THERE are plenty of adverts for Christmas on television as big department stores and supermarkets try to outdo each other.
Of course, the adverts are not trying to say anything about the original meaning of Christmas – the birth of Jesus.
Why should they be? I'm not going to be a grumpy old man and insist that Tesco puts the baby Jesus in its adverts – in fact, I'd hate that.
Christmas means different things to different people.
For most of us, it's a time to be with family and friends and a time to give them presents to show how much they mean to us.
And I think that if we look at how the shops advertise the goods they want to sell as presents, they tell us quite a bit about how we see Christmas – and point to its deeper meaning, too.
I expect you've seen the John Lewis snowman advert.
Mr Snowman leaves his garden to go to the big city to buy Mrs Snowman a hat, scarf and gloves.
It's clever – we never see Mr Snowman going into a John Lewis, but the message is clear – if we love our family, we'll buy them something lovely from this particular shop.
The John Lewis slogan is "Give a little more love this Christmas".
I'm rather uncomfortable if we equate giving love with giving presents.
Like birthdays, Christmas is a time we "do" presents, but there are so many more ways we can show love this year.
So many people are struggling; giving love could be as simple as helping family and friends carry the load; offering to help with some of the things that make them so busy; putting a spending cap on how much to spend on presents this year.
Some people will simply be hungry this Christmas – we can show our neighbours love by giving to local foodbanks, which give emergency food packages.
Meanwhile, DFS's slogan for its Christmas advertising this year is "Making Christmas more comfortable", with the implication that it's their sofas that will make this happen. Who doesn't want a comfortable Christmas?
But a really comfortable Christmas is about more than just where we sit as we digest our turkey. It's about who we are with, and our relationships with them.
Christmas can sometimes be full of tension – something that's rarely shown in television advertisements.
If we don't see our families often, but get together at Christmas, no wonder it's sometimes a bit strained. Add to that the expectation that Christmas Day is supposed to be perfect, and there could be a recipe for disaster.
So if we really want our Christmas to be more comfortable, we shall need to put ourselves in each other's shoes, and try to give a little more love.
Then there is Tesco's Christmas advertisement, using the slogan "It's a feeling not a season". I'd be the first to agree that Christmas isn't just a season – the birth of Jesus is something that has resonated around the world for more than 2000 years. But I think it's also more than a feeling.
We don't always feel happy at Christmas – sometimes we're stressed or even downright miserable. But those feelings don't invalidate Christmas – they just make it a lot less enjoyable. It's just like it is with love, really – love is not just a feeling, either; if we love people, we need to show it – that's why we buy all those presents, after all.
Love means putting others before ourselves, and doing what we can to help and cherish them, especially if they are stressed or unhappy.
Those three advertising slogans – "Give a little more love this Christmas"; "Making Christmas more comfortable"; "It's a feeling not a season" – tell us a lot about Christmas.
They speak of a desire to give and to be given to; a desire to be comfortable and happy; a desire to love and be loved. These are fundamental truths about being human.
These truths come to the fore at Christmas, and they are at the heart of the Christian meaning of Christmas.
In the birth of Jesus Christ, God gives us the most wonderful gift imaginable – himself. God loves humanity, loves us so much that he became one of us. Jesus brings God to us.
Carol singers will sing of "tidings of comfort and joy", and those tidings are the birth of Jesus:
Now to the Lord sing praises,
All people in this place!
With Christian love and fellowship
Each other now embrace,
And let this Christmas festival
All bitterness displace:
And its tidings of comfort and joy.
