This is the season to use T. S. Eliot’s masterful phrase about the Incarnation: "the intersection of the timeless with time."
Before it was Eliot’s, that way of looking at the birth of Jesus into human form was captured by John:
John 1:1-4, 14, 16-18: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
In one of the latest (good for at least a month or two) new editions of Webster’s Dictionary, yet another pop-culture term has been credentialized: bling-bling. Bling-bling, for those of you who don’t have teenagers or aren’t pop-music stars, refers to big, gaudy, bright baubles with which one decorates oneself and one’s life. Huge chunky gold jewelry, over-sized and obviously fake gems, sequins, lame, rhinestone-encrusted, over-the-top glitz of all kinds, qualify as bling-bling. Bling-bling exists for one reason and one reason only: to be noticed.
1 entry found for bling-bling.
Main Entry: bling-bling
Function: adjective
Definition: expensive, esp. showy or vulgar jewelry or clothing
Example: The rapper wore his bling-bling jewelry to the party.
Etymology: from hip-hop vocabulary; imitative of the light reflected off such jewelry
Usage: slang
Source: Webster’s New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.5)
Copyright © 2003, 2004 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC
What John is trying to communicate is that Christmas is not just about a humble birth, but also about a magnificent departure. Jesus had everything, and became nothing...for us.
Max Lucado says, "2000 years ago, the all powerful God, the one who specialized in taking that which is common and making it spectacular, the all powerful God who took a rod and parted the sea, the all powerful God who took a pebble and killed a giant, the all powerful God who spoke the universe into existence, said to his angels, " It’s time for me to show them my love, and in order to show my love, I’m going to have to set aside my power."
Such is the case with Christmas. John 1 records the truth…that God became flesh and dwelt among us. We must ask, “Why?”
John lets us know. Jesus is the fullness of God, and through Him, we all have received, “Grace upon Grace.” The reason that Christ came into the world is because of God’s love for us. The child in the manger is the means whereby God’s love is presented to the people whom he loves.
The birth of Jesus is many things: it is a miracle, it is a mystery, it is word of justice, it is truth, it is the sign of hope. It is all of that, but much more than that too. It is the gift of God for the people of God.
Yet, there are some who have a tough time receiving gifts from God, and so the implications of the manger never soak through into the heart. For some, the gift of the manger is handled like a spoiled child who takes an enormously expensive gift and doesn’t say thank you. In fact, they pick it up, and run outside…scarcely noticing grandma standing there with her arms open ready to embrace the child she loves so dearly.
As a Christmas gift invites us to be thankful, so does the gift of Christ. The manger is an invitation. It is an invitation to relationship. It is an invitation to walk with the God who walked among us. The manger is a call to worship that, rightly understood, shows God’s desire to be close to us, and invites us to be close to Him…and not just at Christmas time or Easter time…at all times.
On a small Nevada mountain is a huge timepiece: The Clock of the Long Now. It ticks once a year, chimes once a century, and once every 10,000 years a cuckoo will come out. (Preaching Plus)
That isn’t the type of faith that the manger calls us to. Long Now faith isn’t what Jesus had in mind when he came to earth.
Jesus is the grace of God for the people of God. He is the full expression of God’s love for us. No metaphor is adequate to describe what God does for us through the sending of Jesus into the world. So, instead, let’s think of gifts in a different way this morning.
When we think of gifts, most of us recall the ruins of Christmas mornings when we were children: piles of paper and ribbons scattered about, beautiful bows that someone took great care to primp into place—cast aside…crumpled. For some of us, that scene isn’t history, it is prophecy…it is a scene that will take place in just six short days.
Another way that many of us think about gifts is in terms of what we have given others. In the best of circumstances the search and careful thought given to gifts to present is a rather spiritual pilgrimage that allows us to at least initially attempt a match between the gift, the giver, and the gifted one: a sort of trinity of the right gift for the right person from the right person.
