Included & Adopted - The Miracle of Christmas

I’ve been listening recently to a number of stories about adoption. Some of you may be adopted, or you may have adopted children yourselves. I have been struck by how, even where adoptions have been very happy, loving, and nurturing, it seems that often the adopted person, whether as a child or an adult, longs to know about their birth parents, and how powerful it can be for them even just to see a photo of someone who “looks like me”. That recognition that you have “the family nose” or “your dad’s chin” or “your mum’s smile” can be powerful in enabling a person to feel grounded, to feel that they really belong. We long to see the image of ourselves reflected back at us.

We often hear also about the importance of role models - especially amongst minority communities. The person you see, who looks like you, and has made it as a doctor, journalist, actor or politician, can be a huge encouragement and influence.  We have recently heard of one MP complaining about this: "...it drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people". You can draw your own conclusions about that.

I remember realising, rather late in the day, that one of the reasons why I had, for many years, not imagined myself getting ordained, was that the churches I had been in often side-lined women - there were no female leaders in those communities for me to follow.

Having someone who shares our experiences, maybe even sharing our appearance, can be really important if we are going to feel we really belong, and if we are going to fulfil our potential socially, personally and professionally.

And this is the miracle of Christmas - the heart of the Christian story. As Christians we believe that God, in Jesus, becomes just like us - becomes one of us, someone we can relate to. Not distant and far off, not an imagined person whose character we can never really know, but a real person, just like us, a role model who “gets” us.  A person who has wrestled with pain, disappointment and betrayal, as well as enjoying family, feasting and friendship. The good news of Christmas is that we are all included and adopted.

The Bible says:

God marked us with his love to be his from the beginning, and adopted us.

We are made in God’s image, and when we see Jesus, we see our true image reflected back - an image of love and belovedness.

If, this year, you are feeling a bit disconnected, left out, unsure what path to follow, do come and join us in our churches as we celebrate the story of God’s coming to show us his face - a face just like ours - as we seek to build a community of inclusion and belonging for everyone.

Every Blessing,

Revd Kalantha