Presbytery of Aberdeen Christmas message for 2003 from the Moderator

The Church of Scotland
Presbytery of Aberdeen

Christmas Message from the Moderator

Bob Brown

I celebrate Christmas this year with one eye on Africa, from which I’ve just returned. There, in Malawi, I saw at first hand the harrowing consequences of HIV/AIDS. Christian people have not always been good in their response to this disease, sometimes even saying, quite shockingly and wrongly, that it is God’s judgment on sexual impropriety. The Christmas story bears on this. We are often told that the place of Jesus’ birth is hugely significant – a stable, not a palace, cast out because there was no room in the inn, thus reminding us of God’s identification with the lowest and the least. This means that for Christian people, the incarnation is not simply the celebration of God’s coming among us in Jesus; it is a challenge to us to seek justice for all who are cast out, shunned and ignored. HIV/AIDS sufferers come into this category more obviously than most. It would be good if we made doing something for them part of our Christmas celebration.

hristmas 2003

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