretary of the World Council of Churches

We live in a world without mercy, where more and more people
feel trapped. Time and money have established their merciless
rule. The secret of their power is scarcity. Time is money, they
say. Those who have a lot of money never have time, and the poor
perhaps have time but no money. Yet they need money in order to
live, so they borrow, and then they find themselves trapped in
the relentless grip of debt.  

We are told that in a world of scarcity, competition is the best
way to achieve more. Competition obeys the merciless rule of
winning and losing. Because time and money are scarce, the one
who moves faster or can offer the better price will win. Those
who are too slow or have little to offer are eliminated from the
race - excluded. In a world of competition, there is little to
protect them.  

Where money rules, almost everything becomes scarce. When power
and even justice can be bought, there is little left for those
who are poor. Here, too, there are only winners and losers.  

When money reigns supreme, even the call for justice comes to be
counted as a cost factor. The powerful will be careful not to
apologize for acts of injustice for fear of claims for monetary
compensation. As for those who have nothing to lose, in extreme
cases some of them may turn to violence in order to command
attention and assert their rights - only to be met with
relentless retaliation.  

It is in this merciless world that the "grace of God has
appeared, bringing salvation to all" (Titus 2:11). This is the
same God whom Moses encountered as 
"a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in
steadfast love and faithfulness" (Ex. 34:6) and whom the psalmist
praises as the one who "does not deal with us according to our
sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities" (Psalm 103:10).
God has come into our world to live among us and to liberate us
from the merciless rule of winning and losing, from the yoke of
competition and scarcity.  

This is the message of Christmas: "And the word became flesh and
lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a
father's only son, full of grace and truth... From his fullness
we have all received, grace upon grace" (John 1:14,16).   

Our world will not be saved by increased competitiveness in face
of scarcity, but by grace and mercy. The grace of God which is
God's true being has taken on human form in Jesus Christ. God's
grace overrules the law of scarcity and breaks the relentless
dynamic of retaliation. God does not treat us on the basis of
achievement, worth or power. God gives and forgives generously,
without counting the cost, and offers life in its fullness (John
10:10), particularly to those who are the losers in our merciless
world.  

May we therefore, this Christmas, receive from his fullness
"grace upon grace"!
-----------------------------

The Christmas message is also available on cassette, free of
charge.

Cassettes of the Christmas message, read in English, French,
German and Spanish by the general secretary of the WCC, Konrad
Raiser, may be ordered by radio broadcasters and audio-visual
services until 12 December.

Order should be sent to the WCC Media Relations Office:
E-mail:  smm@wcc-coe.org 
Telephone:  (+41 22) 791 64 21

**********
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, in more than 100 countries in all continents from
virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is
not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The
highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately
every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general
secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

World Council of Churches
Media Relations Office
Tel: (41 22) 791 6153 / 791 6421
Fax: (41 22) 798 1346
E-mail: ka@wcc-coe.org 
Web: www.wcc-coe.org 

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