Beyond Sentimentality
Father Richard urges Christians to move beyond sentimentality to a mature understanding of the implications of the incarnation:
We must move beyond a merely sentimental understanding of Christmas as “waiting for the baby Jesus” to an adult and communal appreciation of the message of the incarnation of God in Christ. We Franciscans have always believed that the incarnation was already the redemption, because in Jesus’ birth God was saying that it was good to be human, and God was on our side.
Jesus identified his own mission with what he called the coming “reign of God.” We have often settled instead for the sweet coming of a baby who asked little of us in terms of surrender, encounter, mutuality, or any assent to the actual teachings of Jesus. Too much sentimentality, or juicing up of our emotions, can be a substitute for an actual relationship, as we also see in our human relationships. When we are so infatuated with the “sweetness” or “perfection” of another, we easily “fall” out of love at the first sign of their humanity. Let’s not let that happen with the infinitely compelling person of Jesus!
The celebration of Christmas is not exclusively a sentimental waiting for a baby to be born. It is much more an asking for history to be born! Creation groans in its birth pains, waiting for our participation with God in its renewal (see Romans 8:20–23). We do the gospel no favor when we make Jesus, the Eternal Christ, into a perpetual baby, who asks little or no adult response from us. One even wonders what kind of mind would want to keep Jesus a baby. Maybe only one that is content with “baby Christianity.”
Any spirituality that makes too much of the baby Jesus is perhaps not yet ready for “prime-time” life. If we are to believe the biblical texts, God clearly wants friends and partners to be images of divinity. God, it seems, wants mature religion and a thoughtful, free response from us. God loves us in partnership, with mutual give and take, and we eventually become images of the God that we love.
The Christ we are asking and waiting for includes our own full birth and the further birth of history and creation. To this adult and Cosmic Christ we can say, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20) with a whole new understanding and a deliberate passion. This makes our entire lives, and the life of the church, one huge “advent.”
The Christ includes the whole sweep of creation and history joined with him—and each of us, too. This is the Universal (or Cosmic) Christ. [1] We ourselves are members of the Body of Christ and the Universal Christ, even though we are not the historical Jesus. So we very rightly believe in “Jesus Christ,” and both words are essential. ====================
| The Idol of Status: Joseph’s Humility |
 Click Here for AudioJoseph had his dilemma figured out. He planned to quietly divorce Mary and preserve his righteous reputation. After all, he couldn’t wed a pregnant woman—the scandal for his family would be devastating, particularly in an honor-shame-based communal culture like ancient Judea. Like most men, Joseph was determined to protect his status above all else. Then the angel visited him in a dream telling him not to abandon Mary. I wonder if Joseph felt more peace before or after the angel’s message? Before the angel, he had an honorable solution to the status threat posed by his pregnant fiancé. After the angel, his life became far more difficult not less. God was asking him to sacrifice his reputation and his family’s status and venture into an uncertain future with a disgraced teenage mother and an illegitimate child. It turned out that God, not Mary, was the real threat to Joseph’s status.Despite this incredibly difficult and dangerous choice, “When Joseph awoke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife.” He went from choosing what was easier to choosing what was harder. Despite his fears, doubts, and concerns, Joseph trusted the living God of Israel rather than the false god of status. What gave Joseph the faith and courage to make this counter-cultural decision? It was the assurance of God’s presence. While the easier road would be abandoning Mary, Joseph knew on the harder road he would be traveling with God.Many contemporary Christians have accepted the false idea that a life with Christ will be more comfortable and demonstrably better (as the world defines “better”) than a life without him. And in more “churched” communities, being identified as a Christian is a way to boost one’s status. But what we find in the New Testament is the opposite. Those called to be with Jesus suffered, sacrificed, and often died. Why did so many, like Joseph, choose this harder road? Why were they willing to reject the idol of status to be ridiculed, mocked, and rejected? Because they recognized the surpassing value of being with God above all else. DAILY SCRIPTURE MATTHEW 1:18-25 ISAIAH 41:8-14 WEEKLY PRAYER. Soren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) O Lord Jesus Christ, I long to live in your presence, to see your human form and to watch you walking on earth. I do not want to see you through the darkened glass of tradition, nor through the eyes of today’s values and prejudices. I want to see you as you were, as you are, and as you always will be. I want to see you as an offense to human pride, as a man of humility, walking amongst the lowliest of men, and yet as the savior and redeemer of the human race. Amen. |
