Does Princess Kate's carol service have any good news?

The tragedy of a Christ-less Christmas

I have spoken several times over the last few years about my respect and admiration for members of the British Royal Family - notably the late Queen Elizabeth, and William and Catherine. I believe the late Queen was a true Christian woman, and I believe that her faith shone through on many occasions - particularly towards the end of her life when she talked about Jesus in her Christmas addresses.

When it comes to William and Catherine, I have had a soft spot for them for a long time. I am almost the same age as William (I was born the year in between William and Harry), and perhaps for that reason I feel an affinity for him. Seeing the tragedy with his mother unfolding was so painful, yet I think he bore that load with great dignity. When he married Catherine, I was so happy for them both. Catherine is a true queen in waiting - I really don’t think anyone could ask more of a future queen.

What I appreciate about both of them is that they seem to have a desire to do things ‘properly’ - to take their roles seriously, and to take the Christian faith seriously. When I watched their wedding, my instinct was that they had thought carefully about the hymns and readings they wanted, and it felt like a very ‘Christian’ service.

Fast forward to today. This evening, Catherine will be hosting her annual carol concert at Westminster Abbey, as she has for the last few years. This year the theme is to do with how much we need each other, especially in the most difficult times of our lives. Given the year that she’s been through, it’s not surprising! She has written a letter to each of the 1,600 attendees with her Christmas message.

Despite the many good things the letter says, sadly, Jesus is not mentioned once. It seems to me a good example of something which is ‘so near, and yet so far’. I thought it would be a good illustration of how it’s possible to be so close to the truth - and yet totally miss the actual good news.

So near, yet so far

The standout paragraph for me was the third one:

The Christmas story encourages us to consider the experiences and feelings of others. It also reflects our own vulnerabilities and reminds us of the importance of giving and receiving empathy, as well as just how much we need each other in spite of our differences. Above all else, it encourages us to turn to love, not fear [my emphasis]. The love that we show ourselves and the love we show others. Love that listens with empathy, love that is kind and understanding, love that is forgiving, and love that brings joy and hope.

Those words about turning to love instead of fear jumped out at me, as these words are almost exactly what I’ve been thinking about over the last few years. I’ve spoken about this a lot on the podcast, and it even featured in the introduction to my book (you can read the introduction and first chapter via the preview on that page).

Sadly I don’t think this means Catherine has actually read my book — as the rest of this post will make clear — so I can’t market it as being “Endorsed by the Princess of Wales” just yet. Ah well, we live in hope…

I find it so encouraging to hear someone with such a high profile talking about love so clearly and unapologetically. One of the things which I’ve noticed about the world over the last few years is the way that things seem to be so nihilistic - that is, there seems to be no meaning or purpose or love in much of popular culture. The fact that Catherine beats the drum for love so strongly — and, in fact, uses the word so unashamedly (rather than choosing to go with similar words like ‘compassion’ or ‘empathy’) — is wonderfully refreshing. It shines like a beacon.

Love, as I’ve come to discover over the last few years, really is what the Christian life is about. It’s not more complicated than that - it is love, pure and simple.

Those who wish to hear more about how love is literally all God wants from us might be interested in the Ten Commandments course which I just finished on Understand the Bible:

So, Catherine’s talking about love, isn’t that exactly what Christmas is about? Well… yes… and no. This is where we run into problems.

One of the points I always stress when it comes to falsehoods is that a falsehood doesn’t have to be saying something entirely wrong, it can also be distorting the truth or omitting things which should be included. This is what I believe is the case here.

Whose love?

When you read Catherine’s letter, whose love is she talking about? It’s human love - the love that we give one another. At one point she says, “this love which is the greatest gift we can receive” - but then goes on to talk about “gentle words or a receptive ear”. In other words, love which we receive from other people through their deeds of kindness.

None of this is a bad thing in and of itself, but it suffers from a fatal flaw: it misses out the entirety of the gospel message.

In Catherine’s letter, it appears that love is something we can achieve through our own efforts. “The Christmas story”, as she says, “encourages us to consider the experiences and feelings of others… and reminds us of the importance of giving and receiving empathy.” For Catherine, it seems, the message of Christmas is an example for us to follow.

