{"id":6549,"date":"2017-12-05T07:50:37","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T12:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=6549"},"modified":"2017-12-01T09:10:13","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T14:10:13","slug":"december-10-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/december-10-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"December 10, 2017–Do They Know It\u2019s Christmastime?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jay McDivitt, Waukesha, WI
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\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warm-up Question<\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favorite Christmas song, and why?<\/p>\n

Do They Know It\u2019s Christmastime? (Do We<\/em>?)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

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This time of year, it\u2019s hard to avoid hearing Christmas music. One song in steady rotation is the 1980s classic, \u201cDo They Know It\u2019s Christmas?\u201d Originally produced to bring awareness to famine in parts of Africa, it\u2019s a feel-good favorite that connects Christmastime to a concern for those who are hungry. From the Salvation Army bell-ringers to your congregation\u2019s efforts to be generous this time of year, caring for those who are poor at Christmas is a common theme. With a Savior born in a barn to bring good news to the poor, it\u2019s not a bad idea. Yet, some of the lyrics are worth a second glance:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Is it possible that even among the most famine-stricken and war-torn places in the world, there is still Christmas joy? Is it possible to be joy-full even when life is sorrow-full? Is it possible that Jesus and his crew might know something about that?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell tonight, thank God it’s them instead of you.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Is there another way for comfortable Christians to be thankful for what we have that doesn\u2019t also involve thanking God that suffering is happening somewhere else, to other people, and not to us?<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmastime.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That might be true (though not entirely). Not because it never snows on the African continent\u2014it does, although less so each year with a warming climate. It’s most mostly because of geography; the places where it snows in Africa are in the Southern Hemisphere, where it\u2019s summertime on December 25.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greatest gift they’ll get this year is life.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

What if all Christians, no matter where they lived, believed that the grace of waking up and breathing in the freedom of being loved and claimed by God is the greatest gift of all? What if there are Christians in Africa who understand this more deeply than some of us could ever imagine?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers flow\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Geography again: \u201cAfrica\u201d stretches from Senegal in the west to Somalia in the east, from a stone\u2019s throw from Spain (Morocco) and Italy (Tunisia) in the north to Cape Town in South Africa. The USA fits three times inside Africa with room to spare. Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world (fifth if you count Australia). The continent\u2014especially including Madagascar\u2014is abundant with rivers and rainforests and biodiversity that science cannot yet fully appreciate.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo they know it’s Christmastime at all?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Considering that five of the twenty countries where Christianity enjoys the fastest growth\u2014along with three of the top ten countries with the largest number of Christians\u2014are in Africa, there are millions of folks there who have at least heard that it\u2019s almost Christmastime. Even if many (though by no means all) of them are dealing with war, plague, drought, or famine, they\u2019ll be celebrating the birth of Christ in many and various ways\u2014with or without snow.<\/p>\n

As Christians in North America shop \u2018til they drop in these last few days before Christmas, this song may lead us not only to be generous, but also to wonder: Do we<\/u><\/em> know it\u2019s Christmastime? And what, exactly, does that mean?<\/p>\n

Discussion Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n