Reading today’s passage, I am reminded that our Lord of grace and justice does not change. And as the world changes at a rapid pace around us, I hold onto that truth and wrap it around my heart – particularly at this time of year.

This week as Christmas Carols played down the supermarket aisle, I heard that classic John Lennon song “…and so this is Christmas, and what have you done, another year over, a new one just begun.”

That tune always causes me to pause and reflect: what have we done? In the distraction of gift buying and grocery shopping, we could easily forget that refugees are still on Manus, the Rohingya are still living on the run, and that our own Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters live without Treaty. It can feel overwhelming as we contemplate how much suffering can occur in just one year.

Of course, my feelings about world events that are beyond my humble capacity to fix, are not what matters. It’s what I do about our Father’s desire for justice that counts - Love is a doing word, after all.

Closer to home, Christmas brings reflections on other matters that I’d happily not recall. I’m reminded of my experience in the Lindt Café siege in Sydney, just three years ago now. This Saturday, our city comes together to unveil the official memorial to the two innocent people who lost their lives that day.

Our unchanging, ever-loving God, was God on that tragic day too.

Having survived that day, I remember the Police Rescuers laying me on the road in Phillip Street as I waited for the ambulance to take me to hospital. Amidst the running and shouting of the Police in those urgent minutes, the city was deathly silent. I was quickly taken to Prince of Wales Hospital for surgery as my heart filled with the anxiety of what would happen next - a gnawing fear that we could yet again face race riots in the streets of our beautiful city.

Where do you go when faced with a situation that you cannot fix? Surely, that is to our ever-loving God who does not change, as our reading today reminds us.

As our city recovered from the collective shock of what had just happened, Sydney came together with flowers and said it would not be divided. Even now, three years later, that action alone fills my heart with hope. It’s a hope that we can overcome, that when we set our hearts with God’s intent, justice will prevail and Love will be done in our generation.

While I don’t have answers to the world’s troubles, this Christmas as we celebrate a baby born, I am greatly encouraged. It points us to our resurrected Jesus and reminds us that we too can be revived, reborn and renewed in love and positive action.

There is always hope, and we can find rest in Him who does not change.