The retailer John Lewis has become famous for its Christmas adverts, but other stores have sought to compete for the crown. I’ve been watching them to see the sorts of values that are assumed within them. When we start to ask why particular adverts appeal to us, we begin to uncover what is important to us – the sorts of values we hold ourselves.
Consider this year’s Lidl commercial. It shows a little girl (a Lidl girl?!) in different Christmassy scenes, wondering to herself why we love Christmas so much. She observes that Christmas is not “me, me, me” but rather, “us.” She notes that it’s a time when we stop thinking about what we want and think more about what others might like. She concludes with the comment that warms all our hearts as we watch – that every day has a lot to learn from Christmas.
So what is it about Christmas that makes it a day from which every other day should learn? Well, we know that if we could live in the selfless way that Christmas proposes instead of in the “me, me, me” way which is the human default, the world would be a better place – like the one God intended us to enjoy. We might be sad as we think about this because it seems so out of reach – not least because we know we aren’t as selfless as we should be. But at the centre of Christmas is the God whose every thought is about others, and who, because of his great love for us, gives us something even better than what we might like; he gives us what we need – the gift of himself in Jesus Christ, and with him, forgiveness, freedom, and fulness of life.
May this Christmas transform your everyday, and may you know God’s love in 2026.
Revd Canon Mark Dunstan
Rural Dean
Image by Michael Hagn from Pixabay