The God with skin on!

IN spite of all the difficulties that people have experienced this year, 2021 has been a fantastic year for me.

I became a grandad in June for the first time and met my second granddaughter in August.

But I had known Eva and Autumn from about eight weeks into the pregnancies.

Thirty-one years ago, my wife and I didn’t have iphone apps that showed you how big your baby was with 3D imaging... We didn’t have detailed information about what was happening to the babies’ bodies... We didn’t have notifications saying “Your baby is now the size of a grape...kiwi... orange... grapefruit… pineapple...”.

There were times I was so confused I wasn’t sure whether the mums were having babies or opening a greengrocers!

I have to say, I was a bit worried for them when the app said they were having a watermelon! The granddaughters are already showing signs of their personalities. Eva has gone from gurgling to giggling and Autumn smiles at herself in the mirror – I hope those features carry on for the rest of their lives.

But I’d like to tell you about another girl. This little girl woke up in the middle of the night. It was dark and she was frightened. So she shouted down the landing “Dad, dad, I’m scared.”

Well, he was lovely and warm under the duvet, and he didn’t want to get out of bed. So, he shouted back to her “Don’t worry, God is with you.”

There was a bit of a pause, and the little girl shouted back. “Yes, but I want someone with skin on!”

There are lots of people I’ve met who don’t go to church and wouldn’t claim to be religious. They are respectful but they just don’t really understand why anyone would bother with Jesus.

But this little girl has explained the Christian faith in a nutshell – like a walnut ready to be cracked open at Christmas. You see, for Christians, Jesus isn’t just anyone, he IS “the God with skin on”. If we want to know what God is like we look to Jesus and the way he lived his life. We learn from what he said and watch what he did. He is so much more than a teacher, healer and leader – He is the walking trailer for the film of life in all its fullness.

But Jesus wasn’t beamed down as an adult – he was born as a baby in Bethlehem.

The amazing message of Christmas is so simple. It’s not about being good enough, it’s not about morality – it’s about knowing and trusting Jesus, “the God with skin on!”.

The Venerable Phil Williams is the Archdeacon of Nottingham in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham (Church of England).