When we give gifts, we express something of ourselves. We ask ourselves what we could give that would be meaningful to the one we love. We ask ourselves what gift will make them laugh, or make them cry tears of joy. That is the ideal. Of course, I cannot remember everything that my grandmother ever gave me for Christmas, but
-I remember my grandmother and how she would save and iron all of the wrapping paper. And I remember the Christmas I got the Nintendo (worth more than my grandmother had)
-And I can hear my mother’s voice saying, “If you don’t like it, you can take it back.”—as though I ever would. And I remember my first stereo and what a sacrifice of future sanity she was making.
Those were expressions of love for me.
Then, there are the more hurried gift-giving realities that most of us experience. This is the last minute shopper…the one who would shop on Christmas morning if the stores were open. These folks are the ones who hope that shortage of time and good intentions will produce inspiration.
We give gifts to one another because we care. I remember gifts. So do you. We remember the Christmas that our uncle, grandfather, or cousin got us the toy we really wanted—not the underwear and socks that were called “practical” by all-too-responsible relatives. We remember the train sets and stereos, bicycles and video games. We remember the diamond ring, or the Christmas that the family didn’t have much money but found a way to communicate love in other ways.
All of those memories are dear to us because they are moments in which joy was born into our lives. It was joy brought not by money, but by people who expressed their relationship to us in those gifts—or in other ways at the season.
I guess that is what I’m getting at when I talk about the incarnation as “the gift of God for the people of God.” Christ is many things—and many things that a thousand human tongues could not express. But there is something that he definitely is—the gift of God for the people of God. He is the expression of God’s care for us.
Space is sacred. I’m not talking about outer space, space in the closet, or a parking space. I’m talking about that crucial 18-inches to two feet surrounding our faces. That is a place that we refer to affectionately as our “comfort zone.” No matter how close of a friend the person might be, if they choose to invade the comfort zone, we grow extremely uncomfortable—and it makes it hard to hear what the person is saying, because in the back of your mind, all you can hear is a voice saying, “step off,” “please get out of my face,” “you are in my “comfort zone.”
It is God’s desire not be kept at arm’s distance from us, but rather, to be invited to take up residence inside us. Yet, from a human perspective, it can be much easier for God to be kept at arm’s length. That way, we can maintain control of our lives, and we do not have to assume the risks that might come with God’s consumption of our wills.
Keeping God at arm’s length allows us to keep up our veneers…to manage our image, to make everyone think that our spiritual lives came from Saks Fifth Avenue, when in reality we would be lucky if they met dollar store standards. I am thankful for the manger and its invasion of my spiritual comfort zones as well.
What the Gift of the Manger Says
We say with gifts what we dare not say without them. The gift gives us permission to say, “I love you,” “I think you are special,” “I am devoted to you.” On receiving a gift, we say “thank you,” with eyes all aglow. “You shouldn’t have.” “Oh, its’ nothing at all,” we say in reply…but it is everything…everything.
For those of us who believe that love is the greatest gift there is, Christmas is the ultimate and most intimate expression there is. The child in the manger is the means by whereby God’s love is presented to the people whom he loves. And that is no small thing.
Many people attend church only on Christmas and Easter. I’m sure that this is done out of reverence for Christ. However, I wonder if some don’t attend church on Christmas and Easter because on those two occasions church goes to great lengths to articulate what said so profoundly through the birth, death and resurrection…I love you.
That, “I love you,” comes without strings attached…it comes free. It isn’t a bribe from God to buy our affection. Yet, it induces our affection—as it should. At Christmas we receive afresh from God what is freely offered and we receive Him with joy.
God help the all clergy today as we try to explain the grandeur of Christmas to others. In fact, God help us as we try to understand it fully ourselves. All we are called to do is to fall on our knees and adore. All we can do is receive the gift and say, “Oh, you shouldn’t have,” and we will discover that the manger isn’t nothing at all…it is everything. He is everything.
This morning, we acknowledge that he is everything. We acknowledge that we need what God gives to us, and we allow the gift of Christ to call us to worship, and to call us to change.
CLOSING STORY…PREPARING FOR A CHILD…PREPARING ROOM
PRAYER
INVITATION
