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The late Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador once said, “No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need, even of God — for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God with us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God.”
There is a physical reality to the Christmas event. All Nativity scenes point to that reality. Whether or not our shepherds are next to our wise men or if our baby Jesus is on display a full month before His birthday does not diminish the historical reality of His birth. There was a moment when the distance between the human and the divine was nil. That moment was a person. He was born just as you and I were born, yet He was the one who was with God from the very beginning, and He was God. No wonder teen-age, yet-to-be-married Mary said to God, “...you have lifted up the lowly....”
Where was Mary going to stay? How would she live? Where would the food, clothes and shelter come from? Thank goodness for Joseph and his willingness to listen to the messenger of God. Otherwise, Mary would have been left to her own devices and Jesus would have been growing up in a single-parent home.
Mary had needs in her life before God chose her to be the mother of the anointed one. Her being chosen did not alleviate those needs, but only added to them. What was supposed to be normal transition from the home of her birth to the home she would make with her husband became a moment that changed the world. Beautiful in its simplicity from the vantage point of 2000 years hence, the real-time experience was certainly messier, if not more complicated.
Life in the First Century had its fair share of norms and customs, dos and don’ts, Mary had all of those to keep in mind. Yet living was a chore in itself. Taking care of the basic necessities of life required most of each day. Leisure and recreation were foreign concepts to common people. Sabbath was kept because it was needed.
Christmas as a holy day is just like that. People who don’t need to rest or don’t want to rest have a hard time resting. Christmas is hard to celebrate for those who do not need it. To be certain many observe it whether they recognize their need for it or not. They transform it into an occasion or a seasonal occurrence.
Doing something that does not seem to be needed requires a degree of intentionality and willpower. For Christmas to come we have to need for it to come. With urgency and passion we have to want what Christmas offers us.
“What do you want for Christmas?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you need?”
“I don’t really need anything.”
In part, that is true. I have a warm house and a soft bed. In that house there is a refrigerator, a freezer, and several shelves full of food. Every closet in the house is full of clothes. Likewise, the driveway holds a trio of transportation options while there is a bicycle or two in the garage that have not been ridden in years. That brief description alone clearly indicates that I have more needs met than at least 95 percent of the world’s population.
In part, that is not true. I may not need anything for Christmas, but I need Christmas. My house may be full of stuff and my calendar may be full of meetings to attend and people to meet, yet there is a need in the midst of that overwhelming plenty. There is a need for Christmas — for the God of Christmas.
There is a need for an abundance of God to fill the empty places, not in my house, my closets, my driveway, but in my soul.
I don’t know but maybe that is what you need for Christmas too. Someone to come on your behalf to be with you — an abundance of God!
Joy and Peace
Ed
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