The Bishop of London, The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE, has recorded this Christmas message for children across the Diocese. Please share this with parents and carers in your communities.
A text version of the message is below, and subtitles can be added to the film by clicking the ‘CC’ button in video player.
A message from Bishop Sarah
‘I wonder if you can remember: what was the last thing your parent or carer nagged you to do? Was it to put those clothes away that seem to want to live on your bedroom floor? Maybe it was to remind you to finish that bit of homework? Or if you’re older, to put down your phone or make sure you get yourself home on time from hanging out with your friends.
These are the normal sounds of normal families. I can remember my parents wishing I would do my chores faster as I dawdled along. And then when I became a parent, reminding my children not to lose things or to leave things around the living room.
It’s funny to think this is just part of growing up for everyone, including the people we really admire for the lives they went on to live. One of my personal heroes is Florence Nightingale, who is honoured as someone who pioneered modern nursing. I find it hard to imagine Florence needing to be reminded to tidy up after herself! But of course, she was a real person so we know this must have been the case.
At Christmas we remember that Jesus was born as a baby into a real community. Can you imagine Jesus’ mother Mary being frustrated with him for making a mess, or being late home with his friends?
The Bible tells us that Jesus was the Son of God. So it can feel almost wrong to think of him in quite such human terms. But we also know that he was a real person, so it must have been the case.
In fact, Luke’s Gospel includes a story from Jesus’ childhood when, on a trip to Jerusalem, Jesus stays behind in the Temple and his family don’t know where he is. When they find him, Jesus explains that he needed to be in his father’s house. But you can hear the frustration in his mother’s voice, ‘Why have you treated us like this?’ she says ‘Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you’. ‘We’ve been so worried. Why didn’t you come home when we were expecting you to?’
It’s the reality of Jesus’ life that makes his example so inspiring to us. He shows us the potential we have – as human beings made in God’s image – to live incredible lives. The story of Jesus shows him caring for the vulnerable, looking out for those who society ignored and challenging the powerful. I wonder, if Jesus was born today to a family near you: What he would do? Maybe there is someone at your school he would sit with, to make an effort to be with them. And I think he would definitely want to challenge how we are treating the world we live in. When we care for our planet, I’m sure we are doing what Jesus would want us to do.
I pray that you have a wonderful celebration this Christmas, remembering again this wonderful story of a baby who came to show us all how to live. Someone whose life, two thousand years later, is still an amazing example of how we could live life. So I pray we all think about that question too: how, in my life here and now, can I follow the example of Jesus? How can I love my friends and family, and God’s creation, in the same way that Jesus would love them?’