Christmas Eve: Meditating on the Mystery of Incarnation
/A simple Christmas Eve. The joy of a Christmas Eve service. Listening to Amy Grant and Sting and classical selections. Taking time to post on social media. Quiet tomorrow, a gathering of vaccinated/boosted friends day after Christmas. Reading, a Hallmark movie or two, no news for the next 48 hours (big thing for someone who watches news too much), and journaling, spiritual reading, meditation, and some goofing off. Missing Kitty Emma who left in September, but peaceful and feel her presence every once in awhile. A couple of quotes, a photo, and my warmest wishes and prayers that no matter what is happening with you this Christmas, you will be aware of the simple blessings of breath, life, and love. And a bit of chocolate or some Christmas cookies to make your mouth merry.
When you celebrate Christmas, think about the importance God places on your life, even if you don’t feel that who you are or what you do make much difference in a busy world. The Incarnation tells us that we are special and unique and that God wants to dwell in our hearts. In God’s eyes, there is no place too humble, no corner of the world that is not worthy to dwell in. He comes as a child to our hearts, not demanding or conquering. He comes as a baby to hold in our arms. It is not whether or not He is here with us. It is whether or not we decide to welcome Him into our lives.
The Christian church has historically insisted on Christ as fully God and fully man. In a very special way the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, his physical incarnation in time and space, is a sign to tell us who God is and how He relates to the world He created. I have meditated on this rich concept, turning it over and over in my mind like a many-faceted diamond is turned over and over in the hand, catching the light from one angle after another. The Incarnation tells me that our lives are important, affirming the Genesis “It is good” once again. It tells me that the body is not something to be ashamed of but to be honored. Place is important. We are all important as individuals and also as part of a greater whole. No place is too small, no person unimportant. Creation and God’s presence in us offers a pattern of being that is so complex, beautiful, and wonderful that we can only understand a fraction of it.
Christ came to a young couple who were not important in any scheme of the ruling elite of their day. He wasn’t a far off diety to be worshipped with fear and trembling in some golden temple. He was not an oriental potentate who ruled like a despot, demanding tribute and grinding us under the conqueror’s boot heel. He was not a merchant prince, buying and selling our souls for a quick profit. He was just a tiny baby, born of a humble family, coming to join us in a troubled and chaotic world.
There was no political power, financial power, or religious power that had any interest or knowledge in the birth. Herod, that wily old fox of a king, only wanted to stamp out any possible threat to his throne, so his response to the wise men’s news was one of violence. The temple priests had no interest and made no journey to Bethlehem. No, the only ones who came and worshipped were a few outsiders, wise men from another country, and a few scruffy shepherds.
Why would God hang out with a bunch of shepherds in Bethlehem when He could appear in glory in Jerusalem’s Temple just over the hill? Why would God come to a powerless family that has to travel to Bethlehem because Caesar wants to make sure he gets his full quota of taxes from a conquered people, instead of having the good sense to be born in a palace as a son of the ruling class, where at least He could have some political leverage? All through the New Testament, this God in Christ surprises us with who he chooses to hang around with—sinners, tax collectors, and women of low repute. Do we get the hint that God likes us, even when our names don’t appear on the social register? Do we understand that God says we are important, even though the world might write us off as total losers?
The baby Jesus sleeps in a manger in Bethlehem, a seemingly ordinary child. The story says that God came to earth as a baby, grew up just like all children grow up, and became an adult. According to the Gospels, Jesus was not Superman hiding his superpowers behind a Clark Kent mask, but one of us. Fully human and yet also mysteriously fully God.
Whether you regard it as a primitive myth, literal fact, or mystical truth, the Incarnation is the mystery at the center of Christmas. Scholars and theologians may debate doctrines and theories, but for me the Incarnation of Christ is a mystery to meditate on, a mystical truth that offers meaning for the life I live today.
Wishing you the best of the season, and that you will know you are a person of eternal value and worth, loved by God.
And a special gift from the Stereo Angels, Rosemary Cathcart, Larry Faragalli and the Heavenly Band. Christmas Eve at CSLN. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSluPGp9_mE