December 28, 1997

True story. A family of three is sitting in the booth of a restaurant, talking about the impending birth of a new baby. The mother is obviously far along in her pregnancy, and the little girl's mouth is going about ninety miles an hour talking about the soon-to-be event. The overheard conversation goes like this:

The father asks the little girl if she's excited about having a new baby in the house. She quickly answers, "Yes!" He asks, if she could choose between a sister and a brother, which would it be. Almost before the question is finished, she answers, "A BROTHER!"

Then the father says, "Think of all the little boys in your class at school. Which one would you most want your new brother to be like?"

There is a long pause as she thinks this one over. Then, the little girl looks quite seriously at her father and answers, "I think I want a SISTER!"

I guess it would be fair to say that the birth of a child is a very abstract thought until its narrowed down into its practical implications.

And here, on the Sunday after the nativity, the Bible wastes no time at all inviting us to step beyond the abstract romance of Christmas to take up the very pragmatic reality of who Christ is, and what Christmas means.

The verses just read from Luke's Gospel may sound familiar to those of us who write Christmas Letters. Where we often muse over questions like, Where has the time gone? Can a whole year really have passed since the last letter we wrote? My, how fast the years go by, and how quickly the children grow!, the story in Luke seems to say, Why it seems like he was lying in a manger just a few days ago, and already he's twelve years old!

You see, the Bible does not let us dwell at the manger for too long. There are larger truths yet to be learned, and more amazing sights to see!

I wonder, this morning, if you'll let yourself creep out beyond abstraction, and let yourself be amazed even more by the Christmas miracle. I pray for you, this Christmastide, the spiritual gift of amazement!

I must confess, this Gospel story amazes me every time I read it.

Why, this is a story about God trying his best to be a human being!

Those words may sound strange to you, but after all, that is the point of Christmas, isn't it? God became flesh and dwelt among us!

Now maybe some people feel more comfortable keeping those words in the abstract. Personally, I think it’s a lot more fun, and certainly more informative, to take a look at them in the practical.

For here is the Bible story of this Emmanuel, born in Bethlehem's stable twelve years earlier, now stepping into puberty and adolescence. And it’s a struggle for him, just like it was a struggle for you and me! Do you remember being twelve? Nothing comes easy at that age!

As Jesus prepares for his bar mitzvah, he finds himself full of questions and curiosity. Traditionally, Christians focus in on the story line that Jesus stayed behind in the Temple to debate the teachers of the law. But that's not really the whole story. Luke portrays Jesus not only as someone who teaches the teachers, but also as someone who learns from them as well! Can you imagine? Here is God learning from human beings!

And this creative tension exists not only between Jesus and the rabbis, but between Jesus and his parents, too.

Remember how things were with your parents about the time you became a teenager? Why, just like we needed to push against the boundaries of our lives when we became adolescent, so did Jesus. I like to imagine that part of his reason for staying behind in Jerusalem is sort of like why my kids one day announced to Sandy and me that they didn't want to be seen walking with us in the mall anymore. It is just so uncool to be with your parents at that age.

And clearly, Mary and Joseph feel the struggle of parenting a twelve year old. They know Jesus needs more independence, but will he handle it responsibly? That question, of course, is answered when they discover Jesus is not in the caravan with the rest of the family as they return to Nazareth.

Mary and Joseph panic, Luke tells us, just like we panicked the first time our kids blew curfew, or the time we sat in the mall parking lot waiting endlessly for the little buggers to come out.

And listen to Mary's words when they finally find him.

Sound familiar? I don't imagine there are any parents here today who have ever said words like that to their young ones, though I'll admit I have said something to that effect a number of times to mine!!!

What an amazing story about Emmanuel - God with us - growing up as a Nazarene boy! God himself trying his best to be a human being!

And the story raises some intriguing questions about our relationship with God.

For one thing, if God is trying so hard to become human, why do we try so hard to become God?

To be honest with you, the place where I really wrestle in my spiritual journey is at the point where I want there to be no struggle. Sometimes, I wish I could just believe everything about God and about faith without questioning - have enough faith to just accept things on face value, or because the Bible says so. I have a friend here in our church who once in awhile says he wrestles with his theology about Christ. Well, welcome to the crowd! We all struggle with faith.

And yet, there's something in us that makes us feel as though we shouldn't struggle!

Same is true of our experience with the rest of life. You know, some people avoid or even deny God because they've come to realize that life is full of anguish, burdens, and unanswerable questions. There was a time I turned my back on God because my grandfather died. Since then, I've met many people who want nothing to do with the Lord because of some great personal loss, or because of some insurmountable problem, or because they can't intellectually make sense of the divine.

