I was reading a recent review of “The Santa Clauses” in which Elizabeth Mitchell (Mrs. Claus) addressed why Tim Allen (Santa Claus) wanted to resurrect the series. She reports that Allen was curious about the foundations of Christmas, actually quoting him as saying, “Why did it start happening? Why do we care about it so much? What is all of this rooted in?”
All right. I’m a pastor. I am a paid religious official. My perspective is not that of Santa’s. So I bet you’re already expecting – 88 words into the article – to read another piece about put Christ back in Christmas. Instead, let me take this in another direction.
Today is the last day of the church year. Tomorrow it begins all over again as we enter Advent, the season that prepares Christians for the coming of Christ. It’s a strange thing, though, about Advent. It asks us to prepare for the coming of the Christ Child at Christmas, but it also invokes the idea of Christ coming back at the end of time.
The reason for this quantum-entanglement-like connection between Christmas and the Second Coming, that no matter the increasing distance between the two they remain theologically linked, is that Jesus’ life does not fulfill the prophetic expectations of the powerful, conquering Messiah. The two stories we have of his Bethlehem birth are poignantly unsatisfying as introductions to an expected life of power, conquest and domination. Therefore, the almighty aspects of the coming of Christ are postponed until his predicted Second Coming.
God surprised his people with the coming of an illogically loving, inexplicably peaceful, astoundingly forgiving, embarrassingly humble servant-Saviour. I view the two irreconcilable stories of Jesus’ birth as being read back into the Gospels by the astonished first followers of Jesus as they struggled to express the mystery incarnate in the Galilean carpenter who shattered the traditional.
Scholars have long noted that Matthew’s Gospel begins with the Nativity account of the Magi searching for the “king of the Jews.” They come with rich gifts and first visit a palace. They symbolize the traditional expectations of a royal Messiah. This is where the Gospel-story of Jesus’ life begins – with the traditional.
The phrase “king of the Jews” does not appear again in the text until it is the titulus placed on Jesus’ cross at the end of the Gospel. It would take the entire lived revelation of Jesus even to the point of his tortured execution to convey the unexpected divine truth of a “last shall be first” Saviour who turns traditional expressions of glory and power into anachronisms.
God invests everything of himself in the lived revelation of Jesus in order to disrupt our natural predilections, and yet many Christians seem unwilling to let go of the sword-carrying Messiah. We seem to prefer a heavenly Jesus and a Jesus of the Second Coming who is vengeful and violent. His kingship relishes judgment and retribution. We take everything that Jesus repudiated, and profoundly so through the gentle stories of his birth, and force them back on Christ glorified. This calls into question either the truth of Jesus’ life or the accuracy of such atavistic theologies.
Maybe rather than moan about others needing to put Christ back into Christmas we might consider asking why so many people choose to celebrate Christmas as a season of peace, community, sharing and kindness without putting Christ in Christmas. Maybe it has something to do with people posting signs on their lawns saying, “Love Is Love,” and then some Christians adding, “Yeah, except …”
Or how is it possible for Christians to ask with any sort of seriousness what kind of guns Jesus would own? Have we stood against hatred and prejudice because we follow a Saviour who suffered both? Maybe Advent is a season to look with fresh eyes at what it means for Christians to keep Christ in Christmas.
The First Congregational Church of Sunderland, United Church of Christ has ministered to our local communities since 1717. Sunday Services begin at 11AM. The church’s website and Face Book page are found under First Congregational Church of Sunderland. The church’s phone number is 413-665-7987. If you wish to reach Rev. Randy Calvo, email him at randyc1897@gmail.com. We offer religious education for the youth and Bible study for adults. Anthony Tracia directs our music program, and we have a bell choir. We are an official “Open and Affirming” congregation so when we say, “All are welcome here,” we mean it.