“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones, those with us and those who have gone before us. Yes, we are in Advent and yes, it is important that we observe the Advent season with the holy commitment due in itself and not merely as preliminary to Christmas. Still, Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones, those with us and those who have gone before us for they are alive in the Lord. Merry Christmas, Saint Nicholas of Myra. Merry Christmas, Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Merry Christmas all you past and present saints of Good Shepherd, Hayesville.
Every Christmas Day we hear John’s Christmas story. No trek of the Holy Family from Nazareth to Bethlehem. No donkey ride for Mary. No inn, no manger, no shepherds in the fields keeping watch over their flocks, no angel choirs. No star in the night sky and no gift-bearing visitors from the east coming at Epiphany. Most of everything we usually think about when we recall and share the story of the incarnation is missing from John’s Christmas story. It does not seem suited for a Hallmark movie of the week or even a Hallmark card. How would a children’s program enact this story before adoring parents and grandparents? Good thing we have Matthew and Luke’s stories.
Yet, there it is according to John. Merry Christmas! The fullness of God in Jesus has moved into the neighborhood. He has pitched his tent and in more ways than one. He has pitched his tent by choosing to take on human form and he has pitched his tent by choosing to live among us. This twofold enfleshment, embodiment, incarnation, is the gift of God becoming one of us and living among us. The incarnation, then, is both personal and relational. It is personal in that God came as a person and it is relational in that the person of God came to dwell among us as a family member. God incarnate is not someone who buying the home next door is seen only coming and going as the garage door opens and closes.
The sense of the Greek term for dwelling suggests someone who regularly comes over for dinner, someone you share raising your children with, someone who is there for you when there is celebration and there is loss. Long before State Farm, like a good neighbor, the incarnate God is there.
The spirit of the incarnation, then, is properly about being present and being involved. As followers of Christ, we acknowledge and welcome at Christmas the one who came among us to be one of us and to be for us. As followers of Christ, we live that spirit of the incarnation by being among and for others as Christ was and is. Think about who you know who could use the gift of your presence this Christmas. May your presence be a present to them and to you this Christmas season and beyond.
Merry Christmas,
Fr. Bill+