To be alive in the adventure of Jesus is to kneel at the manger and gaze upon that little baby who is radiant with so much promise for our world today.
—Brian McLaren, We Make the Road by Walking
Brian McLaren invites us to see the birth of Jesus as the dawning of divine life and aliveness in creation:
Do you remember how the whole biblical story begins? “In the…” And do you remember the first creation that is spoken into being? “Let there be…”
On Christmas Eve, we celebrate a new beginning. We welcome the dawning of a new light.
A new day begins with sunrise. A new year begins with lengthening days. A new life begins with infant eyes taking in their first view of a world bathed in light. And a new era in human history began when God’s light came shining into our world through Jesus.
The Fourth Gospel tells us that what came into being through Jesus was not merely a new religion, a new theology, or a new set of principles or teachings—although all of these things did indeed happen. The real point of it all, according to John, was life, vitality, aliveness—and now that Jesus has come, that radiant aliveness is here to enlighten all people everywhere.
Some people don’t see it yet. Some don’t want to see it. They’ve got some shady plans that they want to preserve undercover, in darkness…. They don’t welcome the light, because transparency exposes their plans and deeds for what they are: evil. So they prefer darkness.
But others welcome the light. They receive it as a gift, and in that receiving, they let God’s holy, radiant aliveness stream into their lives. They become portals of light in our world….
What do we mean when we say Jesus is the light? Just as a glow on the eastern horizon tells us that a long night is almost over, Jesus’ birth signals the beginning of the end for the dark night of fear, hostility, violence, and greed that has descended on our world. Jesus’ birth signals the start of a new day, a new way, a new understanding of what it means to be alive.
Aliveness, he will teach, is a gift available to all by God’s grace. It flows not from taking, but giving, not from fear but from faith, not from conflict but from reconciliation, not from domination but from service. It isn’t found in the outward trappings of religion—rules and rituals, controversies and scruples, temples and traditions. No, it springs up from our innermost being like a fountain of living water. It intoxicates us like the best wine ever and so turns life from a disappointment into a banquet. This new light of aliveness and love opens us up to rethink everything—to go back and become like little children again. Then we can rediscover the world with a fresh, childlike wonder—seeing the world in a new light, the light of Christ.
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| DEC 24, 2025 Ps 22: Never Abandoned by God |
 In Jesus’ final moments of suffering on the cross, he quoted Psalm 22. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Although the gospels only record Jesus saying the opening verse, it is fair to read the entire psalm as messianic, as it captures both the agony (vs. 1-21) and glory (vs. 22-31) of the Christ. If we only see Psalm 22 as referring to the messiah, however, we may miss how it applies to each one of us. The fact that Jesus speaks these words as his own simultaneously emphasizes their divine meaning as well as Jesus’ profound humanity because moments of feeling abandoned by God are an undeniable part of every person’s experience in our fallen world.The struggle articulated in Psalm 22 is not a doubt about God’s presence or existence, but a questioning of his goodness. When Jesus prays, “Why have you forsaken me?” it’s not because he thinks God isn’t present. It’s precisely the opposite. He prays knowing God can hear his cry. As John Goldingay says, “God’s abandonment lies not in going away but in being present and yet doing nothing.”Why would God not intervene to help an innocent victim? Why does God allow terrible evil to rampage through his world when he has the power to stop it? Why would he watch passively as his people suffer? These are the honest questions that every person of faith must wrestle with, and Psalm 22 is not afraid to acknowledge them. The fact that Jesus himself felt the pain of these questions—and felt it more acutely than we can ever imagine—validates their legitimacy. And yet Psalm 22 lifts our eyes beyond our momentary suffering and reaffirms the goodness of the Lord. “For he has not despised or abhorred the afflictions of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard… The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord!” This Psalm, perhaps more than any other, articulates the weariness of God’s people at the time of Jesus’ birth. For hundreds of years, they had lived under foreign oppression, and with no word from the Lord or his prophets. They felt abandoned and forgotten. Some had given up hope and turned from God’s covenant. Others turned to violence and trusted in their own power for deliverance.But the birth of Jesus proved God had not abandoned them, and he was not silent. At Christmas, we remember and celebrate our Lord, who is the opposite of indifferent. So many today are wondering if God hears them. Does he see their pain? Does he care enough to intervene in his world and in our lives? The message of Psalm 22 and the message of this night is this—God has not hidden his face from the afflicted. DAILY SCRIPTURE PSALM 22:1-31 LUKE 2:25-35 WEEKLY PRAYER. From Robert Lewis Stevenson (1850 – 1894) O God, our loving Father, help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds and the worship of the wise men. May Christmas morning make us happy to be your children and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’s sake. Amen. |