The problem here is that Jesus did not come merely as an example for us. He IS an example — see e.g. Ephesians 5:1-2 — but he is also far more than that. He came as a Saviour, to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21).

The reason the world is not full of love and kindness — and the reason that we struggle with love so much in our own lives — is because of sin. Sin is, quite simply, a lack of love. And, as the Bible tells us, sin is not something which we can sort out by ourselves. We can’t simply wake up in the morning and decide to be loving that day. We need a Saviour. You could write a whole book about this (oh wait, I already did!). But let me quote from 1 John, which is probably the most condensed teaching in the Bible about love:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:7-12

John says that “love comes from God”. This is one of the most profound truths to understand about the Christian life: we do not simply need forgiveness for the times that we fail (as John says, Jesus’ “atoning sacrifice”), but we need to draw nearer to God to live through him. And, when we do, although we cannot see God we experience him as we love one another.

This is the message which I believe is tragically absent from Catherine’s letter.

Why does it matter?

You might think, “why, Phill, does it matter? Isn’t it just good to speak about love even if you don’t talk about love coming from God?”

But this is exactly what I am saying. Without God, there is no love. If we do not speak of the one who came to live, die, and rise again so that we might be born again, so that we might love, then it is all in vain. We still, in a sense, carry our own burden.

In fact, it’s worse than that. If we only speak of love as something that we need to achieve via our own hard work, then all we are doing is laying heavier and heavier burdens on our backs. This is what John Bunyan spoke of in The Pilgrim’s Progress (which, if you haven’t read it, is absolutely worth reading - and you can get it free online. In time past, almost everyone in this country had read it — it is a classic for a reason). Christian has a burden on his back, and cannot lose it by trying to be good. There is only one way for this burden to be lost:

Now I saw in my dream, that the highway up which Christian was to go, was fenced on either side with a wall, and that wall was called Salvation. Up this way, therefore, did burdened Christian run, but not without great difficulty, because of the load on his back.

He ran thus till he came to a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a sepulchre. So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do, till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more.

Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said, with a merry heart, “He hath given me rest by His sorrow, and life by His death.” Then he stood still awhile to look and wonder; for it was very surprising to him, that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden. He looked, therefore, and looked again, even till the springs that were in his head sent the waters down his checks.

I think this is a beautiful passage. Christian cannot lose his burden by himself; he must simply lay it down at the cross. As soon as he comes to the cross, his burden is gone. I think this is a beautiful picture of salvation — and it’s what Christmas is all about. Jesus came to save us from our sins, to save us from our burden. He didn’t come to lay another burden on our backs, he came to do that which we cannot do: to forgive us and give us the power to lead a new life.

That is the Christian message, that is what we celebrate at Christmas — and that is also what seems to be singularly absent from Catherine’s letter.

Of course, I’m sure it will be sung in the carols that are sung. For example, these words from Isaac Watt’s famous carol, “Joy to the World”:

Joy to the world; the Lord is come;
Let Earth receive her King;
Let ev'ry Heart prepare him room,
And Heav'n and nature sing.

Jesus Christ the Lord has come - but we must prepare him room for us, if we are to lose our burden.

A Christmas message for us

A few years ago I was leading a carol service for a local school. They had chosen the songs — including some traditional carols — but they also included this (relatively) modern song, which was new to me at the time. It really choked me up to hear the children singing these lovely words.

There’s a world still needing to hear good news,
More than presents and Christmas food.
May you find the love that God has for you,
this Christmas time.

Now that’s a Christmas message which I can buy into. This Christmas time, may you find the love that God has for you, may you lay your burdens down at the foot of the cross, and may you find a new strength to love in his power.

If you appreciate Sacred Musings, you can help me out in a few ways: 1. Becoming a subscriber - free or paid; 2. Sharing Sacred Musings on social media or with anyone you think might like it; 3. If you’d like to contribute to help keep this running but becoming a paid subscriber is not the right option for you right now, you can give one-off via PayPal. Thank you so much!