Within a month of being released, the John Lewis Christmas Advert 2014 has achieved over 18m hits on YouTube and many more will have viewed it on television.
This Christmas, it is likely that more people in the UK will see the John Lewis advert than will hear the good news about Jesus at any kind of Christian church service.
If you are one of the few who have not seen it, it's another John Lewis feel good Christmas tale. This time it's of a boy called Sam and his penguin Monty. Although just a stuffed toy to everyone else, for Sam, Monty the Penguin is so real. It's Calvin and Hobbes in suburban middle England but with a penguin, not a tiger. Sam and Monty share life; Lego, fish fingers, colouring and drawing, sledging, watching telly and shopping trips are all enjoyed together. However, the more they share life together Sam realises that Monty's is dreams are elsewhere. Monty has a gap in his life. And clearly it's a gap that can only be filled by John Lewis.
And so it is that on Christmas day, Mabel the penguin is sitting under the tree waiting for Monty. The advert closes with two blissfully happy little penguins, one chuffed little boy and the strap line 'Give someone the Christmas they've been dreaming of'.
It's actually quite a good Christmas tale as it speaks in to the gap that we all feel in our lives.
Recently at Emmanuel Westbury, speaking on John 5:1-30, Mike used this quote from the writer Bernard Levin:
… people have all the material comforts they desire, together with such non-material blessings as a happy family, and yet lead lives of quiet, and at times noisy, desperation, understanding nothing but the fact that there is a hole inside them and that however much food and drink they pour into it, however many motor cars and television sets they stuff it with, however many well balanced children and loyal friends they parade around the edges of it … it aches.For those of us who have heard the word and have crossed over from death to life (v24) we know that we have had that gap filled through God's gift of his son, Jesus Christ.
So talking about this advert is an easy way in to speak with our friends, neighbours and colleagues about the meaning of Christmas and how God, through his son Jesus Christ has filled that gap and puts us back in the relationship with God that we were designed for.
A point that this alternative take on the John Lewis advert makes very nicely:
