This December, Carol and I will visit the tiny Channel Island of Alderney. It is a beautiful but heavily fortified place, having been both the first line of defence historically and an occupied and evacuated community. Having marked the 80th Anniversary of Liberation in Guernsey in May, Alderney has its own unique act of remembrance on 15th December, known as Homecoming.
Alderney was not liberated because it had been evacuated. The people of Alderney could not return until later in the year, when the war ended, because the island was in such a state, having been brutalised by the German occupation. In particular, there were three concentration camps to provide forced labour. This December, it is the 80th anniversary of the people of Alderney coming home, which must have been both joyous and hugely challenging.
In these days of Advent, we prepare ourselves for the coming home of our Saviour. Dark days prevail and I reflect upon what that darkness really means for those currently under oppression or war, such as in Sudan and South Sudan. It can be difficult to imagine, as we prepare for a happy English Christmas, what it must be like if your home is under threat.
At Christmas, wherever we are, and however full or fragile our lives are, we mark perhaps the greatest moment in human history. The very fact that God chooses to lower Himself and to be born among us, and to make His home as one of us, marks out the Christian experience from any other in our world. Our preparations and our celebrations make it all too easy to miss the full meaning of the incarnation. The fact that God is with us is a liberation all of its own and calls us to make every home in our world as safe and as free as possible. This Christmas, as families, and as some remain alone, let us remember before anything else that the God who made his home among us calls us to return to Him and to live lives that proclaim the good news. May the homecoming of Jesus be with you this Christmas.