Meditation for Christmas and Beyond

As we move through the end of the Christmas season, let us take some time to think about this baby in the manger.  Let us think about God who decides that the best way to be with us is to take on human form, not the human form of someone powerful, but a baby born to peasants.  Let us marvel at this kind of vulnerability as we think about ways to be vulnerable ourselves.

But let us not leave the baby in the manger, as my pastor put it in a Christmas season almost 10 years ago.  Babies are so cute, and Christmas is so lovely.  No wonder we see such increased attendance on Christmas Eve.  But as my pastor said years ago, if we leave the baby Jesus in the manger that we've missed the important point.

So what is the point?  For some Christians, it's Christ on the cross.  There are all sorts of reasons to focus on the cross.  The cross for some of us is as potent a symbol of God's love as the manger.  For some of us it's a powerful reminder of what we risk when we try to embody God's love in the world,  the cross as capital punishment, the forces of empire pitted against the forces of love.  But if we leave the savior on the cross, we've missed the point too.

We are Easter people, after all.  We say we believe in resurrection, the empty tomb.  But do we?  Resurrection in this life?  Do we only believe that Jesus gets to experience resurrection?  If we focus on the empty tomb, we continue to miss the point.  And if we focus on Heaven, we miss the point.

I've had more than one friend snort when I say that.  "If it's not about Heaven, then what is the point of religious faith?" one friend asked in a mix of disgust and disbelief.  I would argue that it's about our life right here and now.  Christmas reminds us that God breaks through into our regular lives in amazing ways.

God didn't come to earth to give us a ticket to Heaven.  Many theologians would tell us that Jesus comes to show us how we can be fully human--not so that we can get into Heaven, but so that we can begin to create Heaven right here and now.  Let us remember the message of the Advent angel messengers and the angel choirs and the new star:  the Kingdom of God is inbreaking, right here and right now.  We don't have to wait until we're dead to experience that union with the Divine.

God came to be with us so that we can be part of the redemption of creation.  We move into 2022 in a world that needs to be redeemed in so many ways.  How can we say yes to God's invitation to be part of that redemption?