A Beginning
I know you’ve experienced it. It happens every year at Christmas, in every city I’ve lived in, but never quite as extreme as some years ago in Los Angeles. One December day I went to visit an older couple from our church who lived in a nice quiet cul-de-sac on a hill. I parked in front of their next-door neighbor’s house and stared. The front yard was absolutely jammed with decorations. On the far side of the yard was a lit-up, very large nativity scene, with everyone reverently present–Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, a shepherd, a couple of sheep, and a large camel. A towering angel dwarfed them all. But that wasn’t all. It also had what looked like a large copy of the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments staring down at the baby...next to a snowman. Barreling down on the nativity scene from across the yard was a slightly frantic looking Santa, driving a train on some tracks and heading right for the manger. But that wasn’t all. Next to him was another Santa, this one driving a full-size sleigh with all reindeer present, led by red-nosed Rudolph, who was also steering toward the manger. But that wasn’t all. The whole scene was interspersed with nutcracker soldiers, large candles, a gigantic Frosty, the Grinch, Mickey & Minnie Mouse, a huge Santa face on the side of the house, a number of large candy canes and several two foot hanging renditions of chocolate kisses, all presided over by two large American flags. Meanwhile an outdoor speaker blared a tinny version of “Santa Baby.” It seemed a long way away from “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men!”
I’m the guy always talking about the need for followers of Jesus to live counterculturally –to take a different course than our cultural values and trends invite us to. When I see scenarios like I just described, I realize there’s no easier time to swim upstream in living out the gospel in the U.S. than Christmas. Honestly, compared to the glitzy confusion in front yards, anything that remotely hints at a deeper, meaning-filled celebration of Christmas will stand out like a sore thumb.
I know I’m preaching to the choir. You are all involved in some way in leadership in communities of faith. So, let’s keep drilling down. Even if we succeed in rejecting the giant inflatables with bewildering mixed metaphors and the bubblegum Top 100 Christmas songs on the radio…we haven’t necessarily arrived. Within the Church, we can be overly sentimental even about the real Christmas story. If all of our focus is on HOW Jesus came, even the miracle of incarnation and the beauty of Bethlehem will be distorted unless we remember WHY Jesus came, as Matthew’s gospel so concisely says, “to save his people from their sins.” The manger is an inbreaking, a beginning, but not the end. It is the introduction to a story that marches toward the cross, explodes in resurrection and waits for its ultimate conclusion. It is intensely personal, and each time I reflect on Jesus’ coming, I want to dwell on the reason he came.
It strikes me that how we each practice this may have more impact than anything we say (or write) for others in this season. What will we do in our own lives to celebrate Christ’s coming, so that our leadership comes from an overflowing reservoir? It’s not rocket science:
Have friends or family over for a meal and ask a meaningful question that everyone gets a chance to answer.
Light Advent candles to welcome the Light of the World.
Play music, whether classical or hip-hop, that lifts up what God has done in Jesus.
Use a morning prayer time to reflect on your life and faith…before doing anything else.
Join in Christ-centered worship with brothers and sisters in the faith.
Give an unexpected gift to someone who might need some encouragement.
I’ve been using Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours liturgies for morning quiet time, and nearly every worship time utilizes the Lord’s Prayer. After I speak aloud the traditional version, I add the pithy one from Eugene Peterson’s The Message, the Luke 11 rendering. It starts out like this: “Father, reveal who you are.” Reveal who you are. The idea that God begins this in a stable is beyond remarkable. That’s the HOW. The idea that (Nicene Creed)“for us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,” the WHY, is overwhelming. If we can get to that point of being utterly overwhelmed…I think we’ll be ready for Christmas. And I think I’ll skip the giant inflatables for the yard.
Peace of Christ,
Dan Baumgartner
Dan Baumgartner is the senior pastor at The Cove in Santa Rosa CA and currently serves on The Fellowship Community Advisory Board.
These are the expressed views of Dan Baumgartner and not necessarily broader views of The Fellowship Community.