What do you suppose God looks like? We have no shortage of images of God. In fact, the Christian faith has inspired more artwork than any other movement in history. We have sculptures, paintings, mosaics, even music, that seeks to depict the Divine; none, of course, in quite the same way. And I suspect that if someone were to ask us today what God looks like to us, we would say one thing, only to answer the question differently in a week, or a month, or a year. The truth of the matter is, God is so big that it’s nearly impossible to pin him down in a few words, or some brushstrokes on canvas, or notes on a score.
It should come as no surprise, then, that centuries before his birth, expectations of a coming Messiah were quite diverse, and even contradictory. In that world of exile and oppression, many of the Israelites expected a worldly political revolutionary who would restore the glory days of the Davidic Kingdom with its peace and prosperity. Other people looked for a messiah who represented the Greek ideal focusing entirely on the afterlife. And still others felt it was blasphemous to even speak about what the messiah might be. It was into that atmosphere that the prophet Isaiah lifted up a vision of the miracle that was to come, “He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
So what is your picture of God? Many years ago, there was a great emperor who decided he must have the finest of clothes. So he called upon two weavers in his kingdom to fashion a new suit for him, and promised them a fine payment. In return, the weavers promised to deliver a suit made of the most elegant fabric; so fantastic was the material, in fact, that it would be invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position. The emperor is ecstatic when the weavers return a few days later with his “new clothes.” So excited he is, that he decides not to admit that he can't see them, for fear of appearing unfit for his position. As he “dresses” in his new clothes, his ministers (also unable to see them), extol their great beauty. Once dressed, the emperor processes before his subjects, who play along like the ministers, remarking about the wonderful craftsmanship of the emperor’s new clothes.
Does the emperor have on new clothes? Nearly everybody seems to think so. And the few who do not, cast down their eyes and pretend to agree. Eventually, over time, the crowd sets a new standard, and even the dissenters must agree that the perception of the group is the only one that really matters. Those who clearly see that the emperor had no clothes on must agree that he has new clothes. They must either keep their mouths shut, or look odd in a culture that has settled the matter in their own minds. Everyone was playing along.
So it is, I think, with our perception of God; especially here around Christmas-time. We have this most odd mixture of elves and apostles, reindeer and shepherds, snowmen and magi, Jesus and Santa. And generally speaking, it’s the non-Christian elements that seem to prevail in the mix. A Christmas miracle is directly tied to the number of gifts under the tree. Christians “celebrate” the birth of Christ, but it ends up looking more like the celebration of this Santa Claus Jesus, a golden-calf messiah who promises to fulfill all our earthly wants and wishes, an idol who supports our quest for material wealth outside a relationship with God.
Think about the way we describe Santa, “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good!” Such descriptions of Santa reflect the way we have reduced God to some mythical watchdog who judges our niceness or naughtiness and rewards or punishes us accordingly. But here’s the thing; this is not the God we see in Jesus. Jesus did not come shimmying down a chimney bearing gifts for good boys and girls. In fact, Jesus was not the messiah most people were expecting or hoping for at all!
Everything about Jesus’ life stood in stark contrast to worldly values. Jesus arrived on the scene not in great strength, but vulnerable and weak. He was not born with a “silver spoon” in his mouth, but in a cave for animals. Jesus was a Palestinian Jew who grew up in a community of marginalized and oppressed people. As a matter of fact, Jesus spent the earliest years of his life as a refuge in Africa, running from political genocide. And growing up he lived in a little village as a member of a working class family. When Jesus got older, he resisted the world’s obsessions with wealth and power and instead identified with the weak, the powerless, the widows, the orphans, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the lepers. He didn’t condemn sinners but defended, forgave, healed and saved them. So what does God look like? God looks like Jesus! He is Immanuel, which means, “God with us.” And that, of course, is what Christmas is all about!
Christmas is the celebration of a miracle, the greatest miracle there ever was, but somehow we've managed to edge the miracle-worker out of his own birthday. And now it's time to reclaim the right celebration of Christmas; to speak against the pervasive cultural forces, to name things for what they really are. It's time to take Christmas back by planning new traditions that focus on Jesus' presence, rather than the often-forgettable presents we expect to receive. I'm not a Scrooge, but the magical, American, commercialized Christmas experience is unattainable; there's no miracle in it. And in the midst of trying to attain it anyway, we miss the miraculous birth of our Savior! "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
The dictionary defines miracle as "a visible interruption of the laws of nature, understood only by divine intervention and often accompanied by a miracle worker." In other words, a miracle is a unique event in the world that God does through ordinary people like you and me! We are--you are God's miracle worker! You are God's means to affect change in the world. And if Christmas is to be celebrated as it should, it will begin with us, making ourselves available to God so that his work might be done in the world. Just as he did with Mary so many years ago, God wants to birth a miracle through you and me this Christmas.
Now, there was nothing extraordinary about Mary, and I think most of us can relate to being ordinary. From the time we are small children we become cruelly boxed into a pecking order of who's cool, smart, and beautiful--and who's not. But look at the Biblical story leading up to Christ's birth. Throughout Scripture, God chose ordinary, seemingly unqualified people through whom to do miracles: stuttering Moses, the youngest child David, and the barren Elizabeth; and, of course, Mary. Mary came from a very common family, wasn't married, didn't have a formal education, and was not a religious leader. And yet, God called upon her. What does that say about God's choices and perspective on what it means to be a beautiful and influential person? Any of us can be miracle-workers, and the time to start is now...no more pretending that somehow trees piled high with gifts can make Christmas what it should be.
The power of Immanuel is the power to create change in the world through God's action in your life. But the problem of the world is that we are constantly looking for the extraordinary, when God uses the ordinary, and the majority of us are ordinary people! Now, we must be willing to open ourselves up to God's work in our lives. But such vulnerability does not come easy. Grace may be free, but it is never cheap. Miracles come at a cost. At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of the Messiah who was born not only to die sacrificially for us, but also to show us how to live sacrificially. Now, that's not a pleasant thought for most of us. So, it's really not surprising that, when all is said and done, most folks would rather have a holly, jolly Christmas than to give themselves as a "womb" for a miracle of God. The message of Christmas is about a sacrificial gift; but the joy which comes through giving ourselves for God's kingdom cannot be compared.
This Christmas, for the second year, Ken and I have decided we will match in our giving to the church's mission, dollar for dollar, what we spend on gifts for ourselves and others. The miracle that God wants to birth through every Christian is more Christians! Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, and the local church is the place where disciple-making most effectively takes place. Thus, when we give to the church's mission, we get the most bang for our buck! I am praying and asking that every one of us will do the same thing this Christmas. Make a commitment to be God's miracle-workers through our own celebration of Christmas. At the very least, it will make us spend less on our Christmas gifts.
Are you ready for God to birth a Christmas miracle through you? Just think of the miracle God can work through us if we adhere to his call on our lives! The Bible clearly teaches us that in order for our lives to be meaningful, we need to give them away! Meaning is not found in personal comfort and material luxuries. So it should be no surprise that a meaningful Christmas is not found in mindless spending, eating, and stress. Christmas is only truly Christmas when we open ourselves to God's presence in our lives and continue the miraculous work begun in Jesus so long ago. We find meaning when we give sacrificially to those in need. We find meaning when we tell of the "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace," to those who live in darkness and despair. When we do that, we are giving to Jesus himself, and it is his birthday after all!