Do you know someone like that? Have you been there yourself?

They don't realize it, but their real struggle is not actually with God. Rather their struggle is with the struggle itself! They reject God because life is difficult. And they think it should be otherwise.

Little do these folks know how much in common they have with religious people. For many respond to religion and come to faith because they believe it will free them from marriage problems, parenting difficulties, poor health, and so on. Some want the Lord to get them jobs, or change the nasty disposition of their spouse, or rescue them from financial difficulty, or straighten out their kids.

You see, there is a deep, underlying yearning that runs through the core of the human soul - whether we are believers or not - to have life without struggle! We want our problems to be solved, our questions resolved, and our burdens lifted from our shoulders.

And yet, when God became human in the person of Jesus, just the opposite happened.

Jesus took on the struggle!

One of the truly amazing gifts of Christmas - if you will receive it - is the challenge to not avoid the difficulties of life, but to engage them with faith, and to explore them, and to allow them to become part of our growth as people and as Christians.

Dear friends, if there isn't anything about your faith that you doubt and really wrestle with, you probably haven't stretched your study of God far enough. If there isn't anything about your relationships with others that’s painful and sometimes leaves you feeling spent and awkward and vulnerable, you probably haven't gone as deeply into that relationship as you can. If there isn't any struggle going on in your life, you're missing one of the great gifts of Christmas.

The gift of becoming human! Like God did in Jesus.

Isn't that amazing?

Then there's a second, related question.

If God is so fully engaged in this struggle as a human in the world, why are we as Christians so often detached from the world?

A Methodist commentator by the name of Roland McGregor says, while people preoccupy themselves with trying to get to heaven, they and God are like ships passing in the night. We're aiming up there, while he's heading down here - if we can describe it in terms of direction!

McGregor chuckles when he poses the thought that we'd probably be shocked if got to heaven one day only to find out that God isn't there! He's in Calcutta, continuing Mother Theresa's work. Or in Loudon, working out of the Good Samaritan Center. Or in Atlanta, cruising the streets at night trying to help the lost.

And then we'd realize our mistake and say something like, "My goodness! If only I'd opened my eyes while I was still down there!"

This other worldliness of faith runs deep in our lives. Why do we say of others from different denominations and religions things like, "Oh, we're all just trying to get to the same place"?

Do you realize how absurd that is? Why, the idea sort of looks like the once-a-year wedding dress sale at Filene's Basement in Boston. When the doors swing open, ten thousand screaming women are all trying to get to the same department at the same time.

Only trouble is, while everybody in the world is trying to get there, God isn't! God is trying to get here! That's what Christmas tells us.

I believe one of the best gifts of Christmas is the opportunity to find the presence of God at work right here, in our world.

Several years ago in New York City on Christmas Eve, St. George's Episcopal Church was getting ready for its annual evening service, which always includes carols, instrumentalists, dancing and a living representation of the Nativity. This particular year, as people started to arrive, they were greeted by the sight of some street people on the front steps of the church. Among them, a scruffy man and a tattered woman with a shopping cart and a bundle of rags. Several parishioners stopped to offer help and some invited them in out of the cold. But they politely declined all offers. They just settled in on the steps, warmed by the heat of the church released every time the door was opened.

Finally, one of the vestry members approached the Rector and said, "You know, we've got a problem here. People are frightened and don't want them here. Let them go somewhere else." He wanted to call the police and have them remove the street people. Well, eventually a New York City patrol car did come by and the people were asked to move across the street where they wouldn't disturb the worshipers.

It was a beautiful service that night, and the church was full, standing room only. Finally, the climatic moment arrived: Dancers dressed in white appeared at the back of the nave to lead the holy family down the center aisle. Music swelled, instruments played. But as the holy family entered the sanctuary, you could hear gasps of recognition. The holy family was none other than the homeless couple from the front steps! The baby Jesus was the bundle of rags they had held in their arms!

And as the angels led the holy family toward the altar of St. George's, the congregation began to sob and weep for having not recognized them.

I wonder, have you seen Jesus lately?

The last book of the Bible proclaims the greatest hope of all:

Today, on the first Sunday after Christmas, I challenge you to make a commitment to follow Jesus. It may be a renewed commitment or one you're making for the first time.

In faith, I invite you to take up the struggle of being human and Christian at the same time!

In faith, I invite you to look for God at work in your life and in our world, and to join in the work!

Most especially I pray: May the wonder of Christ amaze you in the coming year as each day you unwrap the gift of Christmas!