Christmas Day 2013

Christmas Day 2013 (Redux from 2011)

          

As you will probably recognize, our Gospel reading today is the Prologue to John that we have been reading at the end of our services throughout the season of Advent. The reason we did this, is not only because it was something that used to be done at the end of every Eucharistic service, but because it is this reading that frames most of our theology about Jesus. In fact, there are many scholars who would say that much of our understanding of all of the Gospel narratives is seen through the lens of John’s Gospel—and this reading in particular.

Of course the most important thing that is revealed in the readings, is that God came to make a home with us.

In fact, the word that he uses to describe the way that God dwelt among us is the word “tabernacle.” This is probably not a word that means much out of a particular context. But a tabernacle is a tent used to house holy things. But not just holy things, even today it is the practice of observant Jews to keep the feast of booths—or tabernacles to remember Israel’s 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

In the Gospels, we read about Peter asking to build tents on the mountain when Jesus is transfigured, and Elijah and Moses appear with him.

We even call the box where the reserve sacrament is kept a tabernacle.

But, the tabernacle was also a tent that was used to house the Ark of the Covenant—the ornate box which was a representation of God’s presence with God’s people.

Obviously the Ark itself wasn’t God—and certainly didn’t contain God. It was a sign of God’s Presence. It was a thing through which God chose to participate in the lives of the people. As such, the Ark was dangerous.

We read in the Old Testament that the Ark was kept hidden away from most people, and only the high priests ever saw it. When the Temple was built in Jerusalem, the Ark was kept in a space called the holy of holies—and from many stories in the Old Testament, we know that no one would dare touch it for fear of death or plague. Every year when the High Priest would enter this space, it’s said that they would tie a rope around his waist and put bells on him—so, in the event that God struck the High Priest dead, and the bells stopped ringing, they could pull him out without too much trouble.

And while the Ark may have been a sign of the immanence of God, it did very little to really make God any closer to humanity. This is not to say that God was not intimately in love with Creation. There is a whole wealth of stories about God calling humanity and all of Creation back to relationship—that’s the whole point of all of the 66 books that make up the Bible. Sure, there are stories of punishment and exile—but there is always the overarching promise of love and homecoming with God. In fact, there was always such love there that inevitably, God knew that sending prophets, and making covenants were not really the best way for us to get to know him, or for him to get to know us…

So, in an action which was very uncharacteristic of any god—the Holy One, Almighty God, poured God’s Self out in the most profound self-giving act imaginable.

God became human.

God took the gamble to be born into an unfriendly world of danger, disease and high infant mortality. All of it just to make a home with us. All of it to prove, just by his showing up, that we are loved and worthwhile enough live with God.

In the season of Christmas, then we celebrate this strange mystery of God breaking into our world in such a quiet and unassuming way. The true Light that is life and the Light of all people was silently coming into the world.

Sure there was a star, and a sky full of angels—but the birth of a child is not the biggest thing. But of course, it’s really an amazing thing at the same time. And in the case of Jesus’ birth, it marks God’s willingness to be with us in a deeply personal way. I’m not just talking about living with Jesus in our hearts—unfortunately the power of that terminology has lost some of its punch. What I’m talking about is a God who not only seeks relationship with us, but a God who comes to be one of us in Jesus Christ.

What’s more, when Jesus returned to the Father, he took with him all that it is to be human—to have a life, friends, a family and a name… All of the things that we consider normal to the human condition; and probably all of the things we sometimes take for granted. But in Jesus these things are all made extraordinary and holy; and in this way he makes a way for us to make a home with him. This is the reason for our Gospel text today…

It may seem odd that our follow-up to the birth narrative of Christmas is not some continuation  of the story. But the significance of the reading reminds us what this season is about—that not only are we loved by God, but we are known by God.