Clearly, the word I use in the title of this inspirational piece, ongoingness, is a strange word. In fact, I am not even sure it is a word, but it probably is clear. It means something that keeps on going. I want to apply that idea to Christmas. Since Christmas is not my favorite season, I am normally quite fine when it is over. Actually, I deeply appreciate the spiritual value in the event of Christmas. It is all the commercial frivolity of the season that turns me off.
I know it is coming on when I begin in October to hear Christmas music on my radio stations! By December I am down to the classical radio station alone. I know that once December 25 passes, the Christmas stuff begins to wane. People begin to prepare for their New Year’s Eve parties and soon we return to normal life. I am fine with that. I like normal life.
However, this year I decided to reflect a bit on the Christmas message that I get from the New Testament witness. Pausing to focus on some details, it is easy to remember that only two of the four gospels tell us anything about the baby Jesus, namely, Matthew and Luke. The other two gospels, Mark and John, do not mention those familiar baby Jesus stories. Does that mean these two gospels don’t have any sense of Christmas? If your standard for what counts as Christmas is baby Jesus, shepherds and the like, then Mark and John are not Christmas gospels. But I choose to go another way.
Audaciously, I want to say the Christmas story is about God’s Presence in our world. There are different ways to tell this story. Certainly, narrating about baby Jesus with all the narrative trappings that come with that story is one version. I can appreciate this account and value all that it means for so many people. But there is also Mark’s version and John’s gospel. Mark begins his gospel with a brief introduction to John the Baptist, who then baptizes Jesus. The entirety of the gospel has to do with the ministry of Jesus. John’s gospel begins with a commentary on the Genesis creation story. John’s gospel even sounds like Genesis: “In the beginning…”
The Christmas message John wants to put forward has to do with the light of the world coming into the world to enlighten all people. Then comes the key text, John 1:14, when the evangelist says, “The Word become flesh and dwelt among us…” I suggest this is John’s version of the baby Jesus story. It may not have the charm nor attractiveness to kids. But the theology is profound. And it is central to my own way of understanding who God is and what God is up to in our world and in our lives.
The real Christmas story is that God has come into our world. In fact, Christian tradition says that God has done this in two remarkable ways. The first way is through creation itself. God is not only responsible for the creative world, but is part of this creation. Creation itself is a source of revelation. It reveals God’s intent (love) and God’s involvement (love). The second way God comes into our world is to become a human being, whom we know as Jesus. Jesus is the second major source of revelation---again revealing God’s love.
We see this in both the person and the work of Jesus. In Jesus we can see both who God is and how God works in our world. But the story does not end there. The Easter aspect of the story says that the crucifixion of Jesus did not end it. The story continues with the ongoing Presence of the Spirit of God present in our world. The person and work of Jesus is extended by the Spirit.
As with the incarnation, the Spirit continues to come into the lives of women and men. Each of us can be extensions of the incarnation. The story is one of God’s continual coming into the world through each and every one of us. In that sense, we are a continuation of John 1:14---the Word becomes flesh again and again. It is an evolutionary story, just like the story of creation is an evolutionary story. Our role as humans is to recognize and to represent it.
Now I explicitly come back to Christmas. Christmas is not limited to one day---Dec. 25. It is not limited to one person---Jesus. It is an everyday of the year event involving all of us who will incarnate and represent the Spirit. I especially like that word, represent. You can break it down this way: re-present. As people of the Spirit, we re-present God at work in the world. We are spiritual representatives. We become God’s presents to this world---again and again.
I suggest we do this in every encounter we have. Imagine that every person you meet and every situation in which you find yourself is a potential encounter with the Spirit of God. Do you represent that Spirit? Are you presenting it again to someone else? It won’t come wrapped under a tree. Rather it comes wrapped in your love representing God’s love.
It is exciting to understand Christmas is, indeed, a year-round thing---onging!
Those of us who have read theology or, perhaps, those who are people of faith and are old enough might well recognize this title as a reminder of the late Jewish philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber. I remember reading Buber’s book, I and Thou , when I was in college in the 1960s. It was already a famous book by then. I am not sure I fully understood it, but that would not be the last time I read it. It has been a while since I looked at the book. Buber came up in a conversation with a friend who asked if I had seen the recent article by David Brooks? I had not seen it, but when I was told about it, I knew I would quickly locate and read that piece. I very much like what Brooks decides to write about and what he contributes to societal conversation. I wish more people read him and took him seriously. ...
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