Luke
2:1-20
We know better,
but sometimes we just can’t help ourselves.
So many things conspire against us
this time of year. Movies, music,
art, cards are all work to stir up in us desire - desire for something that we
can’t really have. And even if we give
into it, it only makes us miserable.
Nonetheless, it’s hard to resist that deep longing, that desperate
fantasy… for the perfect Christmas. It’s
a fantasy that appears in various forms, but a standard one goes like this:
Snow falls gently
to the ground around a home nestled in the woods. The glow of warm light shining through the
window showcases a large family gathered together caught up in the joy of their
holiday celebrations. The entire clan,
grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and children are all attractive,
well-dressed, and, no doubt, well-mannered.
Each one is either at the top of their class or advancing in their
career or enjoying a comfortable retirement.
Not one among them is seriously ill or perpetually unemployed, mentally
unbalanced or socially awkward. And as
these lovely people gather around the beautifully decorated table everyone
enjoys the delicious feast with conversation full of laughter and love - every
moment and morsel is savored. Retiring
then to the living room presents are opened patiently one by one. Each gift is received with delight because,
of course, it’s always the right size, color, and style. And miracles never cease as no one bursts out
in tears because they didn’t get what they wanted or they’re now jealous of
someone else’s gift. And without any
prompting the children always remember to say thank you. All of this, as the snow continues to fall
creating a warm blanket for this cozy Christmas scene.
The big problem
with this, or any other hoped-for fantasy Christmas that we harbor deep in our
psyche, is that it never happens.
Sometimes instead of snow it rains, other times a beloved family member
is missing or long-held hurts and resentments get stirred up or someone in the bunch
acts entitled instead of grateful - anything is possible when people are
gathered together, well-meaning people
who want to love each other, but struggle with their own flaws and
hang-ups and insecurities. The Christmas
fantasy - that desire to live in a perfectly crafted world, even if it’s just
for one day - rarely brings joy. More
often is frustration, disappointment, and emptiness. Which may cause each one of us to wonder, “Is
Christmas only for the perfect?”
The answer is
found lying in the manger on that first Christmas. Contrary to the numerous beautiful and serene
depictions of the nativity, in truth the first Christmas, the real Christmas,
was far from perfect. Set in a time and
place where people were suffering under the oppression of the Roman government
- a government that required, regardless of personal circumstances, that Joseph
and a very pregnant Mary travel roughly 100 miles for the privilege to be
counted so that more taxes could be levied upon them. Then after making the arduous trip and
arriving in Bethlehem, their destination, no hot shower or soft bed greeted
them. In fact, there was no greeting at
all. A barn would have to do for a
bedroom. And as we well know, it was
there that young Mary went into labor without the presence and support of the
women in her family, giving birth on her own to her firstborn son.
The situation was
far from ideal. In no way was it a
fantasy Christmas. Yet it is just such a
place as this that God in Christ is born - not only willingly, but
intentionally born into the imperfect set of circumstances that makes up real
life on this earth.
The Church’s
celebration on this holy night is not just about marking a birth that occurred
two thousand years ago. The unexpected
gift of Christmas is that we not only celebrate what happened one night a long,
long time ago, but what God wants to happen this night and all the days and
nights of your life - to be born and present the imperfect set of circumstances
that makes up your real life on this earth.
For that is where
God is, where God is born and where God is found - not in any fantasy, but in
the real, the ordinary, and the authentic places of life - not just once in
Bethlehem but in all times and in all places.
Certainly in the joys, celebrations and thanksgivings of your life,
Jesus is born. But Jesus is born and
present just as much in the sorrows and the losses, and the grief of life. In our hopes and fears, in our successes and
failures, in the times when we feel cherished and in the times when we feel
abandoned - Jesus is being born.
Christ’s presence, love, and healing fills every aspect of your life -
your real life. That is the good
news. That is our gift. Christmas is not at all for the perfect. Christmas is for us, dare I say the
imperfect, those of us who live and move and have our being in a world full of
flaws - flaws that exist even after Jesus is born.
As much as our
desire may be to live the fantasy or at least to hope that Jesus being born in
our lives might radically change our circumstances, it’s important to pay mind
to the fact that before Jesus was born there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by
night and that after Jesus was born those same shepherds returned to living in the fields, keeping watch over
their flock by night. Jesus’ birth
did not take the shepherds out of the fields or away from the sheep. Nor does
Jesus’ birth does take us out of whatever field we are living in or from the
sheep we are watching. Whatever your
reality, whatever makes up your imperfect world, that is where Jesus is being
born. That is where God is very close and at work - healing, teaching,
comforting, redeeming.
Let go of the
fantasy and let Christmas become real.
Your life is the manger in which God’s love and presence is being born
tonight. Open this gift and delight in
it for it surely is the right size, color, and style just for you. And that, as the angel proclaims, is indeed good news of great joy for all the people!
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