Christmas is once again around the corner. We just had Easter, the other Sunday, it feels like time is flying and these celebrations come one after another with so little time in between. Everything familiar with Christmas can be seen all around: the music, the tinsel, the stress of shopping, the crowded supermarkets with their glut of food, the parties, the strain of forced family togetherness when often the chemistry isn't there, the religious rituals with their words of peace in a world that knows no peace, the joys, some real some feigned, the griefs of those somehow left out etc. etc.
Will this year's Christmas be any different from that of a year, two years, ten years ago?
In spite of the Nativity scenes, the carols, the services, the sermons or the "smells and bells" of packed churches, will we have come any closer to the real meaning beneath it all? Or will it be yet one more telling of a simplistic tale? A charming tale of a virgin giving birth? A rustic tale of shepherds hearing the sounds of angels singing? A magical story of three wise men traveling to find a baby in swadling clothes? We have heard it all, many times.
What do these stories have anything to do with my life today, in Hollywood Florida, with my aches and pains, my sicknesses and sadness, the stress of poverty and unemployment around us, the fear of terrorism around the world? What has these stories to do with any of that?
Aren't these stories utterly remote from one's deepest fears, longings and hopes, remote from the grit and pulse of life as we and every other person on Earth must live it daily?
A vast segment of humanity has been telling itself this same story of a baby born in a manger in Bethlehem for many centuries now; Almost half of the populations of this planet, that is three billion people are Christian and they have been telling this story of peace and goodwill towards all peoples.
But nothing has changed. Bethlehem itself has become synonymous with violence. There is no real peace in the very land where the prince of peace was born; what are the sounds we now hear above the very sky that was filled with the music of the angels first Christmas song: Glory to god in the highest, and peace to men of good will? What sounds do we hear now? The sounds of rockets that the Palestinians hurl at the Jews and the bombs that the Jews drop on Palestinian homes.
Just now, as the Christmas fervor is being driven towards its annual climax, once-Christian nations are waging war against other countries. There are 34 wars going on right now in the world; We only hear about two of them, Iraq and Afghanistan.
What is the deeper story of Christmas that has somehow been twisted wholly out of shape? The story that is layered over with fraudulent wrappings that the real gift is rarely ever seen, let alone observed and gratefully received?
Is there, or, was there ever some precious thing of matchless beauty, power and grace at the very heart of Christmas, something-with flaming potency to transform our lives, our world? The answer is a resounding, all-embracing yes, but it's not won by glib or lazy wishful thinking. Mere repetition of literalistic tales and pious traditions can never get us there. One can go through the entire process of advent, by rote or on automatic pilot, and miss the "whole point of Christmas.”
This brings us to what many may find to be a tough medicine or even drastic surgery. But if one is to pass beyond the childish and the external to the core of what Christmas is all about, it's an essential step. What one has to realize first of all is that the tale of the birth of Jesus is a “symbolic” story. Underline the word, symbolic. That means it has a deeper meaning beyond the obvious.
No, not a fairy tale, not a legend, not a piece of fiction to be seen through, but a spiritually symbolic story; in other words, a truth so vast and so important to our human condition that it can only be told in the most profound language of all, the language of symbolism, and metaphor.
Symbols are so powerful and when we understand the meaning of it, it will transform our lives. Let me give you an example. Take the American Flag, with it stars and stripes. Suppose you give it to an illiterate person living in a hut in the Amazon jungles. He has never heard of America or does not even know what a flag is. You give him the US flag and what will he do with it? Most probably use as a blanket during the cold amazon nights. For him, it means a piece of cloth, a blanket
But for a US citizen who understands the meaning of the flag, it is a whole different experience, he will die for it because it represents much more than a piece of cloth.
Christmas stories are something like that: the stories of Virgin birth, singing angles, happy shepherds, curious magi, and the star in the sky are profoundly symbolic. If we just believe them as stories that happened 2000 years ago, it won't have any transforming value for us. It will be just like using a flag as a blanket.
Let us just look at the symbolic meaning of the story of virgin birth. It is a common story found in almost all ancient cultures of of Egypt, Sumeria and other Mediterenean cultures in the period before Christ. What is really being said by it has nothing to do with bypassing natural biology.
Rather, the meaning lies in the truth that whatever else this birth is, it is an act of God. It says that Jesus was being sent as the Word of God, the son of God. The Virgin Birth was not known to Paul, Mark or the author of John's Gospel. It was clearly not part of the earliest preaching in Acts.
The Christmas story tells us that Jesus was born of God and that ultimately we all are too. However, unlike Jesus, the majority of us have not yet consciously had this Virgin Birth, or awakening in our souls as to what or who we have been created to be. In the birth of every baby, the Word is "made flesh." That's the ultimate meaning of Christmas.
The Christmas story is your story, and that of your husband or wife, your child, your sibling or parent, your neighbor, and the people of Iraq and other nations experiencing turmoil. It's the story of our human family. So when you hear that one billion people in the world are starving or 200 million babies die every year in Africa due to malnutrition and lack of health care, all you can say is, I have my problems too, the story of Christmas has not touched your heart. God dwells in every heart. The joy of Christmas means awakening to this fact.
In order to awaken to that fact, we have to do something about it. It is not just enough to tell and retell old stories; it is not even enough to believe those stories. There has to be some action on our part and that is where today's reading comes into play.
Here John the Baptist is preparing the way for the Lord. He is preaching to the crowd as to how to receive Christ. He doesn't tell them any pious stories; he doesn't mince words, he is cutting it to the chase: H calls them brood of vipers. That is a pretty harsh name to call his audience. He chided them for pretending to be good people based on their ancestry.
It is like saying, we have been disciple all along, we have been faithful to this church for years, we come here for worship every Sunday. John told them that believing, and pretending and claiming are useless when it comes to preparing the way for the Lord. They had to DO something. There had to be some ACTION, there had to be some BEHAVIOR change. That is why the crowd asked him: “What should we DO then?
And John pointed out some specific behavior changes they had to make. To the crowd he said: “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” It is not a suggestion or a recommendation, but a command. They MUST do it. You MUST share what you have, especially if you have more than you need. Now that is a behavior that welcomes Christ..
To the Tax collectors who asked what they should do, Jesus said: “Don't collect any more than you are required to.” During those times, tax collectors cheated the ordinary people, they intimidated them and extracted more money than they should have,and put the extra in their pockets. They were the IRS of those times. Again, John is asking them to change their behavior.
To the soldiers He said: Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely, be content with your pay.
Here again, John is asking them to change their behavior. To do things differently.
So, during this advent, I want you to ask one question and you can ask that directly to Jesus, because he is already here. You don't have to ask John the Baptist. Because, Jesus is right here. Ask him, what must I DO, other than decorating the church, lighting the advent candle, making the manger, sending Christmas cards, having family gatherings? We do that every year.
If you sincerely, ask that question to Jesus, he will tell you. You may not want to hear what he has to say. You may not want to do what he asks you to do. Because, it is hard.
Unless we DO something different than what we normally do, this Christmas will come and go, and we will remain the same.
